Don't miss The Lion King, Jr.!
What: NHI’s Production of The Lion King Jr.
Where: Oconomowoc Arts Center
When: March 3-5 at 7 p.m. There is also a matinee on March 5th at 1 p.m.
Tickets: Available at the OAC Box Office - $10 for all reserved seats. Click here for tickets.
Nature Hill students are busy getting ready to go deep into the Prideland of Africa to bring the story of Simba, Mufasa, Nala, Rafiki, Timon and Pumbaa to life as they prepare for their production of Disney’s The Lion King Jr. opening March 3.
With 58 cast members and 35 crew members involved in the creative production, “The Lion King Jr.” is the largest show Nature Hill has ever presented. This year’s show also marks the 25th anniversary of middle/intermediate level theater in the Oconomowoc Area School District. Nature Hill students are excited about this milestone and look forward to making their own mark on school history performing on the Oconomowoc Arts Center’s stage.
Both the cast and crew have many challenges for this show. For the cast, that challenge is to bring these well-known African animals to life. Cast members needed to do a lot of research in order to figure out how to portray their animal on stage. Learning how to pronounce words from different African languages has also taken students to the internet for research. The crew members face the challenge of creating the many different settings for the show. Crew members need to quickly change set pieces to change Pride Rock to the grasslands of Africa, the desert, the jungle, an elephants’ graveyard, and then back to Pride Rock.
The Lion King is currently one of the most popular musicals on Broadway. NHI students are so excited to bring all of the great Disney music from this show to the OAC stage. The show’s most popular songs are all a part of this production: Circle of Life, I Just Can’t Wait to Be King, Be Prepared, Hakuna Matata, He Lives in You, Shadowland, and Can You Feel the Love Tonight. Because NHI’s production is the junior version of the show, songs from both the beloved movie and the Broadway stage are incorporated.
(Photo-Rebecca Seymour. L to R: Callahan Cowles as Pumbaa, Charlotte Grider as Timon, Lily Bolan as Rafiki and Brenna Remmel as Zazu.)