Inside the Lion King Exhibit, NYC

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I was in Manhattan yesterday and saw a free, limited pop-up exhibit called "Inside the Lion King," located on 42 Street and Avenue of the Americas adjacent to Bryant Park.  The exhibit features 86 museum quality artifacts from the popular, long-running Broadway Disney play called The Lion King.  (All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them and then clicking on them again when they re-open. Use your browser's back arrow to return to the post.)

Even though I was in Manhattan for another important reason which will be revealed in a future post, I could not resist taking some time to view this exhibit after seeing these enticing window displays.

The play has been running for 15 years to "sold out" audiences so it was a treat to see the actual costumes and artifacts used in the show. The masks and puppets are made of carbon graphite, and although they look heavy, they are remarkably light. This is the adult Simba costume.

Demonstrators were on hand to show how the parts of the costumes worked and how puppetry enhanced their realism.

The costumes were beautiful and so creative!

Many are based on actual examples of historic African culture. This is a model of the character Rafiki. The model was made by Madame Tussauds New York.

It takes four people to move the 13-foot tall elephant down the center aisle and onto the stage of the theater during the play!

I could envision the graceful gazelles leaping across the stage as they are held by their puppeteer dancers.

These are the masks for the wildebeests that stampede across the stage during one scene.

Can you imagine seeing the 17-foot ostriches move? The model of the play's character Scar is another Madame Tussaud New York creation.

It was fascinating to see the artwork and intricate detail of the masks and costumes that the actors wear daily up close and......

...to also see models of the imaginative set designs.

Just look at the detail of these costume models and the dioramas of the stage sets from many different productions of the play!

The costumes and puppets are all the work of Julie Taymor’s Tony Award-winning artistry and vision.

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