Synopsis

Act I

As the sun rises, Rafiki the mandrill calls the animals to Pride Rock. She greets King Mufasa and Queen Sarabi before presenting their cub to the gathered animals ("Circle of Life"). Elsewhere, Mufasa's brother, Scar, laments his lost chance at becoming King. Back at her baobab tree, Rafiki paints an image of the cub and asks the spirits to conjure the new prince's name: Simba.

Time passes and Simba grows into a lively young cub ("Grasslands Chant"). Mufasa shows Simba the Pride Lands from the top of Pride Rock and explains that everything exists in a delicate balance known as the Circle of Life. Mufasa warns Simba not to stray beyond the boundaries of the Pride Lands, pointing out a shadowy area in the distance. Zazu, a hornbill who acts as Mufasa's advisor, arrives and delivers his daily report on the state of affairs in the King's domain ("The Morning Report", now cut from the Broadway production).

Simba goes to see his Uncle Scar. The scheming lion piques the cub's curiosity by mentioning the elephant graveyard, where Simba is forbidden to go. Meanwhile, the lionesses go hunting ("The Lioness Hunt"). Simba arrives and asks his best friend, a female cub named Nala, to come with him to the elephant graveyard. He lies to the lionesses about where they are going, and Sarafina (Nala's mother) and Sarabi allow the cubs to go, escorted by Zazu. Simba and Nala formulate a plan and manage to lose Zazu, while Simba brags about his future position ("I Just Can't Wait to Be King").

The cubs go to the graveyard and begin to explore. Zazu catches up, but they are confronted by three hyenas: Shenzi, Banzai and Ed. The hyenas intend to eat the trespassers and they gloat about their find ("Chow Down"). Mufasa rescues the cubs and frightens off the hyenas.

Mufasa is disappointed and angry at Simba's reckless disobedience, and explains the difference between bravery and bravado. Mufasa tells Simba about the great kings of the past and how they watch over everything from the stars ("They Live in You"). Mufasa says that he will always be there for his son. Later he discusses Simba's behavior with Zazu, who reminds Mufasa that he had the same tendency to get into trouble at Simba's age.

Back at the elephant graveyard, Scar tells the hyenas of his plan to kill Mufasa and Simba so that he can become king. He raises an army of hyenas, promising that they will never go hungry again if they support him ("Be Prepared"). Scar takes Simba to a gorge and tells him to wait there. On Scar's signal, the hyenas start a wildebeest stampede into the gorge ("The Stampede"). Scar tells Mufasa that Simba is trapped in the gorge. Mufasa leaps into the stampede and manages to save his son, but as he tries to escape, Scar throws him off the cliff back into the stampede, killing him. Scar convinces Simba that his father's death was his fault and tells him to run away, but as he leaves, Scar orders the hyenas to kill him. Simba escapes but the hyenas tell Scar that he is dead. Rafiki and the lionesses mourn the deaths ("Rafiki Mourns"). Scar claims the throne and allows the hyenas into the Pride Lands ("Be Prepared (Reprise)"). Rafiki returns to her tree and smears the drawing of Simba, while Sarabi and Nala quietly grieve.

Out in the desert, Simba collapses from heat exhaustion. Vultures begin to circle, but are scared away by Timon the meerkat and Pumbaa the warthog. Simba feels responsible for Mufasa's death, but the duo take the cub to their jungle home and show him their carefree way of life and bug diet ("Hakuna Matata"). Simba grows to adulthood in the jungle.

Act II

The chorus, dressed in colorful clothes with ornate bird puppets and kites, begin the Second Act ("One by One"). As the song ends, however, the beautiful birds are replaced by vultures and gazelle skeletons. Under Scar's rule, the Circle of Life is out of balance and a drought has hit the Pride Lands. Zazu, now a prisoner of Scar, listens to the king's woes. The hyenas are complaining about the lack of food, but Scar is only concerned with himself and why he is not loved. He is haunted by visions of Mufasa and rapidly switches between delusional confidence and paranoid despair ("The Madness of King Scar"). Nala arrives to confront Scar about the famine and Scar decides she will be his queen and give him cubs. Nala fiercely rebukes him and resolves to leave the Pride Lands to find help. Rafiki and the lionesses bless her for her journey ("Shadowland").

Back in the jungle, Timon and Pumbaa want to sleep, but the restless Simba is unable to settle. Annoyed, Simba leaves them, but Timon and Pumbaa lose their courage and follow him. Simba leaps across a fast-moving river and challenges Timon to do the same. Timon falls in and is swept downstream. He grabs a branch over a waterfall and calls for Simba's help, but Simba is paralyzed by a flashback of Mufasa's death. Timon falls from the branch and Simba snaps out of the flashback, rescuing his friend. Simba is ashamed that Timon nearly died because of his recklessness.

The three friends settle to sleep and discuss the stars. Simba recalls Mufasa's words, but his friends laugh at the notion of dead kings watching them. Simba leaves, expressing his loneliness and bitterly recalling Mufasa's promise to be there for him ("Endless Night"). Rafiki hears the song on the wind, joyfully realizes that Simba is alive, and draws a mane onto her painting of Simba.

In the jungle, Pumbaa is hunted and chased by a lioness. Simba confronts her and saves his friend, but recognizes the lioness as Nala. She is amazed to find Simba alive, knowing that he is the rightful king. Timon and Pumbaa are confused, but Simba asks them to leave him and Nala alone. Timon realizes what is happening and laments the end of Simba's Hakuna Matata lifestyle ("Can You Feel the Love Tonight"). Nala tells Simba about the devastated Pride Lands, but Simba still feels responsible for Mufasa's death and refuses to return home.

On his own, Simba meets Rafiki, who explains that his father lives on ("He Lives in You"). Mufasa's spirit appears in the sky and tells Simba he is the one true king and must take his place in the Circle of Life. Reawakened, Simba finds his courage and heads for home. Meanwhile, Nala wakes Timon and Pumbaa to ask where Simba is, and Rafiki appears to tell them all the news. The three of them catch up with him in the Pride Lands, where he witnesses the ruin of his home. Timon and Pumbaa distract some hyenas by doing the Charleston, allowing Simba and Nala to reach Pride Rock.

Scar calls for Sarabi and demands to know why the lionesses are not hunting. Sarabi stands up to him about the lack of anything to hunt, angrily comparing him to Mufasa, and Scar strikes his sister-in-law, saying he's ten times the king Mufasa was. Enraged, Simba reveals himself. Scar forces a confession of murder from Simba and corners him. Believing that he has won, Scar taunts Simba by admitting that he killed Mufasa. Furious, Simba recovers and forces Scar to reveal the truth to the lionesses ("Simba Confronts Scar"). Simba's friends fight the hyenas while Simba battles Scar to the top of Pride Rock. Scar begs for his life, blaming the hyenas for everything. Simba lets him leave out of mercy, but Scar attacks again. Simba blocks the attack and Scar falls from the cliff. The hyenas, who heard Scar's betrayal and are still starving, tear him to shreds.

With the battle won, Simba's friends come forward and acknowledge Simba as the rightful king. Simba ascends Pride Rock and roars out across the kingdom ("King of Pride Rock"). The Pride Lands recover and the animals gather in celebration as Rafiki presents Simba and Nala's newborn cub, continuing the Circle of Life ("Circle of Life (Reprise)").

((Here it is, late but still happening! Share your experience of this production with us! Respect the setting, but have fun!))

The Lion King was up there with one of the few movies Sira would confess to watching, and she had seen the play on and off Broadway a dozen times. When she saw the flier she was sure to make it to the Shanachie before the show closed. She'd missed West Side Story a couple of months prior and had been bummed.

From the opening note to close her eyes were riveted to the stage. Anyone who wasn't as enraptured as she was might just spy her mouthing some of the lines as they happened, or along with the songs.

All in all it was a much more pleasant night than she'd had in some time.

outfit

Since joining the STARS program last September, Penny had taken her acting classes very seriously. Pouring all of her extra time into practicing—well, all of her extra time that wasn't devoted to school, homework, drawing, or looking after her baby brother, anyway, she was beyond thrilled to have landed a share of the lead role. Squealing in delight when she had read the cast list, it was virtually all she could talk about in the weeks leading up to the performance.

"Pinned ya!" Her words rang triumphant underneath the stage lights. The grin on her face as she and her co-star 'fought' wasn't just acting, it had been a long time since she'd felt so carefree, so in her element, so happy. "Pinned ya' again!"

***

The curtain call was something like magic. All those lights, all those faces, all the people on their feet. The applause was so loud that it seemed to vibrate up through the floorboards, tickling her feet. After the second bow, she tried to shade her eyes against the harsh glare of the lights, tried to find her father.

He was there, waiting for her by the door as soon as she'd changed out of her costume. Her face was still painted — she'd been offered baby wipes to help pull it off more quickly, but the smell put her too strongly in mind of Ame, and she just couldn't quite bring herself to wipe her face with something she often had to use on her brother's butt. He didn't seem to mind as she ran into his waiting arms, smearing his black shirt with traces of orange and white. He held her close, let her come back down out of the rafters as the overwhelming stimulation of the night's performance washed over her.

It wasn't until she'd gotten a hold on herself and taken an awkward step back that she realized he'd even brought her a flower, just like all the grown up actors were receiving. "Thanks, Dad," she said softly. "Can we go get some ice cream?" She'd never admit it, but there was a tear forming in the corner of her eye as she smiled.

She made all of her lines, as if she had been waiting years to say them. Again, and again. Tag knew what it was like to be corrected by her, even if the correction was playful.

Penny had always loved the arts, but he had not anticipated how much she would love theatre. A small part of him hoped it was because she had empathy and not that she enjoyed pretending that she was someone else in a different set of circumstances. He smiled for her, because she deserved it. She made the tiny mistakes that people who are young and learning make, but the most important part of all of it was that she had a moment to her voice and actions which temporarily inspired the audience to think she was someone else.

"You did well," her Shadow Father said, his arm around her as they walked home. She had, and he hoped some part of her knew it in a way that would carry in with her, into adulthood. That this brief moment of success would be eternal and that she would never doubt her ability. It was easy with age to doubt what you already knew. To feel like a whisper, to feel like your brightness had been taken away from every mistake that had been made. He hoped in times of doubt, in times of grief, that she remembered having pinned the issue.

And having pinned it twice.

02.15.2018

https://78.media.tumblr.com/65e26641c9862bcb77788c1e5e42d853/tumblr_p3we9h0Ms51v05l6no1_1280.jpg

Lirssa Redbane Sarengrave al Amat, fiercely loyal friend, sister, and daughter, died on January 30, 2018.

Saila couldn't have said why she'd picked up a newspaper on the way to the theater that day, only that the impulse had struck her as she passed by a kiosk selling them. While she sat in the dressing room letting the team do their thing with her face and hair, she held the paper in one hand in her lap. Her lips moved almost imperceptibly without uttering a sound as she drew a fingertip from the other hand down over the first page.

"Hey, I know the paint tickles but you gotta sit still for this part," one of the effects artists admonished her gently when her finger stopped short, her strange eyes widening as her mouth fell open. Wordless, Saila fought to hold her composure, to hold still, to resist the impulse to run as the dramatic lioness stage makeup was meticulously applied, but inside she felt her stomach drop.

She knew why she'd bought the paper now, why that awful, uneasy feeling had clung to her like cobwebs since Sunday.

Lirssa.

The two women hadn't known each other well, but they were certainly friendly if not precisely friends. A dozen images came to her immediately, and for once every single one of them was from her own memory. Those rare Sunday mornings on the beach, watching rapt as the two acrobats indulged her curiosity with a demonstration of their craft. Nearly every duel she'd ever been to, the redhead balanced on the back of her chair with her feet in the seat, cheering wildly — and sometimes very colorfully — for every single person in every single match. Classes at the RCCA: Saila wasn't in any of Lirssa's classes (though a valid argument could have been made that she should have been), but the youth instructor had always spared a smile for her when they saw each other amid rounding up all her eager little pupils. Wednesday nights at the Red Dragon — the only bartender she'd ever made a point to support, the ridiculously named bourbon-based cocktail the woman had concocted just for her.

Being Cats together right here in the Shanachie.

"Oh no!" The special effects tech who was seating her head-dress for her broke into Saila's thoughts, a note of alarm in her voice. "I didn't accidentally poke you in the eye, did I?" Her contrite face was filled with concern as she reached for a sponge to dab carefully at the corner of the mercurial teen's make-upped blue eye where a single shimmering tear spilled over, threatening to streak the black paint that ringed it.

"Hm' Oh, no' no I'm okay. I'm just' It's fine."

"Curtain in ten minutes," another voice broke in. It was the stage manager, poking his head in the door with a quick glance at the assembled actors.

"Thank you, ten minutes.? Saila echoed him automatically, though her voice sounded weak, even to herself.

Clearing her throat, she closed her eyes and swallowed. Get it together, kid, she told herself. She was a consummate performer, and she damn sure wouldn't want you screwing this up on her account. Saila took a deep breath, inhaling slowly until her lungs felt like they would burst, and then let it out again in an even, controlled stream. When she opened her eyes, she was composed, calm.

With a slight nod to the techs who'd finished securing the lion mask to her head, Saila stood and set the newspaper aside.

The show would go on. It had to. Lirssa wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

((ooc: Edited for clarity))

2.15.18

https://ak1.polyvoreimg.com/cgi/img-set/cid/235603013/id/org48T0X6BGvmn-NWFI-UA/size/l.jpg

"Long night, son?" Garrison's gruff voice carried out of his office to Hex the moment his heavy booted steps carried him through the garage door.

"Could say that," Hex's snicker was tainted by a smirk as he walked into Full Moon Auto, surpassing the garage itself to the boss man's office. "Don't you ever do any work, old man?" There was irony in that statement, and they both knew it.

"Nope," the boss sighed, lounged back in his office chair, legs sprawled out to the floor. His face was hidden behind a newspaper. "S"what I got you for, innit?" He grunted. The abomination rolled his eyes. "Can't get riddaya anyhow, might as well let ya do the heavy liftin"."

Hex peeled off his leather jacket, lifting it to hook on the coat rack in the corner of the room. "Who still reads the paper, anyhow" " There's this modern thing called the internet. Should try it sometime." He wasn't looking at the old man, and his lips pulled into a half-cocked smirk as he loved riling up his boss. The almost predicted crinkling smack of Garrison's hand dropping to his lap, flapping the newspaper in the wake of quick movement. He could feel the glare set on his back and he raised a brow with a look over his shoulder to the salt and peppered man. "What?"

"Can't trust the internet, and ya damn well know that, boy. Viruses?" "You won't get the sniffles from the internet, Gary." "I know that!" "...After I told you." "Damn kids and ya internet." "And rap music?" "Shut ya filthy mouth."

Hex's boisterous laughter came with his turn of frame as he walked over to the man's desk, rifling through the stack of order forms. "Alright, alright. What's the news today' Same crap?"

"Jus" about," Garrison grunted, then frowned as he lifted the newspaper. "Though som"n happened. Dunno the details, but a girl died. Y'don't see obituaries that often "round here. Y'start to 'spect everyone to live forever in this damn city," he scoffed, but it was small. "Shame. Real pretty girl, did a lot of work with the community "n kids. Real respectable."

Hex's brows furrowed. "Yeah?"

"Mhmm." Garrison's eyes lifted from the newspaper. "Not that ya pay attention to that sorta thing, punk. But I think I seen "er bartending the Dragon a few times." Hex gave him a look. "...I wasn't always a hermit, 'dun gimme that look. Slap it off ya damn face," said the grump. Hex snickered and rolled his eyes again, but shrugged. "What's her name" Maybe I saw her."

"Lirssa. There's a picture here." Garrison turned to the page, folding the paper in half to show the big guy. Hex leaned in to look at the photo, and the smirk he usually sported fell immediately. "****..." He muttered, pulling away from the desk. "So ya did know "er?" The boss asked, raising a brow. "Met her a couple times," the abomination admitted. "But Saila knows her better?" The knit of his brows grew along with his frown and he turned away from the desk, right back to the coat rack. "Dammit," he muttered. She was right, something was wrong. "Garrison, I—"

"Go," the old man's hand lifted, and waved him off. "Tired o' seein" ya face."

"Get to work, then." Hex snickered, pulling on his jacket while making his way to the door.

"Keep tellin" me what to do, see if I don't put m"boot up y"ass," the squeak of the office chair announced the back turned to the door. The lifting crinkling of the newspaper was lost to Hex as he made his way out of Full Moon Auto, heading right for the truck.

—————————————————————————

Hex had promised Saila to come see the most current performance, but being cued by bad news wasn't exactly how he'd intended to see it. Still, he managed to show up a few minutes before curtain call. Even with the thriving amount of energy buzzing around the theater, the focal point of his attention was Saila's. She was there, that much he knew. And it was leveled for the most part. Letting out a sigh, he'd bought a ticket and found himself a seat in time for the lights to dim and the show to begin.

Even with the news and concern weighing on his conscious, he still found himself sucked into the lively performances of the actors. The crazy baboon character had always been a favorite of his, and one might even catch him chuckling and smirking to see Craig get smacked - fake or not - by Rafiki's stick. There was some form of ease when Saila came out to perform, and even he noticed she had a peculiar boost of determination in her role.

When the show was over, he abandoned his seat to head backstage. He gave a smile to the actors he saw in passing, offering appreciation for their job well done. Even Craig, who looked at him like a surprised owl to the pat on his shoulder. "Not bad, Simba." Anyone who knew Hex well enough knew it was a compliment. Reaching Saila from behind, the warmth of his palm was placed on her back. When she turned, the look on her face and him knowing her as well as he did clued him in. "You saw it." It wasn't a question. She kept her composure, whether it was circumstantial or for the others, he didn't know. But words didn't have to be verbalized, since she already knew anything he could possibly say in that moment. Pulling her into his arms for what may seem like any other after a performance, he planted a kiss to the top of her head and murmured. "Let's go home, babe."

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FmS0SXWHTNc/U3HsEggSCfI/AAAAAAAAFXQ/MkpPnP0StEk/s1600/Feral%252BCreature%252BEugenie%252BGrey%252BFashion%252BBlogger%252BStreetstyle%252BPhotography%252BBy%252BRyan%252BChua-7496.jpg http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A63LNc3hQj8/U3HsMq0v-UI/AAAAAAAAFYY/cdCN_1faKsY/s1600/Feral%252BCreature%252BEugenie%252BGrey%252BFashion%252BBlogger%252BStreetstyle%252BPhotography%252BBy%252BRyan%252BChua-7727.jpg

A deal's a deal. She made him take her to the circus, and in return she accompanied him to the Lion King. Truth be told, the "deal" wasn't that difficult for her — Kami liked cartoons, and even better than cartoons, she liked dressing up!— but of course she wasn't going to tell him that.

So she milked the date thing for all it was worth, insisting that he buy her popcorn and champagne, a souvenir playbill, the works. Maybe even a t-shirt.

The performance, she had to admit, was incredible. The actors were on point, the story both poignant and hilarious at turns. Kami knew why Ace liked the lions, but if pressed she would have to admit that her favorite characters of the night were the hyenas. The puppets in particular were impressive, all the inventive things they'd done to bring the jungle to life on stage. In the end, she was on her feet applauding along with everyone else.

When it was over, Ace gave her a look. "You liked it, didn't you?" "It was alright, she scoffed at first, pretending to put him off, but she couldn't hold up the act for long. "Okay, okay. It was great. We should get season tickets."

Careful what you wish for, Ace...