A Lion King roars into Dallas
Edited by Madelyn Miller, the TravelLady
Dallas' Limited Premiere
Engagement Begins September 20, 2007 at the Music Hall at Fair Park
Dallas' most eagerly awaited stage production ever will
leap onto The Music Hall at Fair Park stage from Thursday, September 20, 2007 to
Sunday, October 21, 2007. This Dallas engagement is currently one of eight
productions running worldwide along with New York, a second United States
National Tour, London, Hamburg, Tokyo, South Korea and Johannesburg, South
Africa. Future international productions include a French-language production
opening in September 2007 in Paris.
Disney's THE LION KING
Broadway's Award-Winning Best Musical
 Now
in its tenth sold-out year in New York at the New Amsterdam Theatre, THE LION
KING is the winner of six Tony® Awards including Best Musical, eight Drama Desk
Awards, six Outer Critics Circle Awards, the New York Drama Critics award for
Best Musical, the Evening Standard Award for the Theatrical Event of the Year,
two Olivier Awards, a Theatre World Award, the Astaire Award for Outstanding
Choreography, two Drama League Awards and a Grammy ® Award for Best Musical Show
Album.
The malevolent and evil "Scar" will be played by Timothy
Carter, who is a native of Lexington, Kentucky. Mr. Carter's credits include
The Three Musketeers and Macbeth with The Acting Company; King Lear, As You Like
It, and Julius Caesar at Colorado Shakespeare Festival; Richard III and Merry
Wives of Windsor at Nebraska Shakespeare Festival; and Hay Fever at Westport
County Playhouse. Dionne Randolph will play the lion king "Mufasa." Mr.
Randolph's credits include Smokey Joe's Café, Little Shop of Horrors and Once on
this Island . Phindile Mkhize, a native of South Africa, is the wise "Rafiki."
Ms. Mkhize has traveled to Germany, Australia, Holland and Amsterdam performing
and sharing her talents, and her credits include The Lion King Soundtrack '94,
Sarafina 2; Mama, Maria, Maria, and WozaMyFohloza.
 The
meerkat "Timon" will be played by Mark Shunock, who has appeared in productions
of Romance, Beauty and the Beast, Princess Turandot, The Skin Of Our Teeth ,
Howie The Rookie and Lovelace: The Musical. Mark Cameron Pow, who will portray
"Zazu," is a native of England and has appeared Off-Broadway in Comedy of
Errors, King Lear, and The Iliad I. And Ben Lipitz, is "Pumbaa," the warthog;
Mr. Lipitz' stage credits include Red, Hot and Blue, Just So, ART, Dirty Blonde,
Laughter on the 23rd Floor, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
.
Mufasa's son, "Simba," will be played by Dashaun Young, who
also appeared in the 1st National Tour of Hairspray and regional productions of
Hairspray, Hello Dolly , Aida and Radio City Christmas Spectacular.
The three hyenas will be played by: Randy Donaldson
("Banzai"), whose past credits include Five Guys Named Moe and Broadway's
Wonderful Town and Annie Get You Gun ; Jayne Trinette ("Shenzi"), whose credits
include Caroline or Change, Ain't Misbehavin' and Nuncrackers; and Michael
Nathanson ("Ed"), whose credits include Romeo & Juliet, God of Desire , Don't
Hug Me and TempOdyssey.
Performances in the role of "Young Simba" will be
alternated between Malcolm-Ali Davis and Jeremy Gumbs. Mr. Davis has been in
numerous commercials, print ads and voice-overs. Mr. Gumbs, from Long Island,
NY, and has appeared in productions of The Merry Wives of Windsor, Margaret
Garner and the film Mind the Gap. Performances in the role of "Young Nala" will
be alternated between Dylan Jenet Collins and Chantylla Johnson. Ms. Collins
has performed in A Wonderful Life for The Actor's Fund and a regional theatre
productions of Once On This Island. Ms. Johnson's credits include Young Nettie
in the Broadway production of The Color Purple and regional theatre productions
of Annie and Cinderella.
Director Julie Taymor became the first woman in Broadway
history to win the Tony® Award for Best Director of a Musical. Taymor, along
with Michael Curry, created hundreds of masks and puppets for THE LION KING.
Choreography is by Garth Fagan, scenic design is by Richard Hudson, costume
design is by Julie Taymor and lighting design is by Donald Holder. The book has
been adapted by Roger Allers, who co-directed the animated film and Irene Mecchi,
who co-wrote the screenplay for THE LION KING. The score features Elton John
and Tim Rice's music from the animated film along with three new songs by John
and Rice, additional musical material by South African Lebo M, Mark Mancina, Jay
Rifkin, Julie Taymor and Hans Zimmer.
In Dallas, THE LION KING will play according to the
attached performance schedule. Ticket prices range from $29.00 to $80.00.
Premium Ticket Packages which include special services at the theatre are also
available for $130.00. Tickets are available at THE BOX OFFICE at the Preston
Royal Shopping Center and at any Ticketmaster outlet, by calling 214-631-ARTS,
or via the Internet at
www.ticketmaster.com . Orders for groups of twenty (20) or more may be
placed by calling 214-426-GROUP.
The Dallas engagement of Disney's THE LION KING is
presented by arrangement with Dallas Summer Musicals and is part of their 2007
Summer Season. |
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