Lion King:
behind the seams By Brianna Liras
Lion King: The Musical came to the South Bend community at the Morris Performing Arts Center in March 2020. This news sparked excitement in the hearts of Broadway and Disney lovers within the Michiana area. The musical retelling of the Disney classic: The Lion King, brings in new elements with realistic, detailed puppetry, and audience interaction.
For every show she has worked during the past 18 years, Cole has taken away a new skill that she incorporates into her work at IU South Bend. If students in her costume class shop have questions, Cole can give them real-world examples from her professional experience, providing an exceptional resource for students at IU South Bend.
Aimee Cole, senior lecturer in Theatre at IU South Bend, has been working with the Morris as part of the wardrobe crew for 18 years. Cole is also very passionate about Disney and puppetry. Cole once aspired to work with Jim Henson, the mastermind behind the Muppets. Disney is a very big part of her life, as she takes multiple trips a year with her family to the most magical place on earth.
For the Lion King, Cole was able to take a portion of theatre students to see the magic that the Disney spectacle had to offer as the students piled in the Morris on opening weekend to see the show. People have asked Cole if working behind the scenes of a production takes away part of the magic that appears in the final product.
When Lion King announced it was coming to the Morris, she was excited for the opportunity to work behind the scenes, and combine all her passions of Disney, puppetry, and theatre into one job. Cole’s main responsibility on Lion King was repairing beadwork on the costumes. Part of what makes the costumes so spectacular to the audience is the amount of detail that is put into them up close. For example, a single corset’s intricate pattern has multiple rows of extremely small beads. Cole was responsible for repairing the beadwork on the corsets and collars, which would be under repair up until 30 minutes before the show started each night. This was a requirement before every show. On top of this responsibility, she oversaw dressing a small section of the cast. As detailed and fragile as each of the costumers were, to prevent damage most of them were hung from above on harnesses instead of the traditional practice of laying them out on a table. Cole dressed cast members by lowering the costumes onto the actors and fastening them before removing them from the harness.
“Every show is a collaboration of artists, those that work behind the scenes, such as costume designers, make up artists, choreographers and cast members, that contribute to the magic of the final show. Seeing it all come together, there is nothing like it,” Cole explained. “Everyone has the same goal, to give the audience the best show possible,” Cole says. With the Lion King, this was no different. Even as big of a Broadway musical the show has become, Cole explained that cast members still were very humble. “The cast member who played Simba would go out of his way to make sure to greet everyone he saw, cast member or crew, and they would help ease the tension before the show,” Cole recalls. One of the reasons Cole has stayed working in wardrobe for 18 years is because the atmosphere is extremely welcoming, encouraging, and satisfying. Due to government regulations from the Covid-19, the show was unfortunately shut down early. Even though the show was cut short, the Lion King was still a magical experience Cole will add to her long list of amazing accomplishments. 69
