The Musical Circle of Life: A Heart Connection

It is iconic, as is “The Circle of Life”. The Lion King has been on Broadway for 29 years, and in London’s West End for 27 years. This is its third time in Australia since 2003. 

Remarkably, the amazing Buyi Zama has played Rafiki in all three productions – also managing long spells overseas. It’s a role she was born to play. It’s a show we were all born to see.

The Lion King marries the best of stage technology with puppetry, exotic jungle settings, brilliant performers, a wonderful story of Good versus Evil, and great music that we can leave the theatre singing. 

The fact that the characters - the heroes, the baddies, the comic relief - are all animals makes it even more important as a way of exploring the human condition … and don’t we all need that in this whirlwind world we inhabit? 

Are you excited yet? I certainly am. There are some shows that return and make you go “ho-hum”, or yawn, or wonder why you should bother. The Lion King isn’t one of them. There is always a new generation to sit wide-eyed for the first time and find themselves hooked for life on musical theatre. 

But it isn’t just The Lion King. There are a few musicals that transcend their era, that we welcome back time after time. In most cases we choose to see them at each new production, even when there may be little to surprise us. 

Have you ever wondered why some people stay away from newer shows, even if they are multi-award winners, but spend money on a revival they have seen many times before? 

Are older shows simply better, with more memorable songs and less technical? Or do people simply want to lose themselves to what’s on stage for a couple of hours without having to think about it?

There are great musicals such as Next To Normal, Spring Awakening, and Dear Evan Hansen, with important messages and strong scores, that are unlikely to see revivals every decade on a main stage. 

Not every Disney musical is guaranteed a regular revival, even if they were  blockbusters and Tony Award winners.

It isn’t because there is a shortage of new musicals. In any given year there are more than a dozen new musicals making their debut on Broadway … sometimes as many as twenty.  

That’s about 300 since 2000. Most we haven’t heard of. Some will get minor or community productions here. Some will never be heard of again, let alone reach Australia. And they all had to have things going for them just to reach Broadway.  

So, is it memorable tunes, great production, technical effects, nostalgia? Maybe a combination of all four? Or is it something deeper, something we don’t initially identify - a deeper emotional resonance? I’ll call it “The Heart Connection”. 

Writers know that when you connect with your audience on a one-to-one basis, when you touch them emotionally – whether it’s through character or story – you’re on to a winner. That’s why characters win over plot every time. Add a few great songs and VOILA! You have a hit and start planning the revival.

It doesn’t hurt if there is a hit movie to draw audiences from, but that isn’t the clincher. Ignore the heart connection and you can throw millions of dollars of special effects at a show and the audiences still won’t fall in love; King Kong was a prime example.  

Theme is important. How uplifting is the message? Is this a triumph over adversity theme? Or a hero’s journey? Or perhaps a redemption theme? Of course, the audience doesn’t look at it from that perspective, but it’s interesting to see where the most successful shows sit. 

I picked a few shows to look at. All have had at least three revivals in Australia and the oldest is 70 years old! They all have various things in common … but critical is ‘the heart connection.’ 

My Fair Lady (the oldest of the bunch), West Side Story and The Sound of Music all come from the mid 20th Century, yet we still adore them. Yes, they all have great scores, great dancing, and wonderful characters. There are stories of triumph over adversity and redemption, nostalgia and hero’s journeys galore. But what keeps audiences coming back is the love and family aspect that we either relate to or yearn for. 

My Fair Lady is back in Australia this year (for the 5th or 6th time) to celebrate its 70th birthday. Will I go to see it? Yes, of course, but it’s a sobering thought that some people who saw the original production here will take their great grandchildren along for the first time. And the aspirational element will stay with them always.

Pictured right, Claire Lyon, Australia's new Elisa Doolittle, photographer by Benny Capp. Click here to read more.

Yes, you CAN transcend your surroundings, but you must never lose sight of who you are deep inside. West Side Story tells a love story as old as Romeo and Juliet, but it’s also about forgiveness and conciliation. Deep abstract themes … heart connections. 

The Sound of Music is about triumph over adversity, overcoming it through the strength of the family. It is so wildly popular that the major tourist attraction near Salzburg is the gardens where Maria sang and danced with the children in the movie. You can go there by train and dance along the pathways amidst crocuses and snow if you’re lucky. I’ve done it (while singing “Do-Re-Mi”). What the show stands for transcends its individual elements.

Oliver! and Fiddler on the Roof touch our consciousness and nostalgia for a time we never knew and yet still understand. They talk to our desires to be more than we are … the heart connection again. 

Fiddler is also back on our shores this year, only it takes on yet another dimension with all that is happening in the US through ICE with immigrants being displaced. I wonder if we will look at it through new eyes, or whether real times have surpassed history. 

Oliver Twist was my favourite Dickens book in primary school and I defy anyone not to choke up at a waif-like orphan asking in song “Where is Love?” Many grown-ups ask themselves the same thing every day. 

Disney has always embraced “high concepts” in its storytelling, and every one of its films - later stage musicals - has a theme to aspire to and a lesson to learn. 

Beauty and the Beast is the ultimate love story, but not simple romantic Disney princess love. This love means truly seeing a person for what is inside them, a merging of souls that recognize each other. The audience might think it’s about dancing teapots and monsters, but they are touched just the same. 

Musicals that will soon be added to the multiple revival (more than three) list include Come From Away, the ultimate aspirational musical which makes us all want to go out and hug our neighbours. Could anything connect us more?

SIX's new Australian Queens. Click here to read more. Photographer: Cybele Malinowski

Of course there are exceptions. SIX seems to be revived every year or two, it is such a monster hit. It doesn’t quite fit “The Heart Connection” tag, but it’s the rock concert you have without going to a rock concert. And it’s empowering to women (and many diverse groups) especially. After all, that’s more than half the population. I take it back; there is a heart connection.

Little Shop of Horrors seems like just goofy fun, and so many of us remember the movie. Man-eating plants from Outer Space? Yeah right! But dig deeper and it’s about doing the right thing, overcoming your fears, the pursuit of elusive love. 

But back to The Lion King. If you take all the elements I’ve talked about, you start to see WHY it is so loved. Alongside its pedigree as phenomenal entertainment, it is a valuable life lesson. It covers love, grief, ambition, innocence, community, jealousy, retribution - things we spend a lifetime experiencing - all wrapped up in around two and a half hours. 

It teaches us without any sledgehammers, and it entertains beyond our wildest dreams. So yes, it’s a must see, and it still will be in 2040, 50, 65 ad infinitum. Because we need to see it every ten years or so. How many things in our lives are truly timeless? Only those with Heart Connections.

The Lion King began performances at the Capitol Theatre Sydney from April 26th