The Lion King: What’s so great about a zebra?

On November 17^th, 2010, Stephen Evan Washington came to our class to talk about his experiences in the art and media industries. All I had been told was that an actor from Broadway’s The Lion King was coming to speak to us. I saw The Lion King last January, so the play was still pretty fresh in my mind. I absolutely loved it, so of course I was excited to learn that I’d be able to talk with one of the people who performed in the production. As the 17^th grew nearer, my anticipation grew as well. Who would be talking to us- Mufasa, Scar, Simba? Whoever it was, I couldn’t wait to learn about behind the scenes of The Lion King.

When I entered the screening room of the Macaulay building on 67^th street, I noticed that two of the people in the room were already half asleep. Not many students seemed too excited, and Washington was standing shyly at the front of the room. Finally he began to speak, and he quickly introduced himself as a dancer. This quick introduction was followed by a 10-minute clip of him dancing in a broadway production. I have to admit that I was a little disappointed at first. Not to say he wasn’t a talented dancer- I could definitely recognize that he was a skilled performer from this clip. However, I expected to be hearing all about The Lion King by this point, and my patience was growing thin.

After the clip, Washington talked a little more about his history, until he finally got to his involvement in The Lion King. I couldn’t wait to hear whom he played, and when he revealed he played the role of a zebra, I was dissatisfied. A zebra?!? I was expecting more, though I was still interested in hearing about the role. Unfortunately, Washington made it seem like being in the Lion King was not really a significant time in his career. He spent most of the time discussing injury policies, makeup, and wages. Since he wouldn’t elaborate on portraying a zebra on Broadway, I went ahead and asked him how he took on the form of a zebra.

Washington’s answer to my question was much more fascinating than anything he had said before. He explained how he spent hours observing real zebras (on television, at least). The Lion King hires staff specifically for the purpose of training their actors to learn how an animal moves. Not only must they learn to embody the animal they are portraying, but they must do this while wearing costumes and headpieces that can be as heavy as 20 pounds. I couldn’t imagine dancing while carrying such heavy weight, and my respect for Washington rose immensely.

After he talked about his past, we all headed down the basement to learn how to dance. What made this a unique experience is that we were not just learning to dance- we were learning to dance like wildebeests.  Washington had us line up in rows, and taught us a simple side-step route routine. We simply had to jump on each foot in a pattern- “right, left, right, left, right, right”, with slight variations. Even though I could see that the dance moves we were being taught were simple, I still had trouble sticking to the patterns. In fact, it seemed as though the entire class had trouble with this short routine. When we all attempted to dance in unison, it looked like something out of a rendition of The Lion King performed by 1^st graders. Washington was patient with us, and everyone had fun trying to keep up with him.

This short dance lesson made me realize how difficult it would be to play any role in The Lion King. When I saw the play on Broadway, I didn’t even focus on the actors who were behind the masks of the animals. Their acting and portrayal of the characters were so accurate and natural that I almost forgot they were human. In the scene where the wildebeests are stampeding, I remember thinking how they all flowed together as one, and how realistic everything looked. Before talking to Washington, I had never even considered how wearing costumes would affect the difficulty of the acting and required movement.

Overall, meeting with Washington revealed how competitive the theater business is today. There are so many talented performers competing for the same few roles, and these roles require weeks of training and practicing to perfect. Even the smallest roles, ones that might not even get noticed while watching a show, require a lot of skill and determination. I know I’m not cut out for the theater business, but I am extremely impressed by the talent that can be found in this industry. I feel ignorant for initially being disappointed to learn that Washington was just a zebra in Broadway’s The Lion King, but I could not be more pleased with how the lesson turned out.