Let Me Hear You Roar!

Aimry Maher as Young Simba (left) and Benjamin Qualls as Mufasa (right) in The Lion King KIDS at the Waukesha Civic Theatre. Photo credit: Andy Holley.

A review of The Lion King KIDS

by Benjamin Earnest, age 13

From the original Broadway show turned into a kids’ version, Waukesha Civic Theatre put on The Lion King KIDS with a cast full of talented kids, starting rehearsals on September 8th and shows from October 2nd-5th. All the kids worked on this 35-minute show every weekday for 2-3 hours a day to make it the best it can be.

This casting did really feel like I was actually in the Disney animated film. Molly Guilfoy (the actress portraying Scar) shows how sassy and manipulative Scar is to Simba at his young age in classic Disney villain style, and the show stopping number “Be Prepared” just sent chills down my spine. Some other very talented actors are Zoey Cephas, Vivian Brockmann, Kennedy Freiberg, Lucy Berthold, and Pensee Maher who all play Rafiki, the narrator of the show. In the opening number all of their solos were well sung, and throughout the show all worked together in unison. Jordan Staacke and Chloe Blend who play Timon and Pumbaa worked as the perfect comedic duo along with all the other kids.

The costume designer (Jessica Podemski) went all out with the makeup and costumes to make each actor look like their own character. With the Rafikis, they all looked almost identical to the real character from the movie. Each ensemble member has their own character instead of just being “ensemble.” 

Many of the songs were in African languages, which may be a challenge to this age group, but it seemed like they got onto the hang of it pretty quickly in the brief rehearsal process. Their quick scene changes really were impressive while the narrators were speaking.  Sometimes it was a bit hard to hear them sing or speak, but that is natural for growth in projecting to the audience.

In general it was really fun to see kids perform with such energy and it was pretty 

entertaining. The Lion King KIDS was a good way to introduce WCT’s Academy shows for the season.

Catch future Academy productions at the Waukesha Civic Theatre!