MORVEN- The HOLLA! organization’s production of Disney’s The Lion King, Jr. has been a transformative experience for its middle school-aged cast and crew. The response to their performances in North and South Carolina has been so positive that they are gearing up for another round of performances in April and May.
HOLLA!, which stands for Helping Our Loved Ones Learn & Achieve, is a nonprofit organization that provides after school educational and athletic programs to the youth communities within the Town of Morven.
In Summer 2019, HOLLA!’s director, Leon Gatewood, applied for The Lion King Experience. In addition to a performance license to produce The Lion King Jr. play, the Experience also consists of 18 45 minute long class sessions, which the students from HOLLA! attended all summer.
These sessions are designed for middle schoolers and explored the fundamentals of theater-making and taught the children skills in the fields of acting, design, music, playwriting, choreography, directing, technical theater, stage management, and more. “It developed them into young thespians,” said Gatewood of the sessions. “After participating in the Lion King Experience and performing the play, the students now have no fear of the theatre. They have acquired a love of it and of each other.”
“Our license to produce the play was for one year, and that year has been exhausted so I have applied for another year of rights to do the play,” said Gatewood, who added, “We are going to use that to do encore performances in Livingstone College, which is a Christian college located in Salisbury, NC. We are also going to do performances in Cheraw, S.C. The public there is thirsty for another performance.”
Gatewood has noticed positive changes in the students as a result of their participation in the play, “Parents and guardians mention to me often that their children are now more focused, motivated, and respectful,” said Gatewood.
Gatewood isn’t the only one to notice the play’s positive impact of its cast and crew. Victoria Utley, the director of The Lion King, Jr., says there have been, “So many changes in the children. The students went from being shy to becoming outspoken. They’ve ended up with a new group of friends and family. At the last performance, many of them were crying because they didn’t want it to end.”
Over the course of the Experience sessions and play performances, the cast and crew developed a close bond with one another that continues both on and off stage. “They look out for one another at school and are very supportive of one another,” said Pam Waller, mother of Myah Waller who plays Zazu. “For weeks after the performance, you could still hear Myah singing tunes from the show around the house, even while folding laundry,” added Waller.
Kenya Miles, who plays Rafiki, says that what she learned during the Lion King Experience sessions has improved her singing, “Before the classes over the summer, I never warmed up my voice before. I began doing it during the sessions and noticed I sounded a lot better.”
“Kenya is Broadway ready,” said Gatewood. Miles says she’s looking forward to the upcoming performances at Livingston College because she hopes to attend there when she gets older and major in the criminal justice department in order to become a defense attorney.
Jayden was cast as Adult Simba. “Jayden knows the whole play,” said Gatewood, who added, “On opening night, the student who plays Young Simba was sick with a 102-degree fever. Jayden stepped in and did both parts without missing a beat.”
Zaliyah Loyd played the lioness Sarafina and is part of the dance ensemble. Her mother, Shirley, said that for weeks after the performance, “She danced her little heart out. She still dances, even now”
Jeremiah Kirkly played Mufassa and enjoyed, “being on stage, up in front of all those people. I can’t wait to do it again.” His mother, Penny, says, “Jeremiah misses his new family.”
“I learned that this whole process brought us together,” said Adwyn Gaddy, who played Scar, “We started off as strangers but have become a family.” The students have started a group chat on Facebook and communicate regularly with one another.
It can be easy to overlook the crew of a play since they remain behind the scenes. However, there would be no production without their efforts. Sheila Chau, Jacqueline Cherry, and Zoha Ali made up the crew of The Lion King, Jr.
“I helped with the props and made sure the actors were ready to go between scenes,” said Cherry. Chau worked on the music and sound cues while Ali was the stage manager. “I was the manager of everything,” said Ali, “I kept track of the actors and made sure the sets looked good.”
The tentative dates for the encore performances are April 26 in Cheraw at 4 p.m. Gatewood is also planning on doing performances at the Cole Auditorium in Rockingham and on the campus of Livingstone College before May 2. “Our goal is to get these amazing youth exposed to as many people as we can. No one will believe how excellent they are unless they see them,” said Gatewood.
“Some of the proceeds from this and other events will go toward funding HOLLA!’s day to day operations, the future HOLLA! Africa Cultural and Performing Arts Center in Wadesboro, NC and a scholarship fund to support youth seeking to further their education in The Arts,” explained Gatewood.
