Lion King, Jr. Behind The Scenes

Join us backstage for Gracie’s recent show, Lion King, Jr. at CAVOD Theater including a moment behind the curtain she will never forget.

In February, Gracie was excited to be cast as Rafiki in CAVOD Theater’s, Lion King, Jr. After playing an understudy role in Tale Of Two Cities she was super excited to be in her first lead role.

Behind the scenes of Lion King, Jr at CAVOD Theater in Lancaster, PA

It takes a lot of work to prep for these shows, but it helps that Gracie is a memorization machine.

Rafiki was a heavy singing role with a lot of lead songs, and despite a natural bias, I can say with confidence, she crushed it.

More than once I shook my head in wonder at the level of professionalism my 10-year-old showed, initiating her own naps after school so she had energy after a week of late-night rehearsals, saving her voice by singing at 70% during practice and in between shows despite a boisterous cast of 42 kids ages 10 – 17.

It was obvious when she lifted her self-imposed vocal rest after the last show, however, because she didn’t stop talking for 5 hours straight. Ha.

Rafiki was unanimously voted best costume, with her linen skirt that reflected all the animals of the Savannah, a metal fork, feathers, and a bundle of fake herbs tied on. Not to mention her hair. Can you guess which character her costume was inspired by?

Jack Sparrow. Not quite as much facial hair or eye liner but I loved what the makeup and costume department did with her.

Alll the respect for the women who designed costumes and makeup for 42 kids.

Before costume.

After costume.

Boom.

So many amazing kids in this cast that supported each other, cheered each other on, and even prayed for each other.

Before Gracie’s opening show, she told me she was standing backstage feeling nervous and Will (Mufasa) asked if she could use some prayer. She said sure and along came Isaac (Zazu) to join in as well. Known only to an audience of One, these six foot tall teenage boys prayed over my 10-year-old daughter, and I doubt she will ever forget it. This is CAVOD.

This scene between Older Simba and Rafiki was my favorite of the show. Trenton and Gracie actually helped to choreograph this scene; the one where Rafiki hits Simba to “teach” him a lesson. Initially, Gracie was to hit him in the leg to minimize potential injury, but neither of them felt it looked authentic.

So they came up with a choreographed move where first she hits him in the shoulder and then by the beat of the music and a cue between them she swings her staff, hard and fast, over his head while he ducks. The final scene looked incredible, but she may or may not have cracked her plastic staff more than once on Trenton’s back while rehearsing it.

Clearly, no lasting harm was done, and I know for a fact his sisters happened to love the singing and dancing monkey who hit their brother with a stick.

Recognize the director? Alexander Weaver played Gracie’s dad in Tale Of Two Cities.

Alex and all the crew, from the stage managers to costume and set designers, did such an incredible job letting 42 kids be kids while knowing how to reign in the chaos to get it done. That is a gift and the crew, led by Alex, deserves a lot of praise.