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.

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.

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. 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.

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. “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.

Remembering Robert W. Demaree, Jr.

The Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts lost its founding dean and original music faculty member on March 24, 2020 when Robert W. Demaree, Jr. passed away at age 82. Conductor, composer, author, lecturer, educator, scholar, and university administrator, Demaree built the music program at IUSB from the ground up, as well as shaping the School of the Arts that was formed during his tenure. He played a key role in the artistic life of Michiana from 1965 until his retirement in 2001. Many of the programs he put in place are still vital and functioning today.

Demaree came to IU South Bend from Indiana University at Bloomington where he earned three music degrees; BM ’62, MM ’63, and PhD ’73, and was a member of the Singing Hoosiers. He interrupted his education for a time while he served his country for three years in The United States Army Chorus.

In an article for the Indiana Alumni Magazine May/ June 1997, Walton R. Collins writes, “When Demaree arrived at IUSB in 1965, the campus had yet to graduate a single student ... At IUSB, there was no music faculty until Demaree showed up, and for the first two years, he was it.” He began as director of the Music Department, then was named chairman of the Division of Music in 1969, and eventually became dean of the newly formed Division of the Arts in 1991, which gave him responsibility not only for music, but also for theatre, fine arts, and communication. Even as his administrative duties increased, Demaree continued to teach the capstone musical theory course Form and Analysis. He enjoyed teaching the class as a way to stay connected to the students.

The School of the Arts today is very much what Bob Demaree put in place at its inception, with the addition of one new department – Integrated New Media Studies. However, even the seed for that department – an Electronic Media track in the Mass Communication degree – got its start under Bob Demaree. “Bob’s understanding of what might actually be possible in an environment like IUSB and the IU system has helped the Raclin School of the Arts endure through the years,” observed Michael Lasater, chair of new media. He brought the first string quartet “in residence” to IU South Bend, and the campus still supports a string quartet – currently The Euclid. He worked to establish the Martin Endowed Chair of Piano, the first piano professorship on any of IU’s eight campuses. Alexander Toradze was appointed the first to hold the chair and establish the IUSB Piano Studio with the purpose of bringing brilliant pianists from around the world to study at IU South Bend.

Many of his contributions to the Michiana community continue on, including the South Bend Symphonic Choir that he helped to form and conducted for more than 20 years. He often said that his involvement with the South Bend Symphonic Choir kept him “alive as a conductor” as his administrative duties focused his attention elsewhere. He helped found the South Bend Youth Symphony and the Michiana Boys Choir. He was also a co-founder of the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and the Firefly Festival. In addition he created the IUSB Piano Festival which ran in 1998 and 2000, bringing musicians, critics, and ensembles together from around the world for a week of workshops, lectures, masterclasses, and performances.

A prolific writer, Demaree authored or co-authored several books including The Complete Conductor, Face to Face with an Orchestra, and The Masses of Joseph Haydn (with Don V. Moses). His final book (with Robert Hamilton) will be published in 2021.

Demaree is survived by his wife, Lynn, his son Robert K. Demaree and daughter Victoria Shively, along with their spouses, and five grandchildren. Making a point of sharing credit for his success with his friends and colleagues, Demaree ended his 1998 letter to staff and faculty that announced his retirement by saying: “Warm thanks to each one of you for your dedication, talent, and friendship. It is an honor to serve IUSB at your side.”

Now it’s our turn. Thank you, Dr. Demaree. Thank you for your vision and leadership that set the school on its journey, bringing it to where it is today. May our parting words come from a short hymn that was your favorite way to end a Symphonic Choir concert, “God be with you till we meet again.”

He created the Arts Foundation Board, still an active group, made up of community members who supported the Arts, to be specifically involved with Arts students and events.

What a difficult task, to honor Robert W. Demaree in a few short sentences! I have been in the unique position of knowing him in many diverse ways for perhaps longer than anyone I know, starting in Bloomington when he was my music adviser before he even came to South Bend. Little did we know then that I would be his first music graduate at IU South Bend, a babysitter/housesitter/ dogsitter for many years, a part of their family at holidays when my own family lived in Florida, accompanist for Bob’s Symphonic Choir and Renaissance Singers, and piano teacher for his daughter Victoria. Later I served as a music faculty member and finally the Division’s Academic Coordinator. In every scenario I found him to be a brilliant scholar and thinker, an inspired teacher (I continue to be influenced in my own teaching to this day by his example), an inveterate punster, and a hugely caring person who was always available for me when I had need of his advice or support. At the risk of not being able to say enough, let me borrow from an old cliche when I say that the world has been a hugely better place for his having lived, and is significantly lesser in his absence.

Christine Larson Seitz

Former music faculty, academic coordinator Department of Music, Division of the Arts Indiana University South Bend

I was recruited by Bob Demaree in 1994 to help establish the mass communication area in what was at that time the Division of the Arts. We immediately hit it off, establishing a very positive working relationship that lasted up to his retirement. I have a substantial background in music, and we would always end up talking about composers and performers with whom we had worked … but we also talked about the entire scope of the arts as they were then being pursued at IUSB. Bob was very well read and was an accomplished writer. He understood the interconnection between all the arts, and put that understanding to work across the Division’s curriculum, mixing faculty members from different departments in performance juries, search committees, and review boards.

I most deeply appreciated his personal interest in my creative agenda. In 2007, not long after he retired, I had a solo exhibition in the then new Warner Gallery. Bob and his wife came back to town for some appointments, and he called me to see if the gallery could be opened after hours – when he could be available – so that he might see my show. We did just that, and enjoyed a very fine evening together talking, as always, about everything. That was Bob Demaree. There wasn’t anything connected with art that he couldn’t talk about.

Michael Lasater, PhD.

Professor of mass communication Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts Indiana University South Bend As someone who both sang for Dr. Demaree in the Symphonic Choir, and worked for him in the School of the Arts, I admired and respected him as a musician, conductor, and administrator. He always set the bar high. He kept the students at the center of his focus, along with his goal of enriching the entire community through the arts.

Two things stand out in particular when I think of Bob. One, he was a perfectionist with the choir. “Breathe here, accent this syllable, count! And while you’re at it, go ahead and read the dynamic marks!” He never let up and we were all better for it! I have him to thank for the best musical experiences of my life. The second thing was how he loved to tell a story. He was an old-school storyteller and you could tell that he relished offering up a good one. He would lean back in his chair. You’d see a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye, and off he’d go! The story usually ended with a big belly laugh that compelled you to join in.

Tamea Rector

Coordinator of student services Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts Indiana University South Bend

Bob Demaree was extremely caring, kind, thoughtful and generous. He had a great sense of humor and when he laughed (which he often did) it was a deep jolly laugh that made you feel happy just to hear it.

He was extremely intelligent and possessed a brilliant mind yet somehow made you feel pretty intelligent yourself. If you were lucky enough to work for him you were extremely lucky. He made you feel important and never belittled you no matter what mistake you would occasionally make. He was firm but fair. One of his favorite phrases which he said often was “that’s fine.” I heard that phrase regularly and the way he said it always made me feel better about the situation even if it was a slippery slope we were dealing with.

I simply adored this man and my life is better because of him. He was one in a million. If we had more people like him in this world it would be a much better and kinder place.

Kathy Manders

Former administrative assistant to Dean Demaree Division of the Arts Indiana University South Bend