'Sawyer , you're going out there a youngster, but you've got to come back a star!'. This, line from 42 nd Street, one of the most famous in any Musical, said to an understudy standing in for an established star, could well be applied to Zodwa Mrasi. Standing in for Thandazile Soni in the role of Rafiki. She gave a star-studded performance mixing powerfully delivered vocals with beautifully judged moments of comedy.
And she had to be in top form to hold her own with Jean-Luc Guizonne's understated commanding Lion King Mufasa, played and sung with great authority, and Bath born, Bristol trained Richard Hurst's villainous Scar. Avoiding the trap of turning the wicked uncle into a pantomime villain, he was sinister and evil, always real, but never too scary for a young audience.
They and the rest of a strong company took full advantage of the musical, dramatic and comedic opportunities that set the tone for the evening from the opening moments as the wonderfully masked and costumed characters made their way through the audience onto the stage. This is one of the most stunning openings to any musical, and not surprisingly had the audience voicing their approval and applauding long before everyone had gathered together on stage.
The songs that Elton John and Tim Rice have added sit comfortably beside the original film score, two of them Shadowland, sung with true feeling by Nokwanda Khuzwayo;s Lioness Nala, Rafiki and the Ensemble and Kyle Richardson's poignant Endless Night, perfectly captured the reflective and contemplative moments within the story. With quite a bit of the original film script on view there must be a temptation for players to mimic those seen on screen, delivering the lines with the same tone and intonation. Fortunately, this cast rose above those temptations in doing so keeping the dialogue sounding bright and fresh .
With bright colours and creative puppetry, there is great ingenuity to the creation of each animal, helping to bring a visual treat to the choreography, as graceful prowling Lionesses mingle with hyperactive Hyenas.
This production which has all the high gloss finish and immaculate presentation associated with a Disney production is sure to please its legends of fans now that it has settled in the Bristol Hippodrome until Saturday, July 1st.
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