Marina Bay Sands

Lion King mesmerises Lion City

All eyes turned towards the stage where Gugwana Dlamini appeared, belting out the riveting intro of Circle of Life, the iconic song for Disney’s all-time classic – The Lion King.

As the curtains rose to reveal a backdrop depicting the break of dawn, the chants of Dlamini who played the wise baboon shaman, Rafiki, were joined by a pair of gallant giraffes, played by professional puppeteers, strutting on stilts on all fours, while another mimicked the motion of the elegant cheetah stretching himself before sauntering his way across the stage.

But nothing could have prepared the audience for the next scene as an exotic procession of animals slowly made their way down the theatre’s aisles, drawing ‘oohs and aahs’ and thunderous applause from the audience.

From birds swooping past the audience to the majestic elephant treading his way to the stage, it was a sight to behold as performers in skin-tight body suits, costumes and makeup imitated the animals’ gestures down to a tee with their movements and choreography that brought the animals to life.

On stage, the majesty of the Serengeti Plain began to form as the animals gathered to pay homage to their ruler, King Mufasa and his wife, Queen Sarabi who presented their new-born heir, Simba, atop Pride Rock to their kingdom, thus marking the opening of the award-winning The Lion King broadway musical which has been brilliantly re-imagined by renowned director Julie Taymor.

Singapore is the latest leading city to host the internationally acclaimed show after sell-out performances in New York, London, Hamburg, Tokyo and Las Vegas.

Seen by more than 50 million people the world over since its debut in America in 1997, the show will treat audiences in the City State to unbelievable performances by a talented cast of 51 (for the Singapore production), comprising the cream of the crop of The Lion King performers from eight countries and five continents, including veterans of the acclaimed London and Paris productions.

Much like the beloved animated movie but with more vigour and sentiment, the musical brought into Singapore by BASE Entertainment, has been developed specifically for the region and the Sands Theatre at Marina Bay Sands, filled with non-stop musical changes, dance moves while the actors donned multi-dimensional costumes, giving them the ability to create a wide range of emotions each character expresses.

For instance, the mechanically operated lion masks of King Mufasa and his villainous sinister brother, Scar, played by Jee-L Guizonne and Patrick Brown respectively, allowed the actors to express feelings of pride, anger, intimidation and more.

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