Majestic roar

By Culture Vulture

I am not going to compare The Workshop Players' production to any big budget Broadway show: resources are limited here in Sri Lanka and it would be inappropriate to draw a parallel.

Having said that, Jerome de Silva's musical - based on the hit Broadway show - was absolutely fabulous on the opening night. There are so many positive things to be said about the production that one hardly knows where to begin. For starters the costumes were brilliantly designed by Senaka de Silva. Combining bold tribal African-style kaftans and wraps with fantastic puppetry Senaka has created costumes that were as much props in themselves as garb, stood by themselves as a visual treat and were well worth the price of a ticket just to see.

The lead characters wore headdresses of stylised lion-faces and richly feathered birds whilst the ensemble had the most fun geared up as zebras, cheetahs, giraffes and even an elephant. Most of the ensemble costumes had moving parts and these were operated by the actors in beautifully synchronised movements, the human limbs moving in graceful symmetry with the prosthetic ones. The costume/prop concept extended even to blades of grass and the leaves of trees. A wonderfully fresh concept that meant that no player merely filled in the gaps on stage; each one contributed to the whole experience, the auditorium coming alive immediately after the break with frenetic energy on the stage and fluttering swooping birds filling the hall.

The acting, as is usually the case in musicals took something of a back seat to the singing and dancing and it is here, if anywhere that the production was a little short of expectations. Nishanthi Hettiarachy was fairly wooden as Nala and Sanjeev Jayaratnam, normally so good on stage, somewhat laborious in his portrayal of the majestic Musafa. The rest of the cast was superlative and the ensemble played its part by turning in excellent performances in the background.

Noeline Honter was very good as Rafiki, the shamanistic (and off-its-rocker) baboon. She capered and cavorted with transparent glee, clearly revelling in her performance and going completely against type as the conservative singer we see on television. The hyenas were very funny and played their roles in a most cartoon-like manner. Samantha de S. Wijeyeratne as Banzai was the pick of the litter as she didn't go for over-the-top slapstick and maintained a great sense of comic timing throughout her performance. Surein de S. Wijeratne as Timon and Sanith de S.Wijeyeratne as Pumbaa were absolutely hilarious. Surein played his part in a roguish "who me?" style while Sanith (whose warthog costume was one of the best on stage) was the perfect blunderbuss sidekick.

Jehan Aloysius as the evil Scar was at his sneering best and the more I see of him the more I am impressed by his versatility as an actor. His posturing, preening and twisty-mouthed cynicism hit the target on the bullseye once again. The best performance of the night though came from Shenoj de Alwis as the prissy, fussing dodo, Zazu. Besides handling his difficult prop/costume with aplomb, Shenoj epitomised his character's matron-aunt personality with his constant slightly disapproving expression and his excellently modulated voice, which wavered from reedy petulance to tut-tut-ing old fogey with impeccable timing. He matched his costume's preening with dandy little skips around the stage and warbled his way through a rendition of "I've got a luvverly bunch of coconuts" that will remain in the memory tickling the funny bone for a long time to come.

And so on to the music, the singing and the choreography. The soundtrack was very professional and did justice to Sir Elton John and Tim Rice's score. The lighting was subtle and matched the scenes very well - an angry throbbing red when Scar plots against Mufasa; a lush green for "Can you feel the love tonight".

The choreography by Jerome de Silva and Surein de S.Wijeyeratne was brilliantly executed by the enthusiastic cast whose energy gave eloquent expression to the vibrant African dances. The singing was mostly very good. The chorus was excellent throughout and the only criticism one could level at them was that they drowned out the lead voices once in a while, although this is probably more the fault of the sound crew than the singers.

Kevin Francke as Simba made up for his relatively stiff acting performance by singing beautifully. His fine voice was equally at home with the jaunty "Hakuna Matata" as it was with the powerful "Can you feel the love tonight" and it was sad to see the duet on the latter song flop because the female soloist could not match Francke's range. One feels that the pairing could have been more judiciously chosen bearing in mind that a musical is, first and foremost, about singing and voices. Noeline Honter was in great voice; as with her acting, the sheer exuberance of her singing was a pleasure to experience as she showed off the range and power of her voice. Sanjeev Jayaratnam, whose rich voice made Les Miserables a hit two years ago, was entirely off colour on the night; he did not ever look like he was enjoying himself on stage and his singing lacked sparkle.

Whatever shortcomings there were on opening night may be forgiven though, by the joy of the entire spectacle. The production was rumoured to be beleaguered by sponsorship difficulties (lack of, one should say) and the cast and crew had worked to the bone up to the last minute, but the actual staging of the show was superb. There were a lot of tykes in the theatre and for them this must have seemed like some sort of magic unfolding before their eyes. A standing ovation from an appreciative audience was nothing less than deserved and it would not be hyperbole to say that despite the drawbacks of the stage at the Lionel Wendt and the lack of resources in general, The Workshop Players' production of The Lion King was an absolute triumph.

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