Wild animals take the Aloha Theatre stage this weekend.
A cast of lions, hyenas, zebras, elephants, wildebeest and a hornbill, warthog and meerkat, among others, played by Innovations Public Charter School students bring to life Disney’s The Lion King Jr. All the characters from the 1990s Disney classic are there, from Mufasa and Sarabi, Simba and Nala, and Timon and Pumbaa, to Scar and his cohort of hyena, Shenzi, Banzai and Ed.
Playing Simba is seventh-grade student Nick Wong, who has a voice and dance skills. The role of the lion cub, who faces a variety of tribulations that introduce him to a colorful cast of friends — and enemies — that take him full circle to assuming his rightful place as king of the Pridelands, is one Wong’s been looking forward to since last school year.
“I’d been thinking about it for a while,” Wong said, explaining that the school each year votes for what play it will put on the following year. “I really wanted to get this part, so then I auditioned and I got it.”
What is it about the little golden fur ball that draws Wong?
“He’s very energetic and he’s a funny character,” he said, shortly before performing the ever-famous “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” scene with Nala.
While it’s fun to be the good guy, someone has to be the bad guy — the villain, said Shiloh Pinto, an eighth-grade student playing the role of Simba’s uncle, Scar. Scar is a lion scorn with jealousy for his brother Mufasa’s reign over the Pridelands and Simba’s future assumption of the throne.
“I’ve always been interested in the villain character because I believe they are what makes the play so interesting ‘cause they make all these things happen,” she said, “you wouldn’t have the stampede, the mourning, you wouldn’t have most of the fun songs without the villain.”
Her favorite scene is when she herself, of course playing Scar, is finally defeated at Pride Rock and banished from the Pridelands, allowing Simba to assume the throne and thus continuing the “circle of life.”
“The final scene is the best. It’s where Simba challenges me (Scar) and we’re up Pride Rock battling it out,” she said, before adding, “and I get to yell at his (Simba’s) mom (Sarabi) because that’s fun.”
Curtains lift at 7 p.m. this evening for the first of a trio of performances at the Kainaliu theater. The show continues at 7 p.m. Saturday and then closes with a matinee at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Three three dozen fifth- through eighth-grade students taking part in the production have been working on the condensed Broadway musical since about January with once weekly after-school rehearsals that were ramped up in the week ahead of tonight’s premiere.
“It’s cool to be able to see them grow and be comfortable as a group and kind of more comfortable being on stage, putting all the dances together,” said Andrea Lindborg, who teaches at the Kailua-Kona public charter school and is the musical director. Tiffany Katsunai is director.
“The kids are amazing and they are singing their butts off,” she added. “They are so good. It’s really amazing from the costumes to the lead characters to just the overall experience of it.”
Lindborg, who also teaches chorus, is most impressed with the group’s harmony this year.
“I think this is the first year they are really going to nail the harmony part,” said Lindborg, adding that creating harmony among boys and girls in the school has been a challenge.
The school through its after-school Fine Arts Mentorship Experience (FAME) program has put on plays since it opened in the early 2000, she said. Recent productions include “The Little Mermaid,” “Peter Pan,” “Alice in Wonderland,” and “Beauty and the Beast.”
The Lion King Jr. is a condensed, 60-minute version of the Broadway show geared for middle-school performers. Disney licenses accredited schools to produce an adaptation of the one-of-a-kind musical, according to Music Theatre International, which manages the process of licensing on behalf of Disney.
Though condensed, it still features music and lyrics like the “Circle of Life” by Elton John and Tim Rice, supported with additional music and lyrics by Lebo M. and Mark Mancina and Jay Rifkin and Hans Zimmer. It is based on the book by Roger Allers and Irene Mecchi. The children bring it all to life, singing other Lion King classics as “I Just Can’t Wait To Be King,” “They Live in You,” “Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” and of course, “Hakuna Matata.”
“I hope they can see it’s fun and even though we worked hard on it it’s something fun we like to do,” said Lily Eastman, an eighth-grade student whose voice opens the show belting the opening Swahili lines to the “Circle of Life.“ “School kids can be something much more than just teenagers.”
Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for those younger than 18. Tickets can be purchased online at www.apachawaii.org.
Info: www.apachawaii.org. ■