The Lion King: Theatrical Triumph Inspired by Indonesian Arts

Posted on April 14th, 2010 at 8:40 am by Bambang

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The theatrical version of Disney’s The Lion King has run continuously in New York City since its 1997 debut. Julie Taymor, the play’s director, also designed the costumes. A former student of Indonesian masked dance-drama and shadow puppetry, Taymor says these Indonesian arts influence her designs.

This production broke new ground in theatrical technology, attempting to bring to the stage such vast and sweeping elements as the rolling African savannah and the famous wildebeest stampede in which Mufasa is killed by his brother Scar.

Far from shrinking from the challenge or toning down the scale of the film, director Julie Taymor succeeded in the superhuman feat of reproducing the film’s vastness through ingenious staging techniques and experimental methods worthy of Walt Disney Theatrical, producers of the wildly popular Beauty and the Beast Broadway musical, which also debuted at the Orpheum.

Source: America.gov

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