Puppetry in The Lion King on Broadway
One of the best things to do in NYC is to see a Broadway show. For many, The Lion King is the best musical on Broadway. The Lion King is also the perfect choice for your first Broadway show. It’s a family-friendly Broadway show that will appeal to everyone. Here are some secrets of The Lion King on Broadway that will help you appreciate the Disney magic that brings Simba, Mufasa, Zazu, Timon, Pumba and all the rest to life through the art of puppetry.
Of course, if you’re wondering what to do after a Broadway show in NYC, the perfect answer is to walk through Times Square and see your photo on a giant Times Square Billboard. How much does it cost to be on a Times Square Billboard? With Welcome to Times Square, your photo or video could be on a Times Square billboard for 24 hours for as low as $150. Imagine seeing The Lion King on Broadway and then walking just a block away and seeing your family’s photos on a Times Square billboard. This is absolutely priceless.
Types of Puppets Used in The Lion King on Broadway
The Lion King on Broadway uses a wide array of puppetry techniques to make your favorite characters come to life! There are shadow puppets, rod puppets, and even bunraku puppets! There are more than 232 puppets in The Lion King on Broadway. They are made out of carbon fiber, the same materials as airplanes. This makes the puppets extremely lightweight and easy for the actors to carry and manipulate. Some puppets can be operated by one person, for example Timon. Other puppets, such as the elephants, require four people to operate them. The puppeteers for the Gazelles operate three puppets at one time! There is a gazelle puppet on their head, and two lightweight gazelle puppets that they carry in each hand. This is known as “corporate puppetry.” The tiny mouse is a shadow puppet!
3 Elements to Make The Lion King Puppets Come to Life
There are 3 elements that make The Lion King puppets come to life. These 3 elements are: breath, focus, and quality of movement.
Breath literally gives a puppet life. As an experiment, simply extend your arm with your hand outstretched. Now try to make it breathe. What happens if you make your hand “breathe” fast? How about slow? You have turned your hand into a puppet!
Focus is where your puppet looks. For an audience to believe a puppet is alive, they need to believe it is both seeing and responding to the things around it.
The final element is quality of movement. This is what will give your puppet personality. In The Lion King, the character of Zazu can make sharp and sudden movements if he wants to attack a hyena. He can make stiff stilted movements if he is feeling like a stuffy majordomo. He can make sweeping smooth movements if he’s flying happily through the sky. When you watch The Lion King on Broadway, observe the quality of movements different animals have. How is Timon different from Pumba? This will give you an even greater appreciation of the art form.
Mask Work in The Lion King on Broadway
Mask work has a lot of similarity to puppetry. In The Lion King on Broadway, director Julie Taymore purposefully wanted the audience to see both the human actor and the puppets and masks. At the core of each animal character in The Lion King is a human soul. The characters of Simba, Scar, and Mufasa can operate their masks like puppets, so when they’re angry and want more of the animal to show, the mask covers their face more, and when they want to appear very human the mask reveals more of the actor’s face.
The puppetry and mask work all helped propel director Julie Taymor to break the glass ceiling and become the first female director to win a Tony Award. See why so many people across the world have enjoyed The Lion King on Broadway, and book yourself a Times Square Billboard slot after the show!