Solano County: The view towards 2024
By Carla Thomas
Darian Sanders who stars as “Simba” in “The Lion King,” is living a dream, a dream he never anticipated. Sixteen years as a pastor and praise worshiper, Sanders says he was approached by a talent scout. “I wasn’t an actor or dancer, but my now manager, noticed me, coached me, and today I’m living a dream,” said Sanders.
Currently running through December 30 at the Orpheum Theater in San Francisco, Sanders has toured with the production for four years. “The cast is like family and every performance I have the opportunity to enjoy the lively opening scene.” The vibrant production where actors perform in animated costumes representing giraffes, gazelles, and birds surround the audience with a grand entrance in the walkways. Festive music, and cultural calls and inflections of South Africans are infused throughout the inspired production. “I get to take in all that energy prior to my entrance,” said Sanders.
Trained in voice and the trumpet at an early age, Sanders served as a chaplain with the University of Louisville Fellowship of Christian Athletes and worship pastor with regional ministries. Sanders has also performed in Jesus Christ Superstar, Songs For A New World, and Hairspray.
While Sanders says he is having the time of his life, he gives all glory to Jesus Christ and appreciates the unconditional support of his wife Jessica and their 4 year old son, Titus.
The Lion King began as a 1994 animated feature-length coming of age film and tells the tale of Simba, the lion cub who rises to be the King of the jungle.
The Lion King has won more than 70 global theatrical awards including several Tony Awards in 1998 for Best Musical and Best Direction of a Musical.
Julie Taymor, along with designer Michael Curry, hand sculpted and painted every prototype mask that now appears in the iconic “Circle of Life” opening of the show. Their design department spent 17,000 hours building the anthropomorphic animal characters for the original Broadway production, which enables the audience to see the characters as animal and human at the same time.
The tallest animals in the show are 18-foot exotic giraffes from “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” and “Circle of Life” scenes. Actors trained in stilt-walking, climb 6-foot ladders to fit inside the puppets and all together 49 actors bring the 200 puppets to life representing wildebeests, birds, fish, gazelles, lionesses, zebras, and crocodiles.
“The production was beautiful and my favorite part was seeing the costumes up close when they paraded through the audience,” said Denise Hamm who traveled from Silicon Valley. “It’s just a wonderful way to usher in the holiday spirit.”
The tour travels with 12 musicians who play over 80 different musical instruments and five indigenous African languages spoken in The Lion King include Zulu, Xhosa, Sesotho, Setswana, and Swahili. Since its Broadway premiere, nearly 250 South Africans have been employed and Garth Fagan and Lebo M are Broadway’s longest-running Black choreographer and composer.
Performed in nine languages, The Lion King continues to be the highest grossing of any in box office history.
For more information visit broadwaysf.com.
