CAST LIST:
SIR ELTON JOHN (Music) The monumental career of international singer/songwriter and performer Elton John has spanned more than three decades. He is one of the top-selling solo artists of all time with 35 gold and 25 platinum albums and over 200 million records sold worldwide. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences has awarded Elton multiple GRAMMYS®, including the GRAMMY® Legend Award and Music Cares Person of the Year Award. In the early 1990s, Elton collaborated with lyricist Tim Rice on the soundtrack for Walt Disney Pictures blockbuster The Lion King, winning him an Academy Award®. The album produced two top-selling, award-winning singles for Elton: "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" and "Circle of Life." Tony Award® winning Broadway productions of The Lion King and Aida both awarded Elton with GRAMMYS® for Best Musical Show Album. The smash-hit stage production of Billy Elliot, for which Elton composed the music, is currently running in London and garnered him a top-five UK hit with the song "Electricity." Billy Elliot was nominated for a record 9 Olivier Awards, winning Best Musical, among others. In March Elton celebrated his 60th birthday with a worldwide-broadcast concert at Madison Square Garden. A greatest hits CD, "Rocket Man: The Definitive Collection," releases this spring. Elton continues to tour the world, including his critically acclaimed "Red Piano" show exclusively at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Elton's commitment to the fight against AIDS led to the inception of the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Raising over $100 million to date, it is one of the largest public non-profit organizations in the AIDS arena. In 2004, Elton received the Kennedy Center Honor for his lifetime contributions to American culture and excellence through the performing arts. In 1998, the Queen of England knighted him Sir Elton John, CBE.
SIR TIM RICE (Lyrics) Tim Rice was born in 1944. From 1956-1965 he wanted to be Elvis. Then he met Andrew Lloyd Webber, whose musical ambitions were in theatre rather than rock. They joined forces as one could knock out a decent tune, the other had a way with words. They wrote four shows together. The first, The Likes of Us (1965-66), was never performed, but Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1968), Jesus Christ Superstar (1969-71) and Evita (1976-78) became, and indeed remain, hugely successful all around the world, on both stage and screen. Evita is enjoying a critically acclaimed revival in the West End. Feeling certain that they could never top this lot, the pair went their separate ways in the early '80s, whereupon Andrew Lloyd Webber immediately topped that lot with Cats. Tim Rice then wrote Blondel (1983), a medieval romp, with Stephen Oliver, which ran for a year in London, but not for long anywhere else. In 1986 came Chess, written with ABBA's Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson. Chess had a healthy UK run but flopped on Broadway in 1988, The New York Times bloke simply not getting it. In 1989 Rice translated the famous French Berger-Plamondon musical Starmania into English, which resulted in a hit album in France. In the '90s he worked primarily with the Disney empire, contributing lyrics to the movies Aladdin (music Alan Menken) and The Lion King (music Elton John and Hans Zimmer) and to the stage shows Beauty and the Beast (Alan Menken), The Lion King and Aida (both Sir Elton). In lunch breaks he wrote the words for Cliff Richard's theatrical extravaganza Heathcliff (music John Farrar), which toured the UK in 1995-96. He is currently reworking an operatic musical he has written with Alan Menken (King David) and on new treatments, for both stage and screen, of Chess, The New York Times bloke having been replaced. He also has a new idea, which may or may not see the light of day. He has won many awards, mainly for the wrong things, or for simply turning up. He lives in England, has three children, his own cricket team and a knighthood (that's Sir Tim to you).
ROGER ALLERS (Book) Roger Allers makes his Broadway debut with this Tony®-nominated book, adapted from the animated feature, which he co-directed. Mr. Allers has been instrumental in shaping the structure and dialogue of many Disney animated features since 1988, including Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Oliver and Company, Rescuers Down Under, Prince and the Pauper and the computer-animated movie Tron. Prior to working with Disney, he created animation on children's programs and features for studios in Boston, Toronto and Tokyo. He is currently developing an animated feature for Sony and a new stage musical with Irene Mecchi.
IRENE MECCHI (Book) Irene Mecchi began her association with Disney in March 1992, when she wrote Recycle Rex, an animated short, which won the 1994 Environmental Media Award. Irene is a co-writer of Disney's animated features The Lion King, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Hercules. Along with co-author Roger Allers, she received a 1998 Tony® nomination for writing the book for The Lion King. Irene wrote the teleplay for "Annie," which aired on ABC in 1999. A native San Franciscan, Irene has written for print, television and live-action film and created a stage play drawn from the 60 years of newspaper columns by San Francisco's Herb Caen.
JULIE TAYMOR (Director, Costume Design, Mask/Puppet Co-Design, Additional Lyrics) In 1998, she won the Tony® Award for Best Direction of a Musical and for Best Costumes for The Lion King. She also won the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Drama League awards for her direction, and myriad awards for her original costume, mask and puppet designs. Ms. Taymor made her Broadway debut in 1996 with Juan Darien: A Carnival Mask (Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont Theater), nominated for five Tony® Awards. Other theater work includes The Green Bird (New Victory Theater, La Jolla Playhouse and The Cort Theater on Broadway). Titus Andronicus, The Tempest, and The Taming of the Shrew (Theatre For a New Audience); Juan Darien (Music-Theatre Group); co-adapter and director of The Transposed Heads (Lincoln Center and American Music Theatre Festival) and Liberty's Taken (Castle Hill Festival); designer and choreographer of The King Stag (American Repertory Theatre). Opera direction: Grendel, (Los Angeles Opera and the Lincoln Center Festival); The Magic Flute (Maggio Musicale, Florence, now in repertory at The Metropolitan Opera); Oedipus Rex (Saito Kinen Festival, Japan); Salome (Kirov Opera); The Flying Dutchman (Los Angeles Opera). Film direction: Across the Universe (2006); Frida (2002) winner of two Academy Awards, starring Salma Hayek; Titus (1999), starring Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange. Fool's Fire (for American Playhouse) premiered at Sundance and aired on PBS in 1992. Books: Julie Taymor: Playing with Fire, spanning more than 20 years of her work (Abrams); illustrated screenplays for Titus and Frida (Newmarket Press); The Lion King: Pride Rock on Broadway (Hyperion). Ms. Taymor's awards include a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship, an Emmy for her film of Oedipus Rex, Obie Awards for Visual Magic and for Juan Darien, the Brandeis Creative Arts Award, the Dorothy Chandler Performing Arts Award, and the International Classical Music Award for Best Opera Production (Oedipus Rex).
GARTH FAGAN (Choreographer) Garth Fagan is the recipient of the 1998 Tony Award® as well as the Drama Desk Award, the Astaire Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award and the 2000 Laurence Olivier Award (London, UK) for his work with The Lion King. Mr. Fagan was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and for more than 35 years has toured the world with Garth Fagan Dance. On television the company has appeared on "Great Performances," "The Tonight Show" and the Academy Awards. Mr. Fagan forged his own dance language and technique, drawing from modern dance, Afro-Caribbean and ballet. He has choreographed for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, New York City Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, the Jose Limon Company and others. He directed and choreographed Duke Ellington's Queenie Pie at the Kennedy Center. A distinguished professor emeritus at SUNY Brockport, he has received honors including the 2001 Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award, a Bessie Award, a George Eastman Medal and a Fulbright 50th Anniversary Distinguished Fellow.
LEBO M (Additional Music & Lyrics, Vocal Score, Choral Director) Lebo M is known as the "voice and spirit of The Lion King." Once a teenage singer in Soweto, the GRAMMY Award® winner and Tony® nominee's music brings audiences to tears with hauntingly inspiring African rhythms and melodies. Lebo's talents have been hailed by the worldwide press in superlatives that might describe the most delightfully poetic of musical deities. Since his arrival in America, Lebo has attracted music industry giants such as Quincy Jones, Jimmy Cliff and Hans Zimmer as mentors, allies and collaborators. Lebo has performed on and produced four albums: Rhythm of the Pride Lands (Disney), Deeper Meaning (Gallo) and The Lion King (Japanese, Hamburg cast recordings). Other credits include the feature films The Power of One, Back on the Block and Listen Up with Quincy Jones; Outbreak; Congo; Born to Be Wild; Long Night's Journey Into Day (which was nominated for an Academy Award); Tears of the Sun with Bruce Willis (collaboration with Hans Zimmer); as well as the Disney television special "People." He has made many public performances worldwide, including Kthimi: The Return in Kosovo with Vanessa Redgrave, Euro Disney in France and most recently in Hyde Park, London, for the BBC.
MARK MANCINA (Additional Music & Lyrics, Music Produced for the Stage, Additional Score) A Tony® nominee and multi-platinum, three-time GRAMMY Award®-winning composer, he was an obvious choice to produce the music for the stage production of The Lion King, having arranged and produced songs for the blockbuster animated feature film, for which he received both GRAMMY® and American Music awards in 1994. The film also spawned the hit album Rhythm of the Pride Lands, for which Mr. Mancina co-wrote, arranged and produced three tracks, including "He Lives in You" and "Shadowland," which are featured in the stage production. Ranked among the upper echelons of film composers, his credits include mega-hits Training Day, Speed, Twister, Bad Boys, Tarzan and Brother Bear among many others. Current feature films include August Rush, Camille and Shooter.
HANS ZIMMER (Additional Music & Lyrics) Hans Zimmer received the Oscar, Golden Globe and two GRAMMY® awards for his original film score for the film version of The Lion King. He started his film scoring career with My Beautiful Laundrette in 1985, and his other credits include six Oscar-nominated film scores, among them Gladiator, The Thin Red Line, As Good as It Gets and Rain Man. Additional credits include the GRAMMY®-winning score for Crimson Tide, Driving Miss Daisy, Thelma and Louise, Black Hawk Down and The Last Samurai starring Tom Cruise. Mr. Zimmer also heads the film music division for DreamWorks SKG studios.
JAY RIFKIN (Additional Music & Lyrics) The GRAMMY Award®-winning producer, together with producing and composing partner Hans Zimmer, created Media Ventures, a multifaceted entertainment group that includes music, new media, film and television. Their partnership has earned them numerous awards and nominations, including Academy Award nominations, for the film scores of Driving Miss Daisy, Rain Man and The Lion King. Following the success of The Lion King, Jay conceived and produced the gold-selling follow-up album Rhythm of the Pride Lands. He is also chairman of Media Revolution and a founder of the film production company Media Ventures Pictures.
RICHARD HUDSON (Scenic Design) Richard Hudson was born in Zimbabwe and educated in Zimbabwe and England. In 1988 he won a Laurence Olivier Award for designing a season of seven plays at the Old Vic Theatre, London. His set designs for The Lion King have won numerous awards, including a Tony® in 1998. He is a Royal Designer for Industry (RDI). In 2003 he won the Gold Medal for Set Design at the Prague Quadriennale, and in 2005 he was given an honorary doctorate by the University of Surrey. He has designed sets and costumes for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, the Young Vic and the Gate, London. In opera he has worked at the Royal Opera, English National Opera, La Scala Milan, Metropolitan Opera New York, Opera National de Paris, Lyric Opera Chicago, Staatsoper Vienna, Glyndebourne Festival Opera and in Zurich, Munich, Amsterdam, Venice, Florence, Turin, Bregenz, Houston and Washington.
DONALD HOLDER (Lighting Design) Donald Holder received the 1998 Tony®, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards for his work on The Lion King; a 1999 Olivier nomination for The Lion King - London; and the LA Drama Critics Circle, NAACP and Ovation awards for The Lion King - Los Angeles. Broadway: Movin' Out (Tony® and Drama Desk nominations), Thoroughly Modern Millie, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Juan Darien (Tony® and Drama Desk nominations), King Hedley II, The Green Bird, Bells Are Ringing, Hughie, Voices in the Dark, Eastern Standard, Little Shop of Horrors and The Boy From Oz. Off-Broadway: Observe the Sons of Ulster... (Lucille Lortel Award), A Man of No Importance, Jitney, Tiny Alice, Saturday Night, Everett Beekin, Three Days of Rain, Chaucer in Rome, Sight Unseen, Spunk, The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, Jeffrey, Raised in Captivity, Pterodactyls and many others. He has designed at resident theatres across the United States. Mr. Holder is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama.
MICHAEL CURRY (Mask/Puppet Design) Michael Curry is one of the world's leading production designers. He works widely in both conceptual and technical development with the foremost entertainment companies, such as Cirque du Soleil, the Metropolitan Opera, London's Royal National Theatre, Disney Theatrical Productions, LA Opera and Universal Pictures. He collaborates regularly with directors such as Robert Lepage, Nicholas Hytner, Julie Taymor and William Friedken. Michael has been the recipient of many prestigious awards from his peers, including several awards for his puppet and costume work on Broadway, Olympic ceremonies and his continuing innovations in the fields of visual effects and puppetry design. He owns and operates Michael Curry Design Inc., which designs and creates live-performance oriented dimensional characters and productions, such as those seen by worldwide audiences in the 1996 and 2002 Olympics opening and closing ceremonies, Superbowl 2000 and New York City's epoch 2000 millennium event.
STEVE CANYON KENNEDY (Sound Design) Steve Canyon Kennedy was the production engineer on such Broadway shows as Cats, Starlight Express, Song & Dance, The Phantom of the Opera, Carrie and Aspects of Love. His Broadway sound design credits include The Producers, Aida, Titanic, Big, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Carousel and The Who's Tommy, for which he received the Drama Desk Award and the Canadian Dora Mavor Moore Award. Steve is married to actress Loni Ackerman and has two sons, Jack and George.
Bonita J. Hamilton (Shenzi)
Musical
Appropriate for Elementary School
Appropriate for Middle School
Appropriate for High School
Study Guide Available
Education Workshop Available
Award Winner
