Celebrating its 25th year, Broadway’s The Lion King is a groundbreaking musical, which owes a good deal of its success to telling an African story with Africans. Chief among them, and often known as the heart and spirit of the production is Lebo M, its South African composer and producer. “Nants’ingonyama bakithi Baba!” His iconic chant introduced us to the world of Pride Rock and is arguably one of the most easily recognizable Disney lyrics to date — even though half of the participants probably don’t know what they’re saying. “My main responsibility is keeping the voices of the show fresh, particularly the spirit of the show, which is a predominantly South African cast. I had to figure out ways as a result of that experience of being on stage, how to sustain the show.”
