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An adaptation of the 1994 film of the same name, The Lion King is one of the highest-grossing Broadway musicals. With lyrics penned by the legendary Tim Rice and music composed by the hitmaker Elton John, the theater musical is a delight to young and old. Along with retaining all the original songs from the movie, the stage recreation has introduced new songs with significant contributions from talents such as Hans Zimmer, Julie Taymor, Jay Rifkin and Lebo M. 

The theater piece follows a young innocent cub named Simba. Born to the king of the jungle, Mufasa, Simba starts off his life in the lap of comfort. Always surrounded by friends and family, the young cub knows no hardships. He is quite eager to become “the main event.” Wise old Mufasa leaves no stone unturned when it comes to educating his cub and training him to be an ideal king. All is not well in royal paradise though. 

Simba's uncle, Scar, plans to have Simba killed in a bid to become the next king. In the events that follow, Simba comes very close to death but is saved by Mufasa. Simba survives but his father doesn't. Simba, believed to be dead by his family, grows up and returns to his family home, to avenge his father's death and give his uncle a taste of his own medicine. 

The musical revolves around themes like family, togetherness and good vs. evil. It is believed by many to be a spin on Shakespeare's Hamlet seeing as to how certain events in the plots, as well as themes of both works, seem to match well. The makers haven't credited the tragedy to be an inspiration for their work though.

Although the makers have stuck to the original plotline, the musical recreation differs quite a bit from its parent piece of art. The mandrill Rafiki who is male in the movies was changed to a female in the stage adaptation since the makers realized that the plot lacked female leads. The album saw the addition of various songs like “Grasslands Chant,” “Shadowland,” “Simba Confronts Scar” and “Endless Night.” Many of the pre-existing songs had new Swahili lyrics added to them.

The play was originally directed by Julie Taymor and debuted on Broadway at the New Amsterdam Theatre in 1997 after an initial run at the Orpheum Theatre in the same year. The musical has toured all across America as well as worldwide and has been produced in various languages including French, Japanese, Korean, Spanish and German among others.

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