This article was published in the "Sanlian Life Weekly" No. 50, 2019, the original title of the "Musical About Growth", it is strictly forbidden to reprint privately, infringement must be investigated
Journalist/Rye
Stills from the musical The Lion King
In the real version of "The Lion King" released in 2019, Jon Feiru, who once filmed "The Jungle Book", invited the famous musician Donald Glover and the actor Chevat Egafu to reinterpret the bizarre story of the African savannah in the music of Elton John and Hans Zimmer. Glover said he has loved Simba's story since he was 9 years old, and 25 years later, the little lion is still the hero of his children.
"The Lion King" tells the story of growing up in search of self-identity and value, using the most classic three-act structure in Hollywood: the first paragraph is about Simba's happy life, simba the little lion grows up under the protection of the lion king Mufasa, and the second is its escape and self-finding, running out of the glory country to escape the pursuit of his uncle Scar. At this time, it could neither face the guilt of killing its father nor take on the responsibility of the kingdom, and when it went on its way alone, it met the good partner of Ding Man and Peng Peng. They rescued little Simba, who had fled into distress, and taught him various survival and life skills. Simba later fell in love with Nana, who was a young woman. The third paragraph is revenge after returning to his hometown, in the continuous growth and experience, Simba finally found the lion king's deeply rooted sense of responsibility and courage, walked to the top of the mountain in the heavy rain, and issued a loud lion roar to protect the homeland.
In 1994, when Disney launched this animated film based on an original screenplay, it grossed $312 million at the box office as soon as it premiered, becoming a common childhood memory for many people. 25 years after the release of the cartoon version of the movie, the movie "The Lion King" that relies entirely on CG special effects has been released from a new perspective, but this is not the first breakthrough of the cartoon version of "The Lion King", and the technical "change" has occurred as early as 22 years ago.
In November 1997, after the film adaptation of the Broadway musical "The Lion King" premiered in New York, it was loved by many audiences and became the first choice for family musicals, and Disney approached Thomas Schumacher and decided to put the story on the stage of the musical. Subsequently, he began working with Julie Taymor to try to redefine visual effects and stage props. They draw inspiration from the primitive cultural forms of Southeast Asia and Africa, and through symbolic methods, they combine African masks, shadow puppetry and Japanese bunraku puppetry, breaking through the limitations of space and condensing the vast grasslands into the stage of musicals. The red sun made of silk changes in shade over time, glowing with light waves, as if it were a dynamic and real sunrise, and at the same time alluding to light, enlightenment and the evolution of Simba. 25 animal characters appeared one after another, presenting the spectacular scene of cattle running wildly and tens of thousands of wildebeest horses in the canyon on the stage. The actor's excellent expression interpretation is the highlight of the play, and the costume props also restore the form of the animal.
Jordan Shaw, who plays Simba, Amanda Kunene, who plays Nana, and Ntsepa Pitjeng, who plays Raficci, are all from South Africa and are always together outside of the show. Pi Zhen said: "The long tour life makes them often miss their hometown, but whether it is music or the costumes of the performance, it seems to be able to dispel homesickness." They confessed that they had watched the animation of "The Lion King" since they were young, but they did not feel the heartache of growing up until after participating in the musical. In the eyes of critics, Disney's works are full of childlike fun on the surface, but the content is not superficial, contains enough depth and thickness, literary and entertaining, and adults can see an adult story in it.
Since 1997, the show has been performed by many theater companies such as Broadway and London's West End. In 2020, "The Lion King", produced by "Seven Acts of Life", will also be "stationed" in China, trying to string together the memories of different generations with "Can You Feel the Love Tonight". The song's lyricist, Tim Rice, has written hits like "Don't Cry For Me Argentina," and Hans Zimmer and scored by musician Mark Mancina have scored films like The Last Samurai, The Dark Knight, Inception, and Interstellar. In their works, the opening exclamation of the Zulu language piercing the sky, woodwind and string-led music presents the epic sense of the rushing of life in the African savannah, starting from the track of "Remember Who You Are", the percussion and vocal-led action passage soundtrack and plot gradually reach a climax, combining pop and African primitive styles, and perfectly presenting the inner growth of the Lion King with music. As the theme song "Circle of Life" refers to, "Life is a circle that begins with birth and ends with death." In the process of moving closer to death, it is life. We cannot change the beginning and the end, but we can create infinitely in a limited process and create our own unique life."
<h3 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > "create an emotion."</h3>
Interview with David Kreppel, music director of The Lion King
Triptych Life Weekly: In the music of "The Lion King", in addition to a large number of African drums and music performances, you can actually hear some jazz-style sounds.
David Keppel: Yes. First of all, it's a piece of music that tells the story of the African savannah, so the African drum beats run through the entire musical. African drums are also considered by many scholars to be one of the earliest languages of mankind, and the stilt drums used by our bands, also called talking drums, are a good example. The rhythm of early African tribal percussion expresses the most primitive joys and sorrows of human beings, which is a very artistic and beautiful expression. I think these senses of rhythm can help the characters portray their inner world, and they will also help us understand the plot development of the story.
In fact, many music genres evolved from African music. The reason why we use jazz, big bands, and even orchestra and pop music in the play is to help express the emotions on the stage. The music is more symbolic and modern, and the parts that add lyrics can directly and forcefully express the necessary inner thoughts. For example, the music of "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" is actually very exaggerated, and the musical elements used in it are also very rich; for example, "Cycle of Life" also covers a variety of musical genres, which naturally transitions from a typical African singing voice to a stage chorus, and can quickly bring the audience's emotions into it.
In addition, the music reflects Simba's different stages of growth. The first part of the string music seems to describe his comfortable life and naughty childhood, and then the percussion increases, showing the inner world of a teenager growing up, although there is hatred and entanglement in the heart, but also perseverance and independence. Sometimes, I feel like Simba is like a child in all the audience, after all, people know his story and want to see him grow up.
Triptych Life Weekly: The Lion King musical doesn't seem to be sung as much as other musicals?
David Keppel: No, the singing part of this musical is actually a combination of performance, dialogue, and musical performance, after all, it is not a purely musical story like "Jersey Boys" or "School of Rock", there is no sense of ritual in musical performance, so the singing part should be naturally interspersed.
People familiar with the film know that famous musicians such as Hans Zimmer and Elton John laid a very good foundation for the musical part of the film, and in their music, you can still hear the imagination of African scenes, whether children or adults, will be attracted by the sound of African drums (Djembe) and Kashaka .
As a musician, I've always felt very lucky to be part of the Tour of The Lion King. Because every time we take over a musical, we go to various countries and cities, and the number of performances of the same set of tunes often exceeds 100, and it is a challenge for musicians to play them repeatedly. For example, when I was doing "Mamma Mia", the initial music and performances would excite the whole band, but after a few months, people would feel an aesthetic fatigue with the pop music. I remember when we toured the United States, the musicians said that the music of the musical "The Lion King" has a soul, and at the same time, it has more freedom, and the musicians and actors cooperate more like interaction and dialogue.
Triptych Life Weekly: Let's talk about this song that has been sung for a quarter of a century, "Feel My Love Tonight."
David Keppel: Indeed, that's one of the reasons a lot of people come to see this musical, the song is so famous and emotionally written, but it's not as easy to become obsolete as those hit pops, and it's not as deliberate as typical musical theater music. When the song came out, I think a lot of people were thinking about more than just simba the lion or the story of the African savannah, and I felt that the resonance it created was connected to our lives and memories. So in the play, we don't use that kind of sensational singing, but let it naturally bring out thoughts about love, family and friendship, which I think is the highlight of the whole play, but we don't want to use it too much.
Triptych Life Weekly: How can you keep a musical that has been on the run for 22 years fresh?
David Keppel: It's a difficult thing to do. In the past 22 years, people's lives have changed too much, and technology has continuously affected the creation and performance of the stage, and some traditional musicals have even rigidly added modern elements, such as mobile phones and computers, just to win the audience's laughter. Where I've been, I think most people measure musicals by how good stories are told, not anything else. Although the aesthetic changes are obvious, people will eventually be moved by real emotions.
So in "The Lion King", instead of abandoning the original idea, we have aggravated it. In addition to music, costumes and props are only quietly changing. In fact, the story of this drama is not complicated, it is also about the growth of each of us, and each generation will see their own shadow in Simba, so those changes in mental processes and feelings are the essence of this drama.
On the other hand, it is this industry that can keep each drama fresh. In Places like New York and London, the addition of new actors, young musicians, and creators has kept the musical theater industry alive, and without the addition of these people, there would have been no "Dear Evan Hansen", "Band Visit", "Hamilton" and so on.
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