Disney Insider

[HasiraKali]

I don't know if any of you subscribe to this email newsletter but in the next issue, they're going "Behind the Curtain" of TLK. I can post the article when it arives if anyone that isn't subscribed would like to see it.

[Ngatuny]

Originally posted by HasiraKali
I don't know if any of you subscribe to this email newsletter but in the next issue, they're going "Behind the Curtain" of TLK. I can post the article when it arives if anyone that isn't subscribed would like to see it.

Yes, please do post it.

[Mizani]

I would LOVE to see it!!!!
Post it!
Post it!
Post it!
Post it!
Post it!
Post it!
Post it!
Post it!
Post it!
Post it!
Post it!
Post it!
Post it!
Please?

[King Simba]

Sure thing mate. Go ahead.

[Fear The Paw]

Do so

[Nalinda]

Poooost

[HasiraKali]

It should be coming in soon. I'll post it as soon as I get it.

[Sombolia]

Awww man! I used to be subscribed to that magazine! >_<;

[lionloversam]

I got that article via e-mail. Disney Insider is free if its the e-mail version. I can post that article if you want. I have not read it yet though.

[HasiraKali]

Here's the article. Enjoy.

Pride and Puppetry

It's a wonderland of puppets, huge sprays of feathers, lights, movement, and music. A pride of lionesses runs past, wearing a combination of flowing silk, beautiful headdresses ... and sweatpants. Rhinos hang from the rafters; silks and fibers billow from mobile wardrobe cabinets; a lion's proud face snarls at us. Everywhere there is something amazing to see.

This isn't Geppetto's workshop or a child's dream - it's the backstage area for the touring production of "The Lion King," Disney on Broadway's Tony Award?-winning stage show. And we're visiting right in the middle of an afternoon rehearsal. But for the crew, this is just another day at the office.

The Disney Insider was lucky enough to visit and speak to the people who keep the magic in the show, including wardrobe supervisor Gillian Kadish, puppet supervisor Anne Salt, and head carpenter Mike Nye. Gillian told us about the unique challenges "The Lion King," with its innovative blend of puppetry, effects, and animal disguises, poses for the costumers.

"I remember the first day I stepped into the rehearsal studio and I saw the puppets come out of the boxes, I was just blown away. It was so awe inspiring. The first thing that came into my head was, 'Oh my goodness, how are we going to maintain these things!?'" Kadish laughs. Julie Taymor, the artist who designed the production, and Michael Curry, the puppet co-designer, created a spectacular savannah world and all its creatures onstage. It has wowed audiences since the show debuted, but it also pushed puppet and costume technology as far as they could go - and then just a little further. And the road show crew must keep everything looking, and working, just as it did on opening night on Broadway, back in 1997.

To keep the show sparkling, the costumers, puppet crew, and props crew all work closely together, because the lines between their specialties are blurred. Traditional stage wear doesn't need a welding torch to repair, but the "Lion King" costumers often have to ask the stage crew to play with fire to weld a broken tail back into service, for example. Some dilemmas - and solutions - are universal, however. "Sometimes it's just somebody's boot zipper breaking right when they have to go on stage," says Gillian. "It's as simple as saying, 'Get some black gaffer's tape and start winding it round the boot. GET GOING!'"

On the other hand, the costumers return the favor by stitching torn seams in some of the puppets, like the fragile silk bird "kites" that swoop over the audience. "It's a fine line - what's a prop, what's a puppet, what's a wardrobe piece? It's a very integrated show, more than any show I've ever worked on," Gillian says. "Usually it's very clearly divided into what is your domain. But that's what's nice about this show and this crew - everybody helps everybody else out. It's really unusual."

Puppet supervisor Anne Salt faces her own challenges keeping the delicate, fantastical creatures in the show working as they should. The pieces are made to travel and to be handled, but even so they require constant attention and care. "The gazelles are made out of carbon and have a textured coating on the outside and they're handpainted," she says. "They're terribly delicate. Some of the pieces are more sturdy, like the rhino - they're sturdy animals, after all, so it's easy to make the puppet stronger!

"When we move from place to place that's when most of the damage happens. We have a very limited amount of time to pack everything in boxes, and then we get to the other end and it's in pieces."

Life backstage is never boring. "One of the challenges is having to do a little bit of everything," she explains. "We use a lot of foam in the show, and you need strong painting skills. It's constant maintenance and making everything look really beautiful, up close as well as from the audience, so the actors feel the part."

Anne's crew carries a stock of supplies and spare parts everywhere the show travels - she shows us racks of "grass," paint pots, specially stiffened and painted feathers, and odd bits of leather, latex, and much more. The masks worn by many of the actors are almost weightless confections, attached to head mounts painstakingly molded to fit the individual actors perfectly. Other items are more mundane; the back ends of the giraffe puppets, it turns out, are fashioned from yard brooms and the puppet crew always picks up extras when they reach a new city.

"The Lion King" spends anywhere from six weeks to a couple of months or more in each city, then the entire show is collapsed into 23 enormous tractor-trailers and moves on. Each stage and backstage area provides new challenges - not least, in simply finding room to fit the various maintenance shops, studios, changing areas, and backstage personnel into a very limited space. "There are a lot more people back here than you realize!" laughs head carpenter Mike Nye. "When you count all the dressers and the crew, there is just as much, if not more, choreography behind the scenes as there is on stage."

All of this effort and bustle pay off in cities around the country. Through early September, 2005, audiences in Baltimore and Chicago will thrill to "The Lion King" onstage, and then the touring companies will be on the move again. And while the audience thrills to the first magnificent strains of "The Circle of Life," the frantic yet efficient backstage rounds will continue to keep "The Lion King" one of the most moving and spectacular stage experiences in the world.

[Mizani]

Thank you, you posted it
Very interesting I must say, thank you for sharing.

[Ngatuny]

Thanks for posting the article.

[unregistered user]

That was a very interesting read.