Among
the aspects Taymor was responsible for were the directing, costume
design, mask and puppet design (along with Michael Curry), additional
music and lyrics along with Lebo M. Mark Mancina, Jay Rifkin and Hans
Zimmer adding to the original score by Elton John and Tim  Rice and they
are the strongest parts of the musical. The scenic designs by Richard
Hudson encompass all her work eliciting gasps and awe from the audience.
 The choreographer, Garth Fagan, is watched over by his associate
choreographer Marey Griffith while John Stefaniuk continues his work as
Taymor’s associate director.

The
show opens with King Mufasa (Dionne Randolph) and Queen Sarabi
(Tryphena Wade) presenting their new born cub Simba to all the gathered
animals. Scar (J. Anthony Crane) ,Mufasa’s brother,  laments that he is
no longer the next to be king. The multitude of players then embark on a
Shakespearean tale of love, loss, exile and, yes, happy ever after
which is more Hollywood than Shakespeare.

We
meet a young Simba (Adante Power) ,who may be a little too scrawny to
be a lion cub, and Nala (Sade Phillip-Demorcy) the female cub who at
first is his friend. In the second act they are grown and the roles are
played by Jelani Remy, a strong, looking king to be who has the best
voice in the company and Syndee Winters, who looks and acts like a queen
from her first appearance on stage.

Along
the journey we meet Rafiki, (Buyi Zama) almost a narrator of the show,
Zazu (Mark David Kaplan) a hornbill who is an advisor to the King, Timon
(Nick  Cordilone) a meerkat and Pumba (Ben Lipitz) a warthog who bring
much needed humor to the show, The hyenas Shenzi (Rashada Dawan), Banzai
(Keith Bennett) and Ed (Robbie Swift) are menacing as they should be
and, in their own way, ugly. All the dancing, singing and acting really
takes second place to all the production values which stop the show in a
good way, such as the scene made up of stars and lights that come
together to present King Mufasa’s face to Simba.

The
orchestra, conducted by Rick Snyder, is made up of about 18 members
including Stefan Monssen and Reuven Weizberg standouts on percussions,
each one in a box on opposite sides of the theatre.

“Walt
Disney’s The Lion King” is a must see show, if for nothing else the
opening number, for the magic an American musical can cast over an
audience. It will be in Miami for 4 weeks.

1st act  1 hour and 20 minutes   Intermission 25 minutes  2nd act 1 hour