Now what?
Another Broadway show isn’t necessarily the answer, and neither are Broadway prices.
The Lion King’s greatest strengths are in the way it’s imagined and executed by director Julie Taymor. Check out her films, and even some of her opera work is available on video. Find the PBS series “Behind the Scenes,” which studies creativity. Taymor is featured. And watch for her next film, “Across the Universe,” due to be released in September.
Look for work by similar artists, like Mary Zimmerman (whose “Metamorphoses” blew away Playhouse in the Park audiences a couple of seasons back.) Watch for touring international companies, which aren’t leashed by comercial formulas.
If your youngster was caught up in the dance, know that choreographer Garth Fagin is one of America’s great contemporary dance artists. This is contemporary dance filtered through a Broadway musical, which is becoming more and more common. “Spring Awakening,” Broadway’s top new musical, has legendary Bill T. Jones as choreographer.
You don’t even have to leave Cincinnati to see great contemporary dance. Check out the Contemporary Dance Theatre series that, like “The Lion King,” is housed in the Aronoff Center. And Cincinnati Ballet’s final entry this season is “Twyla Tharp, Plus” on May 18-19.
Taymor’s puppets and masks are astonishing – and they’re all based on ancient forms from around the world. Visit the library, visit the video store then find an opportunity for hands-on experience for interested kids.
Cincinnati Area Puppetry Guild celebrates National Day of Puppetry a week early, with an afternoon show on April 21. The show will be strictly family stuff, but there are professional puppeteers who are well versed in puppetry forms from around the world and who’ll be delighted to answer questions and steer a youngster who asks in a more challenging direction.
