The award winning musical The Lion King, which celebrated its 10th anniversary last year, has now made it to the White House. On September 15, 2008 in the evening members of the cast performed before a group of dignitaries at a Whitehouse State Dinner' hosted by President and Mrs Bush, in honor of Ghana's President John Kufuor and his wife Mrs. Theresa Kufuor. The numbers being performed by the cast include "One By One," "Shadowland," "Can You Feel The Love Tonight," and "He Lives in You." Written from the beautifully animated Disney film, The Lion King, the musical has been winning renown and praise since it first began to appear on stage almost 11 years ago.

The musical tells the tale of a young lion cub, following his epic adventures as he travels into adulthood trying to understand his past and where he stands in the Circle of Life. The movie was excellent, going on to win the Oscar Award for Best Music, Original Score by composer Hans Zimmer. It also won the award for Best Music, Original Song for the song "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" composed by Elton John with lyrics by Tim Rice. But some have argued that in visual beauty, the musical is even more fantastic.

With actors in wonderful costumes, with beautifully designed masks depicting the animals they represent, there is not much that Lion King the Musical can be found to be lacking in. The fact that the masks and puppeteers are not hidden, as the actors and puppets together present this wonderful story to the audience, actually seems to add a level of charm to the performance. With both the presentation of the animal and the brilliant actors revealed together, the melding of imagination with lack of pretense creates a world that is in some ways even more wonderful than the movie.

The idea for the masks that are worn on the head, rather than in front of the face, is taken from traditional African masks, which are meant to be functional rather than decorative. The puppets are Bunraku puppets, operated by a three-man team. The name is taken from the creator, Uemura Bnrakuken, who created the Japanese theatre form at the start of the 16th Century. Shadow puppetry is also used in this production, an art form that may have been around for as long as 2000 years, originated in either Greece or China. The art form uses flat wood puppets behind a screen to create scenes and backgrounds to the musical. All in all, this is an enchanting event, and a must-see production.

The September 15th Whitehouse performance will only include a remnant of the cast: Tshidi Manye who plays Rafiki, Dashaun Young who appears as Simba, and Kissy Simmons will be performing as Nala. Along with them, there will be eight members of the ensemble performing as well. This musical, already famous and gaining more fame during its ten years on stage, will now be known as one of the few such performances to take place at the White House.

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