Thursday, February 28, 2013
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Willie Wilson Puppeteer of lion king
The Puppet King Willie Wilson's the `vet' for `Lion King's' cast
WILLIE WILSON lovingly pats his favorite hornbill, looking for missing feathers, and perhaps a bent wire or two.
Zazu is propped up on a work bench, almost ready for action. There is actually another Zazu lying on its side on the shelf below, just in case. The night before, the upper Zazu had quite a workout, three hours of flapping and squawking and singing and dancing on the stage at the Academy of Music as one of the main puppet characters of "The Lion King."
Zazu is propped up on a work bench, almost ready for action. There is actually another Zazu lying on its side on the shelf below, just in case. The night before, the upper Zazu had quite a workout, three hours of flapping and squawking and singing and dancing on the stage at the Academy of Music as one of the main puppet characters of "The Lion King."
Story continues below.
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Zazu is one of 230 puppets and masks used by human characters in the ultra-interactive "Lion King" stage show, and each of them gets a good look-see every day by Wilson, the road show's puppet master since 2002. This day, Zazu needs only a little fluffing around the feathers and a slight bend back of a small wire holding one of the flapping wings.
"Good. Sometimes it can be complicated, but they have to be ready to go every night," said Wilson.
Wilson, a barrel-chested, middle-aged man with a ready laugh, seems the quintessential fellow for the job. He's half-kid-in-the-candy-store, half artisan. Even after years, day after day, with "The Lion King" backstage, he loves flapping Zazu's wings, combing the Simba mask's facial hair, fiddling with the finger-control motors that move Scar's huge mask up and down.
"It is what I always wanted to do, use everything I learned to make a show work," he said. "I was never very good on stage, but I know I am a good prop guy."
Wilson has to be not just good, he has to be a thorough prop guy for a complex show like this one. In many cases, the characters merely wear masks and costumes. Yet, many of the characters - both major and minor - are a part of the bunruku puppet tradition.
Bunruku, which originated in Japan, has an actor working a puppet, usually about half his or her size, the two of them melding as a character.
The main characters Zazu and Timon (the meerkat), for instance, are bunruku, and thus the puppets have lots of working levers and wires and flaps, all the more likely to break or bend and necessitate repairs by Wilson or his two assistants.
There are full-body, puppetlike animals in the show, too. There is a cheetah whose actor walks in midbody, human legs substituting for cheetah back legs and human head and cheetah head attached by 3-foot-long wires so movements are the same.
There are giraffes whose human parts walk with hands and legs on stiltlike legs. There are wildebeests with huge, scary faces, and Nala, the female lion lead, with a purring mask
"Good. Sometimes it can be complicated, but they have to be ready to go every night," said Wilson.
Wilson, a barrel-chested, middle-aged man with a ready laugh, seems the quintessential fellow for the job. He's half-kid-in-the-candy-store, half artisan. Even after years, day after day, with "The Lion King" backstage, he loves flapping Zazu's wings, combing the Simba mask's facial hair, fiddling with the finger-control motors that move Scar's huge mask up and down.
"It is what I always wanted to do, use everything I learned to make a show work," he said. "I was never very good on stage, but I know I am a good prop guy."
Wilson has to be not just good, he has to be a thorough prop guy for a complex show like this one. In many cases, the characters merely wear masks and costumes. Yet, many of the characters - both major and minor - are a part of the bunruku puppet tradition.
Bunruku, which originated in Japan, has an actor working a puppet, usually about half his or her size, the two of them melding as a character.
The main characters Zazu and Timon (the meerkat), for instance, are bunruku, and thus the puppets have lots of working levers and wires and flaps, all the more likely to break or bend and necessitate repairs by Wilson or his two assistants.
There are full-body, puppetlike animals in the show, too. There is a cheetah whose actor walks in midbody, human legs substituting for cheetah back legs and human head and cheetah head attached by 3-foot-long wires so movements are the same.
There are giraffes whose human parts walk with hands and legs on stiltlike legs. There are wildebeests with huge, scary faces, and Nala, the female lion lead, with a purring mask
The Story of the Lion King & Some of its Original Cast
Should I See It?
What is The Lion King Like?With a pulsing spectacle driven by primal African rhythms, unforgettable tunes (including Elton John and Tim Rice’s Oscar-winning “Can You Feel the Love Tonight”) and a jaw-dropping display of exotic African wildlife brought to life onstage, there are good reasons why The Lion King won a half-dozen Tony Awards in 1998. Intensely physical stage work and countless visual surprises hold your attention from start to finish.Is The Lion King Good for Kids?
Simba’s creepy journey into an elephant graveyard and the death of his father can be as unsettling to young viewers as they were in the original film, but if your brood can handle the movie, there’s no reason not to see it live. You can bet your bottom dollar on Disney’s reliably family friendly fare.
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Buy Tickets
The Lion King – Broadway
Experience the circle of life as Disney’s beloved film comes to eye-popping life onstage.
For more ticket info
1.800.BROADWAY
1.800.BROADWAY
Soophia Stephens as Nayla
This Week In CAS student Sophia Stephens lands lead role in The Lion King
Natalie Lapacek | Sep 03, 2012 | 0 comments
Sophia Stephens as Nala. Photo courtesy of Sophia Stephens.
Stephens, who was an understudy for the The Lion King, landed the lead female role of Nala for many of the showings in St. Louis. She had been understudying the part for eight years and found an opportunity when the actress playing the role went on vacation. Stephens has played the role before, but playing it in St. Louis at The Fox made it even better for her.
“The role has been a joy for me to play. Playing it in St. Louis has been the icing on the cake,” she says.
Stephens’ hometown is Normandy, MO, and she always dreamed of performing at The Fox. She has been in several productions of The Lion King around the nation, but being able to play Nala in St. Louis is especially great since family and friends who could not make it to New York or elsewhere could see her perform, which she says was “really incredible.”
Stephens’ theatre background began when she was child, as she always loved to sing in church and to participate in school plays. She attended SIUE after she graduated high school, and that’s when she felt that her acting and singing really took off.
“I did a couple of shows in high school, but the training really began at SIUE, which is why I credit that school the most for my theatre background,” says Stephens.
Sophia Stephens in full costume as Nala. Photo courtesy of Sophia Stephens.
She also worked at the The Black Repertory Theatre while atttending SIUE and appeared in productions such as Guys and Dolls, Bubbling Brown Sugar, and Damn Yankees. It was at SIUE and The Black Repertory Theatre where Stephens’ love of theatre and “being able to portray reality…[yet] escaping reality into a new world” was kindled.
After her time at SIUE and with The Black Repertory Theatre, Stephens moved to New York City, where she became an understudy for The Lion King. She has loved the opportunities she has had to play Nala, as she enjoys singing Nala’s solo, “Shadowlands,” and popular songs like “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” She finds being able to perform on The Lion King is especially gratifying because of how familiar everyone is with the story and the songs.
“Those are all popular songs, and for a singer, it’s really fun to be able to sing music that people are attached to in some kind of way,” she says.
While she has enjoyed living back her hometown for the last two years and fulfilling her dream of performing at The Fox, Stephens is preparing to move back to New York City next month. While there, she wants to take more theatre classes, start networking, and get some auditions. Her goal is to break into television and film, and she is very optimistic about reaching that goal.
“I really don’t have any fear. I feel like if it’s for me, I’m going to get it…If I prepare myself and believe, everything else will take care of itself,” she says.
Stephens believes that when people have a dream, a direction, and passion, there is nothing stopping them. Her accomplishments and avid willingness to learn shows that she is living proof that this is possible.
Monday, February 25, 2013
The Lion King Classroom
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Paris Puppeteer II<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3byvOcu9cLs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Lion King Style Boston<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rms7G9USvjQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Japanese Lion King<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Veq1PMwLYbQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Germany Lion King<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PAsNammJrjU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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