A Jungle Out There

by Michael Grossberg, Theater CriticPublished in The Columbus Dispatch (Columbus, OH)March 26, 1998 NEW YORK — Masks, puppets, mime, dance and junglelike behavior make an animated film come to African life in The Lion King, the hottest musical on Broadway. “We don’t just become animals onstage,” Jason Raize (Simba) said during the recent New York

The Two Kings of Pride Rock: Jason Raize and Samuel E. Wright

by Marc WarrenPublished in Afro-American Newspaper (Baltimore, MD, and Washington, DC)Date Unknown NEW YORK – It’s a typical Wednesday matinee for all but two cast members of Disney’s “The Lion King.” Not only will actors Jason Raize and Samuel E. Wright be unable to perform their weekly routine of winding down after a somewhat demanding

Heart of a Lion

Associated PressAs published in the Telegraph Herald (Dubuque, IA)November 13, 1997 AP photo of Scott Irby-Ranniar and Jason, November 13, 1997 Animation in Action: Disney’s ‘The Lion King’ goes to Broadway NEW YORK (AP) – “The Lion King” might find its look in the stage wizardry of director-designer Julie Taymor, but its heart and humanity