View from the Green Room: Hakuna Matata on Mattie's Hill
Presentation Secondary TY students production of the Lion King JR. Photo: Joe Evans
Hakuna Matata means no worries and, in these troubled times, the Pres’s warm and vibrant production of The Lion King Jr wrapped the Mattie’s Hill audience in a web of fun, colour and love that well deserved the final standing ovation.
Imaginative costumes, a constantly changing jungle set, superb lighting, great singing voices, clever choreography, and a hall that becomes part of the production.
The school’s annual production is confined to Transition Year students and this year’s cast is studded with talent that I regularly see in school shows. The new Senior Cycle Drama Studies course also facilitates student involvement in backstage and tech support for the production.
From the moment Leah Barden’s eccentric shaman Rafiki chants in Zulu ‘Here comes a lion, Father’, the audience settles in for a treat.
Somehow the sun rises on a whole jungle of animals, weaving their way up through the hall to their own rhythm, with birds fluttering over the heads of the audience, to worship Aisling Phelan’s weighty Mufasa as he surveys his massive kingdom.
We all know what’s coming – Mufasa’s younger brother Scar (a deliciously cynical Amina Shabina) wants the throne. He murders Mufasa and drives the rightful heir, young Simba (the excellent Lily Drohan) into exile and away from his true love, young Nala (the warm and sympathetic Eve Hennessy). But young Simba grows to become Simba (heroic Hanna Power), finds his inner self and his true love Nala (feisty Megan O’Shea Cronin), defeats Scar and reclaims his kingdom.
In between that simple script is a whole world of fascinating characters that are all brought to life by a superb cast. The score is a musical delight with tribal rhythms and swelling African themes driving the songs forward. Solos like Nala’s ‘Shadowland’ and Simba’s are very special ‘I am’ moments in the musical but the ensemble work is to die for. ‘I just can’t wait to be king'…'He lives in you'…'Grasslands chant'…'Be prepared'…and, of course, that wonderful ‘Circle of Life’ that bookends the entire show.
The cast deliver these complex melodies and harmonies with their tricky rhythms with ease and the impact on the audience is powerful. There are some really special performances here. Amina Shabina’s comic and puppet antics with Zazu, the somewhat anxious, loyal hornbill bird shines in the ‘Morning Report’, as do Elodie Dooley’s funny meerkat Timon and Molly Simpson’s hilarious Pumbaa, the smelly warthog with body odour issues, who begin ‘Can you feel the love tonight?’ Lionesses, hyenas and Prideland animals all combine to make The Lion King Jr a powerful ensemble of characters with their own songs to sing and stories to tell.
Director/Musical Director Mark Scanlon works wonders with his cast and lighting to create an animal kingdom that rocks around the hall. Tempi are spot on and the rhythms of the Zulu landscape anchors the show. Choreography from Pat Grant involves the entire cast and brings great energy to the show.
Standing ovation from the Mattie’s Hill audience is well deserved.
