The Lion King: Cast Announced
After a hotly competitive audition process, the cast for the new Australian production Disney’s The Lion King, opening at Sydney’s Capitol Theatre on December 12, 2013 has been announced.
The cast features bright emerging Australian and New Zealand talent, along with a number of seasoned performers.
The call for talent drew 4,000 submissions with a total of 1,860 performers auditioning for the musical, which combines puppetry and masks, ceremony and dance, and a music score of soul-stirring songs.
Executive Producer James Thane said: “In casting the show, our task from Julie Taymor was to find a diverse and exciting group of performers who uniquely reflect the cultural influences of our country and our region. After nine months of intensive searching, we’re thrilled to have found the perfect combination of singers, dancers and actors to fulfil Julie’s brief.
We’re now eagerly awaiting the start of rehearsals in October as we bring to life our own uniquely Australian version of The Lion King.”
Announced today (August 17, 2013), the principal cast includes new discovery Rob Collins in the role of Mufasa. Born and raised in Darwin, Rob has helped coordinate the National Indigenous Music Awards since its inception in 2004.
He is joined by television and theatre performer Josh Quong Tart as Scar, well-known theatre actor Cameron Goodall as Zazu, New Zealand performer Jamie McGregor as Timon and Russell Dykstra as Pumbaa.
The role of Simba will be played by New Zealander Nick Afoa, a keen rugby player and singer who made his mark singing the national anthem at the recent Rugby World Cup in Australia.
Former backing singer for Whitney Houston and session singer Buyi Zama returns to the role of Rafiki, which she performed in the original Australian production and has since performed on five continents. Rounding out the principal cast are the relative newcomers, Josslynn Hlenti as Nala, Ruvarashe Ngwenya as Shenzi, Terry Yeboah as Banzai and Andre Jewson as Ed.
Joining The Lion King ensemble will be: Bernard Angel, Caleb Bartolo, Laurence Creevey, Ed Deganos, Akina Edmonds, Jabulani Gambu, Sandile Gontsana, Mietta Gornall, Graeme Isaako, Jacqueline Ison, Sophia Laryea, Sharon Lee, Dikeldi Letebele, Nicolas Li, Loredo Malcolm, Gabisile Manana, Lee Morunga, Buti Mothamaha, Zoe Mthiyane, Lungelo Ndlovu, Matu Ngaropo, Max Oliveira, Diana Ricks, Joseph Rivera, Anica Scott-Garrell, Pamela Sidhu, Noluthando Sithole, Toni Stewart, Rebecca Tapia, Jason Te Patu, Jeffrey Trinidad, Benn Welford, Joshua Williams and Wei Wei Zhang.
The role of Young Simba will be shared by Jasper James Lloyd, Joshua Park, Adrian Pulvirenti and Ethan Puse and Young Nala by Ruby Alexander, Ayanda Dladla, Ariana Haghighi and Sabrina Sialeipata.
Now in its 16th year, The Lion King is the highest-grossing Broadway show in New York history and one of the most popular stage musicals in the world. Since its Broadway premiere on November 13, 1997, 21 global productions have been seen by more than 70 million people. Produced by Disney Theatrical Productions (under the direction of Thomas Schumacher), The Lion King is only the second show in history to generate five productions worldwide running 10 or more years. Translated into eight different languages (Japanese, German, Korean, French, Dutch, Mandarin, Spanish and Portuguese), productions of The Lion Kingcan currently be seen on Broadway and on tour across North
America, in Tokyo and on tour in Japan, in London’s West End and on tour throughout the UK, and in Hamburg, Madrid and Sao Paolo. To date, The Lion King has played 98 cities in 17 countries on every continent except Antarctica.
With a cumulative gross in excess of $5 billion, the stage production of The Lion King has already earned more than the biggest hit films in movie history: more than the Lord of the Rings trilogy combined, more than the six Star Wars films combined, and more than Avatar and Titanic, the two highest-grossing films in movie history, combined.
The award-winning musical will celebrate a new milestone in December 2013 when it returns to Australia, making it the tenth concurrent worldwide production of The Lion King, the highest number of productions running at any one time in the show’s history.
The Lion King won six 1998 Tony® Awards: Best Musical, Best Scenic Design (Richard Hudson), Best Costume Design (Julie Taymor), Best Lighting Design (Donald Holder), Best Choreography (Garth Fagan) and Best Direction of a Musical (Julie Taymor).
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Our eaarlier Lion King Coverage.
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