More than 75 young performers from across South County will step onstage Oct. 2 as South Valley Civic Theatre opens “Disney’s The Lion King Jr.” at the Morgan Hill Community Playhouse, to run for three weekends.
Adapted for young performers from the Broadway musical and the 1994 animated Disney film, the tale follows Simba, a lion cub prince who flees the Pride Lands after his uncle Scar kills his father, the king Mufasa.
Guided by the mandrill Rafiki and his new friends Timon and Pumbaa, Simba must eventually return home to reclaim his throne.
The show features iconic songs from the animated film, including “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King,” “Circle of Life” and “Hakuna Matata” alongside new pieces exclusive to the stage adaptation.
Maria Aitken, a longtime SVCT theater parent making her debut as a producer, said she signed on in part because of her love for the story.
“I love ‘The Lion King,’” Aitken said, noting that the biggest challenge has been coordinating costumes, animal puppetry and staging for a cast that numbers around 75 performers ages 7-13.
Because the relatively small venue will be so packed with performers, the young cast itself becomes the show’s scenery, with the animal ensemble carrying much of the visual storytelling that in other productions would fall to sets and props.
“Their voices are the heartbeat of the entire soundtrack,” Aitken said.
Bella Prak, who plays Nala, said the role is her first major part with SVCT after appearing in a roughly 120-person double cast of “Disney’s Descendants: The Musical.” Prak described Nala as an emotional, brave character who survives under Scar’s reign before eventually becoming Simba’s love interest and queen of the Pride Lands by the show’s end.
Rose Perez (“Pumbaa”) and Maya Locsin (“Zazu”) said their characters provide much of the show’s comic relief, while Deklan Jenkins, who shares the role of Young Simba with Charlie Torres, said he’s enjoyed taking on a bigger part with more stage time.
Several cast members pointed to the same message at the heart of the story: to stay true to yourself and lean on family and community, even when things get hard.
“With the right people behind you constantly pushing you in the right direction, you could do anything,” Aitken said.
The 2:30pm matinee on Oct. 10 will be a sensory-friendly performance, with house lights left brighter and sound levels lowered so the show is less overwhelming for patrons who need it. Audience members will be free to move, vocalize or step out and back in without disrupting others, an approach SVCT says can work well for families with kids or loved ones with special needs.
The show runs Fridays at 7pm Oct. 2, 9 and 16; Saturdays at 2:30pm Oct. 3, 10 and 17; Sundays at 2:30pm Oct. 4, 11 and 18; with an additional 7pm performance Saturday, Oct. 10. Tickets are $25 and available at svct.org.
