summer 2015 the trombonist
by JANE SALMON
the lion king is
celebrating 15 years The Lion King, Disney’s award-winning musical, is now in its 16th year in London and, as of September 2014, has achieved the most successful box office total of any work in any media in entertainment history.
The stage adaption of Disney’s 1994 animated film opened on Broadway in November 1997. Following this encouraging start, the show made its debut in London on October 19th 1999 and has been running ever since in the West End’s Lyceum Theatre, a venue previously popular for rock concerts and television broadcasts in the 1960s and 70s. The production features an expansion of the film score, which had music and lyrics by Elton John and Tim Rice, with additional material from Lebo M, Mark Mancina, Jay Rifkin, Julie Taymor and Hans Zimmer. Director Julie Taymor led the stage adaptation of the show and made Broadway history by becoming the first woman to win the Tony Award for ‘Best Director of a Musical’. During February 2012, Disney Theatrical Group announced that The Lion King would embark on its first UK tour, launching from Bristol Hippodrome in October of the same year and finishing in 2015. In addition to the record-breaking productions in London and New York, The Lion King can 20
currently been seen in Hamburg, Madrid, Tokyo, Brisbane, Basel and on tours of North American and Japan. The Lion King is only the second show in history to generate five productions worldwide running 10 or more years.
The London Musicians
From the beginning of the London run, Tracy Holloway and John Higginbotham have held the trombone chairs in the orchestra, Tracy playing tenor, and John, bass, doubling tuba. They kindly agreed to share some of their vast experience with me.
How was the show developed during the Broadway to London transfer? Tracy: As this was the second production, the
formula was in place by the time we got to our first rehearsal. However, the Broadway orchestra has three horns and two trombones, we have one horn and two trombones. There was re-scoring to be done by David Metzger; this was done in such a way that it is a trombone part and not 3rd trumpet, 2nd horn and a trombone part altogether, which can be a lip buster, but that has been the case on previous shows I’ve done.
How has the show changed? Do you still use the music? Tracy: Since the start
there have been mainly number cuts and, with different supervisors, changes in articulation and phrasing and so on, which is always a mind-blower when you know the pad from memory. Neither of us have used the music in 14 years - some of the deps even know it from memory! It’s good concentration for the mind to add these changes.