The Lion King: Tiny Desk Concert

Josh Rogosin, November 11, 2022 Actors and musicians on Broadway have a grueling performance schedule: eight shows a week with only Mondays off. Yet the band and cast of The Lion King were ecstatic to spend their one free day traveling from New York to Washington, D. C. to celebrate 25 years of the iconic musical with a performance at NPRs Tiny Desk. Many of the songs written by Elton John and Tim Rice will be familiar like the Oscarwinning Can You Feel the Love Tonight and Hakuna Matata. But the cast also treated the enthusiastic Tiny Desk crowd to songs written just for the stage. They Live In You wasnt in the original movie, but is sung in the show by Mufasa (L. Steven Taylor) to his cub Simba (Brandon A. McCall). The young lioness Nala sings Shadowland , another gem from the musical sung by Pearl Khwezi (the first South African cast in the role). Infused throughout the music of The Lion King is spinetingling African rhythm and language. Its as captivating as the gro