Several dance and musical numbers lean into the African roots of the “Nants’ Ingonyama” chant from “Circle of Life,” with boldly colored costumes and Zulu lyrics by Lebo M. All of the familiar Elton John/Tim Rice tunes are present and accounted for-“I Just Can’t Wait to Be King,” “Hakuna Matata,” “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” and more-but they’re weighted heavily into the first act, leaving a second act that emphasizes other songs with a less playful side. Structurally, the stage version takes some getting used to for anyone with dozens of viewings of The Lion King ’94 in their heads. And nearly every one of those ways contributes a sense of mystery, majesty and emotion distinct from the playfulness of the source-material, while still remaining family-friendly. From elaborate headdresses to puppets, from shadow-play to birds spun overhead on wires, animal characters are brought to life in every conceivable way. Julie Taymor’s stage adaptation of the 1994 Disney animated hit is itself 25 years old by now, so the particulars of how she visualizes the narrative-still a loose interpretation of Hamlet, with the young lion Simba (played as a youth during this performance by Jaylen Lyndon Hunter, and as an adult by Darian Sanders) dealing with the death of his father Mufasa (Gerald Ramsey) and the usurpation of the throne by his uncle Scar (Spencer Plachy)-might already be familiar in theory to theater-goers. It’s an eye-popping demonstration of stagecraft-and it’s a magnificent demonstration of how many different ways there can be to tell a story with genuine creativity. That’s when the aisles of the Eccles Theater become part of the procession to Pride Rock for the presentation of the young lion prince Simba, as actors in massive costume frames bring elephants, rhinos and other creatures of the savannah close enough to touch. It takes only a few minutes of the touring production of Disney's The Lion King for anyone unfamiliar with this version to realize it’s a completely different beast from its film cousins. Darian Sanders as Simba in The Lion King.

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