Since they only have one day off per week (they do eight shows), the cast members arrived on the first flight over from Honolulu at 7 AM to make the most of their visit to Lanai. Kepa Maly, Senior Vice President of Culture and Historic Preservation for Pulama Lanai, gave them a special tour of the island that included stops at Lanai Hale and Keahiakawelo. A huge thanks to Kepa for donating his time and expertise—our guests were fascinated by his stories and the culture and history of Lanai and would like to return again someday. Following their tour, the cast members were treated to a delicious complimentary lunch at The Terrace restaurant at the Lodge at Koele. Thank you to Alice Bouman and the Four Seasons Lanai for this generous gesture.
After lunch, fourth and fifth grade students at LHES spent an hour with the Lion King actors. Each cast member shared his or her background, what inspires them, and answered questions from the kids. They explained to students exactly what it’s like to be in “The Lion King” and brought a large color program to show the costumes. Thembelihle Cele, originally from South Africa, taught students words from her native language. All eyes were glued to her when she then performed a short story from “The Lion King” (told by Rafiki in the play).
After school, the cast members worked with LAPA from 2:15-4:00. Thembelihle Cele sang “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” in Zulu, teaching the group two different parts. Next, dancer Selena Moshell taught LAPA real Lion King choreography. Selena and Thembe then surprised the kids by asking THEM to put the singing and dancing together. After practicing just a couple of times, the LAPA students were able to do the whole routine on their own! Next, it was Andrew Gorell’s turn, and he led a series of fun acting warm-ups that had the whole room cracking up. Since he plays “Zazu” in “The Lion King,” (which requires him to hold a puppet for most of the show), he brought his own homemade puppet — Honu the turtle — and shared his expertise with the kids on how to bring it to life. Each LAPA member got a chance to try, while the rest of the group pretended to be a plant or animal under the sea.
For the last part of rehearsal, the Lion King actors worked with LAPA on “Bystander Blues,” a short play that LAPA will be performing at the Lanai Youth Summit on March 8th in the Lanai County Gym. Andrew Gorell gave expert direction to the LAPA students, and Selena Moshell and Thembelihle Cele helped tighten up the choreography (which students came up with) to the song “Bystander Blues” (an original song by Matt Glickstein that will be performed after the play). When it was time to say goodbye, the LAPA kids gave the Lion King cast members a big group hug and didn’t want to let go!
A big mahalo to Gail and Jason Allen for donating the plane fare for two round trip tickets on Island Air, and also to Pulama Lanai for donating Thembelihle Cele’s plane ticket. LAPA is extremely grateful to Andrew, Selena, and Thembe for lending us their time and talent and giving everyone involved an experience they will never forget. All three Lion King cast members loved Lanai, and we hope that they return again someday!
