"Giraffes strut, birds swoop, gazelles leap! The entire savanna comes to life and, as the music soars, Pride Rock slowly rises out of the stage. This is "The Lion King."The Lion King, from tomorrow (July 18th) until October will stage no less than 100 performances to eager Shanghai musical enthusiasts, at the Grand Theatre. The hugely successful animated motion picture we all remember takes on a new life as Broadway's most successful musical, finding its way to Shanghai for the first time following its 1997 beginning in Minneapolis. A cast of 40 performers use intricate costumes, African masks, Bunraku Puppetry and Shadow Puppetry to tell the trials and tribulations of a young lion prince called Simba, born to carry on the reign of the Kingdom, after his father King Mufasa. But as in all good stories there is evil lurking - Mufasa's brother Scar, who is yearning for the throne himself. Scar kills the lion king and drives the young prince Simba out of the kingdom into the jungle, where he remains until adulthood. One day he contends with a lioness, and recognizes her as his best childhood friend Nala. They fall in love and Nala convinces Simba to return to his kingdom and to end the cruel regime of his uncle.
