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w w w. t h i s i s b r i s t o l . c o . u k22 w w w. t h i s i s b r i s t o l . c o . u k 23Thursday, July 26, 2012 Thursday, July 26, 2012

IN a business park on the edgeof Brislington you can eat,sleep and breathe The LionKing. In fact most of thoseinvolved in the new productionprobably do. Walking throughthe doors of the Bath Road

studios a huge banner welcomes youto The Lion King and the words aresprawled across white boards, travelcases, piles of paperwork, on plasticcups and across the front of severalperfor mers’ T-shir ts.

The cast gathered together for thefirst time just weeks ago and now ina makeshift Disney village they arebeing put through their paces inmusic, dance, costume, puppetry andmake-up, building up to openingnight on August 31.

Twenty-two trucks brought inscenery, costumes and puppets toPaintworks ready for the UK’sbiggest touring production.

This will be the first time the WestEnd hit, based on Disney’s classicfilm, will travel the country and allhands are on deck to ensure thatnone of its scale or majesty is lost int r a n s l at i o n .

For each element of the show thereis a specialist team dedicated toensuring each note, each dance se-quence and each mask is exactly as itshould be.

So it’s a bit strange when we walkinto staging rehearsals to hear Nich-olas Nkuna, who plays Simba,singing Music of The Night, a songfrom Phantom of the Opera.

It turns out that Nicholas mostrecently played the title role in themusical in South Africa and it’s amethod associate director JohnStefaniuk is using to demonstratehow to draw on different emotions.

The pair are rehearsing Can YouFeel The Love Tonight – a scenewhere Simba and Nala admit theirtrue feelings to each other. John’snext trick is to whip out a longelastic band which is used to connectNicholas to Carol Stennett, whoplays Nala.

“This physically links you now,”he says. “I want you to keep it tightand move around but keep thattension between you.

“Explore the area and walk to-wards each other, keeping your armsu p. ”

The pair dutifully do as he says,moving, lion-like, around the space,jumping and ready to attack eachother, before starting the song whichends in a kiss.

Once they place their masks on topof their heads you begin to get asense of what this will look likewhen it moves to The Bristol Hip-

With rehearsals for The Lion King in full swing reporter LIZ WEBSTER gets anexclusive look behind the scenes of the Disney musical. In the first of two fea t u re sshe looks at how music, dance and staging is shaping up ready for opening night.

Making magic

he sings a notet h at ’s not cor-

rect, wheneverthe sound isn’t

right, and whenev-er he’s not happy.

Cleveland, who standswithout notes or words,

attempts to correct each partbefore they run through the wholepiece from the beginning.

Clement, who has worked on theshow since the late Nineties, says: “Istarted in London as a musicaldirector but it’s really fun to startfrom scratch with a lot of theseperformers. Some are new and havenever done the show before so it’sreally interesting to see what theybring. We never tell them ‘this is how

it’s supposed to be done’, we see theirindividuality in the performance.

“Each song is just one part of thefabric of the entire show. Here Mu-fasa is talking to his son, who is onlyten. We have to make sure he sings asthough he is talking to his son, it’s afather teaching his son, and it’s veryspiritual.

“It’s about singing the right way,singing the right notes and makingsure they get the idea of the song.”

● The Lion King is being staged atThe Bristol Hippodrome from Fri-day, August 31, to Saturday, Novem-ber 17, at 7.30pm Tues, Weds, Thurs,Fri, Sat, 2.30pm Weds, Sat and Sunmats. Tickets cost £20-£72.50. Tel 0844871 3012.

● The cast and crew of The Lion King a reput through their paces, includingCleveland Cathnott who plays Simba,centre, ahead of the show’s opening atThe Bristol Hippodrome on August 31

“Some have neverdone the showbefore so it’s reallyinteresting to seewhat they bring

Musical supervisorClement Ishmael

podrome stage. Peering through adoor and in another huge studio,Eddy Jackson and Marey Griffithare putting about 35 dancers throughtheir paces.

Each of them is holding a blackvelvet piece of fabric, covering theirface, and although the costumes aresafely locked away you can see howalready the performers are getting afeel for how this will look and howtheir costumes will allow them tom ove.

From there we move to anotherroom where Cleveland Cathnott,who plays Mufasa, is having asinging rehearsal.

The room is set up with rows ofchairs and music stands, each with amusical score in place. In the corneris a piano and a stool, behind whichCleveland stands.

Line by line he is rehearsing thesong, singing to the piano accom-paniment under the tutelage ofworldwide musical supervisor Clem-ent Ishmael.

For those who have ever watched areality-TV talent show it is as thoughClement is almost likethe celebrity explain-ing to a young hope-ful just exactly howthe song should go.

They are rehears-ing They Live in You, asong from Act Onewhere Mufasa tellshis ten-year-old sonabout his future asking.

Barely liftinghis eyes fromthe score hestops Clev-elandwh e n eve r