'The Lion King' roars into Denver

DENVER -- Even if you aren't a parent who has see the animated Disney version many times over, you'll still find yourself humming the songs and feeling uplifted after experiencing "The Lion King." This multi-award-winning Broadway musical is on stage at Denver's Buell Theatre for its eagerly awaited second run through Nov. 12.

The week before seeing "The Lion King," I experienced a new Cirque du Soleil production (KA), and I tried hard not to compare the two, but my mind kept wandering between them. While the Cirque show was an amazing technical production, it was flashy and filled with dramatic special effects. "The Lion King" was also an amazing technical production, but it was the characters that drew me in more emotionally. In addition, even though the story and music were familiar, the imagery - including the lighting, the puppetry and the masks - made it seem new and magical. Over 200 puppets (rod, shadow and full size) are used in the show, and it took 17,000 hours to put together the puppets and masks.

"The Lion King" takes place in the African savanna, and is a classic good versus evil story. In the opening, the day breaks as Mufasa, the lion king, introduces his cub, Simba, to the Pride Rock kingdom. As the youngster grows older, Mufasa explains that life is a delicate balance - the Circle of Life - and some day it will be his responsibility as king to manage this equilibrium. As youngsters often do, Simba and his female playmate, Nala, disobey the rule to never go beyond the safe territory, and as a result are nearly dinner for a mangy, hungry pack of hyenas.

The leader of the hyenas is Scar, Mufasa's brother, who is quite bitter about being knocked down a notch in the royal succession so he plots to rid the pride of both his older brother and nephew so he can become the king. A carefully arranged stampede fatally wounds Mufasa; then Scar convinces the cub that he is responsible for his father's demise and to leave the pride lands forever. With both gone, Scar assumes the throne; under his careless rule, the land becomes lifeless and unbalanced.

Meanwhile, Simba escapes to the jungle and is befriended by a wisecracking meerkat, Timon, and his sidekick warthog, Pumba. They teach him their way of life, Hukuna Matata, or "no worries," and Simba grows into a young lion. Nala wanders from the pride land only to discover that Simba is not dead, but living a worry-free life and urges him to return as the rightful king. After internalizing his self-worth and listening for divine wisdom from his father, he returns to challenge Uncle Scar for the throne. Scar forces Simba to disclose his "secret" out loud to the pride but as Simba dangles to his death, Scar whispers that it was he who was responsible for Mufasa's demise. Enraged at finally hearing the truth, Simba finds the strength to fight back and force Scar to publicly admit the real truth, and in the end, slips into the hungry jaws of the hyena pack that he double-crossed.

In the closing scene, Simba with Nala and their baby cub at his side claims the throne and promises to restore the circle of life balance to the pride land once again, like his father.

The story is accentuated by a few support characters, specifically Rafiki, the wise baboon, played by South African native Gugwana Dlamini. Other standouts include full size puppets of the royal advisor dodo bird, Zazu (Timothy McGuver) and Timone (Damian Baldet).