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  • 2023 May: Disney's The Lion King Tactile Tour

Blind/low vision guests participate in a Tactile Tour with ‘Disney’s The Lion King’ creative and cast members

A wooden lion mask on a table. People are sitting around it and touching it.
Published May 19, 2023

On Wednesday, May 17, blind and low-vision Overture guests got to experience “Disney’s The Lion King” up close through a tactile tour in Overture Hall Main Lobby. Three members of “Disney’s The Lion King”—Shevhan Lusteck (wardrobe supervisor), Michael Reilly (puppet supervisor) and Nick LaMedica (Zazu)—spent 45 minutes before the show describing several of the costumes, masks and puppets, letting guests touch the items and ask questions. Guests later attended the 7:30 p.m. performance with audio description.

“What an absolutely amazing experience!” exclaimed Director of Guest Services Tom Klubertanz, who helped coordinate the event with Director of Broadway Engagement Programs Karra Beach and Director of Equity and Innovation Ida Balderrama-Trudell along with Kaitlyn Konrardy, manager of guest services, and Anna Garcia-Menocal, house manager. “Guests have been filling my inbox with accolades all morning saying the tactile tour was ‘the best thing they have ever experienced.’”

Lusteck, Reilly and LaMedica demonstrated knowledge and expertise in their presentations as well as genuine interest and care toward our guests. They explained the types of materials used to create the costumes, masks and puppets and the creative process behind the show, ensuring all guests had quality time with each item.

Reilly noted that some of the animals—in particular the lions—have crown-masks, which sit on top of their heads giving them an extra several inches in height and help create the animal the actor is portraying, as well as convey a sense of majesty as if they are wearing crowns. He passed around a half dozen masks for guests to tactically explore.

Photos

  • A group of people sitting in a circle in Overture Hall lobby.

  • A man in a red shirt with grey hair holds a red wooden lion mask and is speaking about it.

  • A man in a blue shirt holds a large white and orange bird puppet for a group of people in Overture Hall Lobby.

  • Two wooden lion masks sitting on a table.

  • A man in a red shirt and grey hair holds a beige lioness mask.

  • A wooden lion mask on a table. People are standing around it and touching it.

  • Two wooden lion masks sitting on a table.

  • A man in a blue shirt holds a wooden lion mask and speaks to several others who are touching it

  • Two people sit and look towards an elephant puppet made out of paper.

  • A wooden lion mask on a table. Outstretched hands are touching it.

  • A wooden lion mask on a table. People are sitting around it and touching it.

  • A woman with brown hair next to a news camera filming an interview with a man in black with short hair.

  • A group of people sitting in a circle in Overture Hall lobby.

According to the show, all of the masks and puppets stem from different world puppetry and mask techniques, poetically curated to unify all the animals of “The Lion King” while offering unique approaches to each animal. Heavily influenced by traditional African materials and methods, the masks and puppets radiate the warmth and weight of sculpted wood and natural materials.

For example, Rafiki is a wise and mysterious, old baboon with magical qualities. She wears a pair of rust-brown, loose-fitting pants and maroon leggings beneath a rust-red tunic. Atop her tunic is a large collar that is partially beaded and partially covered with fur and feathers. Her large tunic is covered with beads, small pouches and curious objects, meant to assist her in her role as healer. Attached to the back of her pants is a round, decorative pad. It is made of blue, yellow and red beads, reference a baboon’s behind. Her face is painted bright red and blue, her eyes outlined in yellow. She wears a pair of carved monkey feet apparently standing atop a block of bamboo. Rafiki’s headpiece is woven from brown and tan cloth with small twists that stick out from the top. Her hands have long, bamboo fingernails, six inches long, and she carries a tall, wooden staff with a large, round gourd near the tip.

LaMedica, who plays Zazu, invited guests to touch the puppet and use its controls to make the bird blink, open its mouth and flap its wings. He joked that even his fellow cast members never get to touch the puppet, unless they’re playing or understudying Zazu.

Giving audience members a better understanding of the show helps make the theater welcoming for everyone.

Nick LaMedica

Guest Bill Davis described the tactile tour as awesome.

"I am a big Disney fan and this, the costumes are just amazing. I didn't expect what I got to do today," he said.

Here are links to news stories to help you see the impact in our community.

We appreciate our colleagues at Disney and Broadway Across America for their commitment to inclusion and accessibility and for making this event possible.

Accessibility at Overture

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A white woman with strawberry blonde hair sits in a seat with an assisted listening device on.

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