THE JOURNEY OF THE LION KING

Conception visualisation and execution are the tools that enhance a play or drama.If all three weave cohesively then the ultimate result is definitely a Masterpiece with aplomb!

And this holds true for the staging of the musical ‘The Lion King’ in our very own campus of St Karen’s High School, Gola Road on the 30th and 31st of January this year. This Mammoth feat was accomplished with the cooperation and collaboration of each and every member of the St Karen’s High School family.Participation of nearly a thousand students ranging from Std 5 to 12 meant that rehearsals as well as studies were simultaneously going on and it was definitely nerve wrecking. Balancing the equation literally kept the teachers and students on their toes for days. And that is how it all started when stalwarts like Mr George Pulinkala, Mr Andrew Hoffland,Mr Sushant Ummat and Ms Himani Khurana flew in from Delhi to train our budding artists for the musical play.

‘The Lion King’ tells the story of the epic adventures of a young and curious lion Prince cub named Simba played by Meenal Verma as the Young Simba and Abhishek Anand as the Adult Simba and his journey as he struggles to accept the responsibilities of adulthood and his destiny as king. Along the way the young lion encounters a colourful cast of characters including the spunky lioness Nala played by Archi Raj, the mysterious and wise Rafiki played by Anindita Roy, the charismatic meerkat Timon played by Anmol and the lovable warthog Pumbaa played by Yashwi Singh who lived by the philosophy of ‘ Hakuna Matata’-no worries for the rest of your days. To claim his rightful place on the throne and save his beloved ‘Prideland’ ,Simba must find his inner strength and confront his wicked uncle Scar played to perfection by Kumar Animesh and his evil henchman, the hyenas Banzai, Shenzi and Ed played by Sonam Roy, Kanu Priya and Md. Salman respectively ,and become the king he was meant to be. The Musical Director ,Mr George Pulinkala, Theatre expert, Mr Andrew Hoffland and choreographers Mr Sushant Ummat and Himani Khurana made sure that the play was a delight to watch and the audience savoured every slice of the show.Working meticulously and patiently with the students ,bearing in mind that our students were complete freshers,and they had their inhibitions,they were responsible to see them evolve and gain confidence as the travelled along the rocky path and come out successfully like a Phoenix to face the limelight. We applaud them for all their efforts in giving a patient ear to each and every student before taking them on the journey of ‘The Lion King’ as part of the choir or for their clear dialogue delivery.Hats off to them for their commendable job!The hours of practice put in by the choreographers speaks volumes itself.The two young dancers really sweated it out and raised the bar for the students who worked hard and honed their skills to finally nail it to perfection. They swirled and moved rhythmically to the music with ease and won the hearts of the audience.The same can be mentioned for our Choir who dressed in bright kaftans, stood the test of time as they crooned each haunting melody to perfection. The music was bang on and was the soul of the play.This would not have been possible without the untiring efforts of the music director Mr George Pulinkala himself.

The essence of the play rested on the shoulders of the main cast who delivered their dialogues with precision and zeal.The fourteen young actors will definitely go down in the annals of SKHS and in the years to come all praise will fall short for them as we note down their names with pride and for posterity.

Character	Name
ZAZU	AMARTYA SHREYA
ADULT NALA	ARCHI RAJ
RAFIKI	ANINDITA ROY
SARABI	ADITI JAIN
BANZAI	SONAM ROY
SHENZI	KANU PRIYA
ADULT SIMBA	ABHISHEK ANAND
YOUNG NALA	SHIANJANY PRADHAN
SCAR	KUMAR ANIMESH
YOUNG SIMBA	MEENAL VERMA
MUFASA	SAKSHAM OJHA
PUMBA	YASHWI SINGH
ED	MD. SALMAN
TIMON	ANMOL