The Lion King : Pride Rock on Broadway

• Foreword by Thomas Schumacher
• Acknowledgments
• Act I : Conceptualization
• Act II : Development
• Act III : Performance
• Afterword
• Show Credits

The Lion King, winner of six Tony Awards, including Best Musical, is a stunning production directed by Julie Taymor, Tony winner for Best Director and Best Costume Design. In The Lion King : Pride Rock on Broadway, Taymor takes readers on a revealing journey. From the earliest sketches of costume concepts and set design to the trials and tribulations of mounting one of the most complex Broadway musicals in history, this lavishly illustrated volume allows readers an intimate perspective on the long road to opening night.

Known for her singular style as a director and designer of striking costumes, masks, and puppets, Taymor's vision for The Lion King emphasizes the duality of human and animal. Remarkably detailed fabrics, carved masks, and extraordinary makeup bring the characters vibrantly to life. Exquisite sets depict the African savanna, an elephant graveyard, and Pride Rock.

Taymor and her co-designers showcase the mechanics of the production, its stylized imagery, and distinctive puppetry. As the audience experiences the many scenes - gazelles leaping across the stage, thousands of wildebeest stampeding through the canyon, Timon hanging precariously above a waterfall - they become a part of the magic of theater.

Included is how Taymor and her design team worked together to bring this breathtaking production to the stage. Taymor directed actors to find the essence of each character and to achieve the perfect compatibility between person and puppet. Choreographer Garth Fagan, a Tony winner for Best Choreography, drew upon elements from Africa for the extraordinary dance numbers. Lebo M contributed lyrics and arrangements inspired by his own life story and background as a South African artist.

The Lion King : Pride Rock on Broadway offers readers a rare behind-the-scenes look at the creation of one of the most unique and expansive productions ever to grace the Broadway stage.

Julie Taymor is one of the most imaginative and provocative directors and designers working in the performing arts. Her productions range from original musicals and Shakespeare plays - among them, Juan Darien and Titus Andronicus - to classical operas and original films - The Magic flute, Oedipus Rex, Fool's Fire, and others. She has collaborated with such world-renowned artists as Jessye Norman, Seiji Ozawa, and Zubin Mehta, as well as with highly respected stage and film actors, including Robert Stattel and Avery Brooks. For The Lion King, Taymor won a Tony for Best Director and Best Costume Design. Taymor's many other awards include an Emmy for Oedipus Rex, a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, the Dorothy Chandler Performing Arts Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, two OBIE awards, and the Brandeis Creative Arts Award.

Disney meets the avant-garde in this sensational theatrical event that promises to be the most exciting, most spectacular, and most publicized stage show of the decade. The Lion King features a full developmental history of the production, recreated through beautiful artwork, photographs, and behind-the-scenes details.