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Who better than a Lion to direct the Arvada Center’s production of Sundiata, the Lion King of Mali?
Michael Lion laughs with delight at the link between his name and the play’s title, and quips that he’s no cub when it comes to the performing arts. After all, Lion won the ’98-’99 Denver Drama Critics Best Actor Award for his role in Pump Boys and Dinettes. But aside from the serendipity of his name, he is attracted to the time-honored legend of Sundiata because it makes great theater. “It’s the story of a young boy overcoming obstacles in a unique way,” says Lion. “It’s encouraging and an awful lot of fun.”
If it seems like the metro area’s getting crowded with lions, it’s true: The Arvada production, which runs through May, will overlap with Disney’s high-profile Lion King at the Buell Theatre. But Lion’s not worried that his show, written by David Schechter, Scott Davenport Richards and Kirsten Childs, will be overshadowed.
“I think it’s a fortunate coincidence,” he says. “These are both great shows.”
Lion takes pride in a production that he calls “mini-Broadway” for kids. “I wanted this play to be a living story that is almost movie-like in some regards,” he enthuses.
Innovative props and puppetry help bring Lion’s vision of cinematic theater to life. The seven cast members take turns donning cloaks with human figures attached that represent the royal subjects of Mali. The actors also double as the moving parts of life-sized animals that befriend Sundiata. Designer Cory Gilstrap’s creations include a chattering mynah bird, a lumbering elephant and a pulley-operated hawk that swoops threateningly close to the audience. Ambient sounds re-create the jungle and savanna where the story unfolds.
Lion says he has drawn meaning from the legend.
“Enthusiasm for life is the thing that is the most wonderful about this show,” he declares. “It’s good to be alive. This is your life — and it’s not a dress rehearsal.”
