Raising her voice above the quiet auditorium, Buyisile Zama, as Rafiki, lifts up her bead-lined arms and bellows a welcoming song.
On the stage behind her, the mechanical set design shifts, turning a grey sky into a fiery crimson dawn. Rafiki’s voice resonates, bringing two giraffe, a cheetah and then all the animals towards Pride Rock for the presentation of Prince Simba, the future lion king.
With a new burst of local flavour and a truly African production featuring a full South African cast, including the use of all 11 official languages and Swahili, the long-anticipated musical, the Lion King, will officially open on Wednesday at the new Teatro at Montecasino in Johannesburg.
This is the tenth production of the musical worldwide, and the tenth year since it started its first run on Broadway. But many, including Zama, feel that with the South African run, the production has now come home.
”Lion King follows a bible, like a Lion King bible — it’s similar everywhere in the world … The difference is that now that it’s back home [and] there are extra things that they can put into the production that they couldn’t teach to other people [in foreign productions],” says Zama, sitting on one of the red and dark wood seats in the 1 900-seat theatre that will be home to the show’s cast and crew until September this year.
”Even the creative team, they didn’t have to teach [us] some things. They just said ‘people do your thing and we’ll tell you if it works and if it doesn’t work’, while in other productions it’s pretty strict, because you know they don’t know the culture, they don’t know a lot about South Africa.”
Personally, Zama, who also worked on the Lion King in London and Sydney, says her performance also has a different feel than her shows overseas. ”I’ve always just done [my performances] elsewhere according to the book, but being at home I’ve just been given more freedom, so now I can do my thing,” she laughs.
”Its just coming out of everyone,” Zama says. ”So yes it’s very different, it’s very authentic.”
The Lion King has been tagged as the biggest theatre event in the country thus far.
It features a full South African cast, but is directed by Julie Taymor, original director of the first production on Broadway. The local production also features the talents of Lebo M, who co-produced the show, and a main cast of twelve, as well as other singers and dancers.
The opening will be a big event, with a red carpet and the likes of Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka also in attendance.
Zama is very positive about the recent buzz over South African theatre and the direction that it is moving.
”South African theatre is definitely on the map already, even before the Lion King, but this one is just the [biggest] one yet.
”We had Phantom [of the Opera] and Mama Mia, and knowing this when I wasn’t even in the country, just hearing about it means South Africa really is on the map.
”South Africa is becoming more international; things are coming back into the country … And I’ve just been looking at local productions and on TV, and the standard has gone so high, it’s amazing.
”I’m very happy to be back home,” Zama says about the opportunity to be part of the show.
”And the cast is so together, everyone is so excited … it’s the biggest musical to come to South Africa so everyone is just over the moon. We’re like family already. It’s really amazing, it’s a nice place to be.
”I already feel like I’m home, right here, even away from my own family,” she says.