This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: I have a question that I feel like is on everybody's mind. And that is, did you do push-ups before every show to look good in the Simba costume?

[0:10] Terron Brooks: Um, I was too young to be vain. If you asked me today, I would be doing push-ups in any kind of shanty workout you have. But I, um, I didn't know that that was part of it. It's kind of funny when you go, oh, and you see all the other Simbas, and you know, you've taken your shirt off. But I never was that conscious. I think, let me tell you this, doing the show is enough of a workout already.

[0:32] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Oh, totally. That's such a good point. So you don't need, you didn't, yeah, you didn't need to do any extra. I wonder if on the breakdown, there are like cheesy puns, like animal magnetism required.

[0:42] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Welcome, everybody, to a musical theater podcast where we discuss the cultural and emotional impact of some of our favorite musicals in theater history. My name is Jeffrey Scott Parsons. You can call me Jeff. Today, we're talking about the epic musical The Lion King. And to join me in talking about it is a recording artist, star of TV and film, and of The Lion King itself. Everybody, it's Terron Brooks.

[1:19] Terron Brooks: Hey, everybody. I'm so grateful you're here. Holy cow. Truly honored. I'm excited, Jeffrey. Is it Jeffrey or Jeff? What do you like?

[1:28] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: On this show, call me Jeff. Jay, right? It just keeps getting shorter the longer I do the show. Let's just dive right in. You started in the ensemble in New York.

[1:40] Terron Brooks: I was always in the ensemble, and I was always a cover.

[1:42] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Okay, a cover of Simba. In LA, I had almost hundreds of opportunities to play Simba, but in New York, it was a different story. But yeah, that was my Broadway debut.

[1:52] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Okay, so you make your Broadway debut. How old are you? Do you mind saying?

[1:56] Terron Brooks: No, I don't mind. Who cares? I was 25.

[2:00] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: And was Broadway a dream at that point? Or were you like, wow, I guess I'm in Lion King now?

[2:05] Terron Brooks: Let's talk about childhood dreams. No. When I was a child, when I was studying, and I went to a performing arts school, I guess you would think, oh, but I never, never, never really thought it was possible. I was a singer-songwriter. I wanted a record deal, like crazy. And so I started to do musical theater, and I liked it. And I started to get some roles, but not necessarily, oh, I'm dreaming to get there. But I have to say, through my professional journey, doing musical theater, doing some shows, I did some shows before The Lion King, I did want to be on Broadway, but specifically with The Lion King. So it was twofold. My debut of being on Broadway was like, oh my gosh, I'm here, but with this show.

[2:45] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Oh, how cool.

[2:46] Terron Brooks: So it was a double kind of exciting dream. But I want to be honest about it, because some people who are right now just can't wait to get to Broadway or thinking about it every single day. I wasn't really obsessed that way. But I knew the significance of it. I knew what it meant.

[3:00] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: And why was Lion King specifically the show?

[3:04] Terron Brooks: I just felt, this is corny, but like a calling to the work and the artistry. And at that time, Lion King was the biggest thing on Broadway, and it was very transformative, right? Remember how the puppetry and all that, you hadn't seen something like that. So I said, if any Broadway show I would want to be in, I just don't want to be on Broadway, I want to be on with that, doing that with those people and with the story. So I think it was a spiritual call. I auditioned a lot of times. And sometimes when you audition and you know this, after the fourth time, you don't go back. But something told me to keep going back, to keep that dream alive. So yeah, many, many, many reasons for wanting that. And the representation, I think also of seeing a lot of people that look like me on stage was enticing.

[3:56] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: How big is the cast?

[3:57] Terron Brooks: Wow.

[3:58] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: It's a big group, isn't it?

[3:59] Terron Brooks: It's huge. It's a big group. It's a big group of leads.

[4:03] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Sure.

[4:03] Terron Brooks: And then there's a huge ensemble. You forgive me for not maybe knowing the number.

[4:08] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: No, it's fine.

[4:08] Terron Brooks: It's a massive cast.

[4:10] Terron Brooks: It's one of the things that, now looking back on it, because I saw the show when I was in my teenage years. And the thing that is coming to me now as I'm much older is the concept of community, is this overriding theme of Circle of Life throughout the entire show. And it's just not possible without that many lives, that many souls on stage. It's probably the only way to do the show, but it was a very inspired way to do the show.

[4:37] Terron Brooks: Yeah, absolutely. I think the backbone of the show is the community of the actors. I mean, and the spirit of those people coming together even to this day, and I have many friends still in it. That's what I take away. I mean, there were other issues, there were other things to take away, but somebody's working the elephant. You know what I'm saying?

[4:56] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yeah.

[4:56] Terron Brooks: Somebody's work... So the soul that has to be involved, and the souls and the spirits collectively, and then you talk about the representation of that show and what that kind of meant at the time. It's funny, like we're talking about it now, but at that time, to have that representation of these regal kings, you know what I mean? I think is something to be noted, and something that I definitely cherish, the community and the spirits.

[5:24] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: We're of course talking about The Lion King based on the famous Disney animated film. I don't know who hasn't seen The Lion King, but maybe there are people out there who haven't. I think this was the movie I saw the most in the movie theaters, like the most times in the movie theater. Every time it was like a friend's birthday, we were going to end up at a movie theater watching The Lion King. And I was also that nerd that you're talking about, who was, you know, tracking every single Broadway show. And Disney was a huge part of that for me, because I had been such a fan of these animated shows, and then they opened up Beauty and the Beast on Broadway, which is a huge hit, really introducing kind of this family vibe into Times Square that hadn't existed.

And there's a lot of spectacle and a lot of special effects that are in Beauty and the Beast. So now, where does Walt Disney Theatricals go next? Apparently, they thought, you know, let's do something less risky, that's not as much work, The Lion King.

[6:29] Terron Brooks: Yeah, yeah.

[6:29] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Which seems like an even bigger gamble than Beauty and the Beast. But at this point, the movie had made a gajillion dollars worldwide. It had won Academy Awards, it had hit songs on the radio, thanks to Elton John. So this was a huge franchise type thing. It only made sense to put it on stage, but how? How on earth to make this work? And I think one of the smartest things the Walt Disney Company ever did was hire Julie Taymor.

[7:00] Terron Brooks: Yeah.

[7:01] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Now, did you ever meet Miss Taymor?

[7:04] Terron Brooks: I did. I met her, and I didn't have a personal session with her, but she came to the theater to do some, like, notes. And when I tell you she, in probably 20 minutes, did the show in different characters, she is, and I'm, how do I not do this? Because I'm not trying to. She's crazy in a good way. Let's just say it. Let's just go ahead and say, that's not mince words. I don't know who's gonna listen and tell on me or whatever. She's just brilliant, you know?

[7:38] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yeah.

[7:38] Terron Brooks: And the way that she, she's not going to just give you the notes, she's going to act it out physically. Because you've heard the story that she actually went to Indonesia. I mean, she went to these places in the field and took pictures and sketch pads and, you know.

[7:52] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Right.

[7:52] Terron Brooks: And your point, they could have been safe. And I don't think that Julie Taymor was a safe choice. I mean, it could have been risky too, you know, in the end it worked out. But what she was presenting, if someone didn't have the creative mind to go, let's go that way. So I always tell people, like, if you're going to take your kids or you're going to spend the $200 for anything, you should see this show because it's more than you think of a cute skit cartoon, and sadly, a lot of people don't know that. They don't know how rich it is, you know?

[8:23] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yeah. So much texture, so much creativity, so much originality, like you said. I was revisiting a lot of the designs and things in preparation to talk with you. And I almost had this feeling of, I wonder if it's going to feel basic, you know, because so much of what theater has become is because of the advancements and risks that were taken during Lion King. But boy, everything still looks really amazing.

[8:50] Terron Brooks: Oh, I mean, is it 23 years they said? 24? Yeah, it still looks amazing. Yeah. And it's still an achievement. That's hard to do because you can have an achievement for 2015. You can have an achievement for 2009. That was great then. But to be able to stand the test of time in an achievement-based way, it sure has its place.

[9:15] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Agreed. 100%. Now, Julie Taymor, to talk a little bit about her, which I don't feel bad. I mean, you can find any sort of number of descriptions about Miss Taymor on the internet. I would say, above all, and here on the podcast, we like to focus on the positive. She is incredibly creative, incredibly passionate, and has an uncompromising vision when it comes to those first two qualities. And the thing is, is that when it works, boy, oh boy, does it pay off. And in the case of Lion King, it did. Now, when she was younger, she won this fellowship that gave her a grant and allowed her to go and travel the world.

[9:59] Terron Brooks: Right.

[10:00] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: And where she ended up was Indonesia. And in Indonesia, she started a theater troupe. She just showed up to Indonesia, kind of looked around and was like, I know what I'll do. And using a lot of diverse cultures and influences, created this theater troupe that was based a lot on puppetry and a lot of classical storytelling for that region. That experience was so transformative that that craft and technique is what she brought back with her to the larger theater landscape here in America. And it really became a hallmark for her work here, whether it's reinventing the classics by staging Shakespeare or Commedia dell'Arte. And in the mid-90s, she had this show at Lincoln Center with her partner Elliot Goldenthal called Juan Darian, A Carnival Mass.

And it was this South American fable, once again, using a lot of puppetry, a lot of weird, bizarre imagery. It's celebrated across the board, gets nominated for a lot of Tony Awards, despite not running very long. And I believe it's because of that weird show produced at Lincoln Center that Disney was able to really see what was possible. Michael Eisner, CEO of the Disney company at that point, signs off on Julie to become the director of their next Broadway show, The Lion King. And you better believe she brings all of those influences to this story, which is essentially about the circle of life in Africa. I have this memory of going through my dad's newspaper, which I would always get in trouble for doing, but I would go in and I would look through the reviews of movies.

Like, who am I? Why am I a nine-year-old who's obsessed with what the critics had to say about The Lion King? But I specifically have this memory. And the title was, It's Hamlet, It's Bambi, It's Hambi. That was the title. And I honestly don't remember if he was saying that was a good thing or a bad thing. But the idea that they are animals, a parent dies, that's very Bambi in the tradition of Disney animation. And then there's also this sense of identity and royalty in the story, which is very Shakespearean and almost Hamlet-like, especially since the murder happens within the family. The only reason I bring that up is because it does seem that Julie Taymor is so taken by classical storytelling that I think that she saw something in this story, in the journey of Simba, that is classical in the way that she's inspired by other classical works.

[12:47] Terron Brooks: In the same way that I think of Julie Taymor associated with The Lion King on Broadway, I would say we all associate Elton John with Lion King in terms of the cartoon, right? They were synonymous. Elton John wrote Can You Feel the Love Tonight? Circle of Life, Can't Wait to be King, many of which were on the radio, won Grammys, won Academy Awards. So besides being this huge Disney franchise, you've got this rich musical texture thanks to Elton John. However, I believe that the heart and soul of the music of Lion King is because of Lebo M. The first kind of desk hand at the very beginning of Circle of Life helped me out with the words. That is him, right? That's him singing?

[13:39] Terron Brooks: Yes. So even if you don't think you know who Lebo M is, if you've seen The Lion King and have pretended to know those lyrics, you've been singing along with Lebo M your entire life. Can you talk to me a little bit about what you know about him?

[13:53] Terron Brooks: Well, the interesting thing I met Lebo M, not during Lion King, I did the session for Tears for the Sun. It was a Bruce Willis movie that he did with Hans Zimmer.

[14:07] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: No way, that he did with Hans Zimmer?

[14:09] Terron Brooks: Yes. So I got to sing in the choir and work with Lebo personally from that experience.

[14:14] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Terron, I just got chills. That's so cool.

[14:17] Terron Brooks: And that was after The Lion King, actually.

[14:20] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Oh, wow.

[14:21] Terron Brooks: Which probably The Lion King helped because I knew how to pronounce, you know what I mean? I could think my way through, you know, so I don't have a lot of context. Let me say this, I work, I'm lying. I worked with Lebo M also at the Superdome in Louisiana, they did this huge Hunchback of Notre Dame premiere. And I was one of the singers and Lebo was there too. So twice, but I don't have any personal other information other than to absolutely second your emotion that if it was just Elton John, who we love and those beautiful songs without the cultural, authentic value of Lebo's contribution, we wouldn't be talking about this historical, wonderful thing from Julie, because it's a marriage. And not just him, there's South African, from the original Broadway cast to now, I still believe five or six actual performers from that place. So when I'm standing next to that person, you know, hey, for it, I'm getting that spirit. I'm getting that authenticity that comes upon myself to make it even more believable.

[15:28] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: So and you can hear it. There's a tone. There is there's a spirit behind it.

[15:33] Terron Brooks: Yeah, and I remember seeing this thing for the first time. And you were like, why am I crying? You kind of don't know that that's going to happen multiple times in the show. It's the language that you don't even know. That's how powerful music is. You don't know what mamale, mamale, what are they saying ingonyama nengw'enamabala. That's the lion's coming. You don't necessarily know what it is. But you can feel it. And that is another thing that I think The Lion King did. And when you talk about the circle of life and bringing people together. It's this language. It's this commonality. It's this thing that brings you to tears because the heart, we all beat the same if that makes sense, even if you're from a different place. So that's what Lebo did.

[16:16] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yeah, I agree with you. I don't know specific things or how he got involved.

[16:20] Terron Brooks: So from what I understand, he was a musician from South Africa who came to the United States because of apartheid, basically does whatever he can to be assistants, gophers, anything in the music industry in Los Angeles, miraculously meets Hans Zimmer, who is a, you know, Academy Award winning film composer, and they hit it off immediately and start working together. Then Hans Zimmer gets The Lion King, so you better believe that Lebo comes with them. And they create so much music, they end up releasing another album called Rhythm of the Pride Lands. Do you remember this?

[16:58] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: I remember that. I think I still have that.

[17:00] Terron Brooks: Which is like just as good if not better than the actual soundtrack, The Lion King soundtrack. Now, when they decide to turn it into a musical, they obviously need more songs, they need more music. And so they take a lot of the music that was released in that Rhythm of the Pride Lands CD and turn them into songs. A lot of the songs like Shadowlands, or He Lives in You were seeds on the Rhythm of the Pride Lands album.

[17:27] Terron Brooks: I have a quote from him. He says, like Simba, I too lost family and close friends during my exile from South Africa. But I victoriously returned home to the open arms of my newly freed countrymen. It was such an amazing year The Lion King film released. Nelson Mandela became president and I came home. I am so grateful that Walt Disney Theatrical Productions and Julie Taymor enabled me to bring the music for my debut album Rhythm of the Pride Lands to the stage. I hope the audience will sense it in the music. I am proud to bring the sounds of Africa to the Broadway stage. Wow. Wow. Like, are you kidding me? Emotional just hearing that. Wow. When I think about the story of The Lion King, and the idea of Simba realizing his place in the circle of life, all of the ups and downs of that circle.

And then to hear him who has composed music to embody all of that, say so plainly, this is my life. I was not able to be home. And then I came and created this. And then when I created this, I was able to return home. It's so gorgeous. And that's what we hear. And that's why we're touched. Because it's not something actually made up. Now there's brilliant people out there that can make things up, you know, and touch our hearts because they're brilliant in the way that they're telling it. But we are reading and hearing, whether it's Julie Taymor or Lebo or whatever, that their story, you know, and their journey is actually a part of what we pay to see. And I think that that's part of anything that I do in my art and my creativity nowadays has to be laced with my story.

And not just the parts that are great and, you know, I think are noteworthy, but all of the parts of my life when I sing or perform, it has to be in there, you know. And so that was beautiful what you just read. And I'm sure he feels, I'm sure no Grammy or success, even though that's massive, will match to how he feels about going home and having his country free and having that happen at that time.

[19:41] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yeah, exactly. And to have it all meet up so perfectly. Yeah. Okay, so The Lion King opens in 1997. And this season on Broadway, I think is one of the truly great seasons of musical theater, period. And I'll stand by that opinion. Not only did we have The Lion King, we also had Ragtime in the exact same year. We had, which I mean, come on. Then we also had more great music from shows like Sideshow and The Scarlet Pimpernel, not to mention the groundbreaking revival of Cabaret. All of that was in one season. And in any other season, Lion King, something as creative as Lion King would show up and it would be like, well, it's going to win everything, right? You add all of that other stuff in there, and there was a real debate about who was going to win these awards.

So nobody took everything. Ragtime won Best Book and Best Score, as it should, because that's pretty flawless writing. Then The Lion King won all of the technical awards, as well as a Tony for Julie Taymor for Best Director. And that was the first time a woman had won the Tony Award for Best Director. Cabaret wins most of the acting awards, except for Audra McDonald, who won her 17th Tony Award. And then for Best Musical, The Lion King takes it. And I have to admit, I was a little upset because Ragtime was my favorite musical of that year. But now that I look back on it, The Lion King changed everything.

[21:15] Terron Brooks: Yeah, I agree with you. I think it's neck and neck, though. I think it could have been a tie. You know, because if you're not thinking about The Lion King and you're just in Ragtime, man, there's nothing better. But I do think overall, what you're saying and the scope of what The Lion King did, it deserved the achievement.

[21:38] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Amen. That's such a good way of putting it. The achievement of The Lion King had to be recognized.

[21:42] Terron Brooks: Yes, yes, yes, yes. Now, the thing about The Lion King that's interesting is that we've all seen the show. We've all seen the movie. And so there's this interesting tightrope that they were walking in terms of how do we make it new? How do we make it fresh? What do we risk and what don't we risk? And one of the things that I think, and I'm totally guessing here, but one of the things that I think that maybe Walt Disney Theatricals was pretty hellbent on was not changing the script too much, because the book, the script of the musical is written by the same people who wrote the animated film, which is unusual for a Julie Taymor project. She usually always has a writing credit.

[22:21] Terron Brooks: Yeah, she does have, which you might touch on, a writer's credit with the music.

[22:27] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yes. Who doesn't? Yeah, which I was always thinking, Julie, what song, what note did you, come on. Apparently, she did lyrics for Endless Night. Now, okay, I'll just go ahead and read here on the cover of my CD. It says music and lyrics by Elton John and Tim Rice, additional music and lyrics by Lebo M, Mark Mancina, Jay Rifkin, Julie Taymor, Hans Zimmer, and they were all nominated for one Tony Award for Best Score.

[22:59] Terron Brooks: Yeah, yeah. I mean, that alone has to be like some sort of Broadway record, that there were that many composers on an original score. It feels like Nashville to me, like in Nashville, if you're a songwriter, if you're in the room, you're a writer.

[23:08] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yeah, you know, it feels kind of like that. You're like, I brought the donuts, guys.

[23:18] Terron Brooks: What if Disney had filmed The Lion King on Broadway, like Hamilton, and had released that instead of the new Lion King film that we got last year? I mean, wish they would have. Man, right? Wouldn't that have been amazing? Wish they would have. And see, this is a great example where I know that that movie was crazy expensive because of all of the special effects that they did, and it became the highest grossing film of Mars, you know, like it just made so much money. But I think that that is a real testament to making the safe choice in a way that they didn't when they did it on Broadway. You know, let's just remake the movie, we'll add Beyoncé, and then...

[24:01] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. How do you have Beyoncé and she doesn't sing Shadowlands? Like, what's the point? If you were going to do this hybrid or this new thing, do it. If the budget's going to be that big in terms of that film at this point in time, because it's not 1997, the economy isn't quite what it used to be, then I guess they make the safe choice. They don't go the Taymor route, which I know, I am positive that Julie Taymor had a pitch with them about what she would do with the film version of The Lion King. Because, and now we'll get into some facts and figures, The Lion King the musical is the highest grossing musical of all time, period. It has grossed, I believe, eight billion dollars.

[24:44] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Oh my gosh. Insane.

[24:51] Terron Brooks: And, you know, here I get judgy, I get judgy, but I'm like, okay, that's great, and that's, wow, but what did you do with it? What can you do with it? I see that all the time. I see that in television, I see it on Broadway. We break new ground by taking a risk, and then once it makes a lot of money, we just kind of redo the thing that's safe now, instead of taking a new risk.

[25:19] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yeah. What you gonna do? And you would think that it would be the opposite, that I would have the money to take 80 billion more risks, because I have money, you know what I mean? As opposed to the person that has nothing and is taking a risk. I mean, was Hamilton a risk? Probably, I guess, when they were going to switch it up and do this and that, you know? You have to think about when it started, the idea, not the success of it all. That was probably a little risky, that he was going to say, we're going to twist it, we're going to do this. I think Lin-Manuel is a great example of that. He took a risk by creating In the Heights, which is actually a very simple plot, not a lot happens in the show, and yet infusing it with this kind of new energy and cultural representation that hadn't been on Broadway very often. And then it's a huge hit, so then what does he do? Create an even bigger hit with maybe an even bigger risk. I think that's a great example for all of us.

[26:08] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yeah, yeah. Okay, can we go through the show?

[26:15] Terron Brooks: Do it.

[26:15] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: All right, let's start out with one of the craziest, most epic opening numbers of all time, Circle of Life. Now, when you were in the ensemble, what were you doing in this number? I gotta know.

[26:22] Terron Brooks: Okay, so when I was in the ensemble, I was the antelope. I was nods and go, I was one of those guys.

[26:27] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: You were one of those guys? Like up at the top?

[26:32] Terron Brooks: Yes, with no shirt on again, doing the push-ups. Look, Terron, when you got it, you got it. They saw me and they were like, yeah, you know, you can cover all that. So that was terrifying in itself because that was not in English, you know what I mean? And that was really, and then at the end, there's a pronouncing, you know, when Simba's the king, the African comes out and does this long thing.

[26:54] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Like blessing sort of thing.

[26:58] Terron Brooks: Yes, blessing. I had to learn that too. So I did that, and I'm trying to figure out, because like I said, I played 50 people. My gosh, that's a lot of knowledge. Way to make some brain space for it. Well, you don't know, you know, in the audience, you don't know the machine that's making it all work, you know?

[27:12] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Okay. On YouTube, there is a 360 experience within the Circle of Life number in the musical. So you click on it and then you can kind of drag it wherever and you can see the entire number happening around you. I think because I haven't been on stage for so long that just like looking to my left and seeing off stage, like just hit me so hard. I highly recommend it if you just want to like escape for a second, go escape into the middle of the cast of The Lion King on Broadway. But this opening number is unlike in terms of pageantry.

[27:46] Terron Brooks: It's unlike anything that Broadway had ever seen, and yet it's dramatically justified because the pageantry is a pageant for this new life that's been born. There is a ritual happening here within this group of animals within Africa. The king has had a new son, the prince has been born, and we have all come to celebrate this circle of life, this event that makes it so Pride Rock will continue on and on and on. And it's an overwhelming thing to behold as an audience member. Talk about taking a risk to give your audience that much at the top. You're like, how on earth are we ever going to live up to this for the rest of the show? Absolutely. Absolutely. You think it's more of a finale, but yeah.

And if you had the fortune to see it on Broadway, I performed at the New Amsterdam before I went to the other theater. There's maybe 1,300 seats. So when we're coming down the aisle, it's cramped. And so I did at the Pantages with a gazillion seats, and it's just different because it's so big. So if you did have the opportunity to sit there in the Broadway house and be overwhelmed by the presence of it, it is actually a different experience. Now, one of the things that they did, and I think this is a Tamor choice, is really beef up the feminine presence in the musical. One of the ways we see that first and foremost is with the character of Rafiki, who was male in the cartoon and now is a woman. I love Rafiki. I love what these women do with her.

[29:27] Terron Brooks: Is she speaking Zulu?

[29:27] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yes.

[29:27] Terron Brooks: Yeah? She speaks Zulu throughout the show, whether she's mourning or whether she's talking to the audience or whether she's singing. Granted, there is English that comes in and out as well, but there aren't any subtitles that come up, and you don't need them. It doesn't matter. It's this incredibly vivacious character, and that's what's important. It really speaks to the power of theater as language.

[29:56] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: I agree. You knew what she was saying, but you didn't know what she was saying, but you knew. Making her a woman, there's two connections for Simba. It's Rafiki and Mufasa, and not so much Sarabi, his mother, but there's a connection there with Rafiki.

[30:13] Terron Brooks: I love her being an elder of the tribe. After Circle of Life, we get to meet Rafiki a little bit more, and then there's this amazing transition in how we see baby Simba become more of child Simba. There are these ensemble members with grass on their head.

[30:33] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: It's my favorite part of the show.

[30:34] Terron Brooks: Is it? Oh, my gosh. It's so cool. They rise out of the stage, so you see the grass, and then you realize it's this rectangular headpiece that they're wearing. If you're going to follow up that crazy opening number with anything, it better be this. They all raise up, and then they just start walking in patterns, and then these puppets of Simba start jumping through all of the grasses, and that symbolizes the passage of time. I love all of these moments of artistry, of choreography, because they always come back to the Circle of Life. Death, renewal.

[31:15] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Unity, because I remember the grass head. I had to balance that on my head, but it's almost like, am I my brother's keeper? Because if mine is tilted, I ruin the show.

[31:28] Terron Brooks: So I'm not only trying to keep it balanced because that's my job, but I'm not supposed to stick out. I'm supposed to be one of this whole thing that we're supposed to all...

[31:38] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Unity, that's what you're talking about.

[31:40] Terron Brooks: That's what I'm talking about. So infused in the choreography and in the vision of it all is exactly what you're talking about. Nothing is wasted. Oh, let's just have the grass there. No, no, no, no, no. Those were heavy on my head. It wasn't just an easy thing to do. So when I talked earlier about the physicality and the burden of the musical, we're doing something as a collective unit to make sure that we're not sticking out. And it's very incredible, the behind the scenes journey of this show. And you didn't ask me, but that's my favorite part. Other than the opening, I probably was still weeping into multiple scenes, singing that grass and the mu...

[32:20] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Mamalay!

[32:22] Terron Brooks: Mamalay! What we were saying. I don't know.

[32:26] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Gorgeous.

[32:26] Terron Brooks: I don't know. Yeah. And that music. I love listening to that track. Now we've got a little boy playing Little Simba. He is instructed by his father, the King Mufasa, about the Pride Lands. And he says, essentially everything, and we all know this line, everywhere the sun touches is our kingdom.

[32:46] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: And Simba's like, well, what about where the sun doesn't touch? And he's like, you don't get to go there. That immediately piques Little Simba's interest. We also meet his uncle, Uncle Scar, who is kind of this foppish, gay evil, if you will, character. His mask, his piece of puppetry allows him to lunge like a lion would. There's kind of this lion puppet above his head.

[33:11] Terron Brooks: And then when he gets angry, it lurches forward. Am I saying that right?

[33:19] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yeah, definitely. And Mufasa did the same way in a different way. Mufasa could actually take his off when he became less of a god and more of a father. You would see him take the big thing off and just be Mufasa's dad, and then he would put his back on. So it worked. It was both like a mantle and a puppet that he was placing on when it came time to be king.

[33:43] Terron Brooks: Wow, that's cool. This king is raising his son with the pride, literally and figuratively, of becoming king. You need to know who you are. You are special, and you need to live that way because you are going to be king one day. There is that sacredness about it, but then within the foolishness of youth, there's also ego, which then is an opening for Scar to be like, well, if you're so big and powerful, why don't you go over there where the sun doesn't shine? If you are as special as your father is trying to convince you you are, maybe you need to prove it. Maybe you need to work on your roar, all of that sort of thing. We do that in society now. We make our identity what we have, not who we are.

[34:36] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Hallelujah. So that's what we're thinking. Who are you? Not what you have. We know you have all of that, but you don't have it now. But we're never enough, and then when we become enough or have enough, then we think we are enough, and then when we lose that, we're nothing.

[34:49] Terron Brooks: Amen. Okay. I guess we should also mention Zazu, which is this bird who's kind of the secretary, the assistant to the king. Zazu has this new song called The Morning Report, which I guess has since been cut from the show. Did you know that?

[35:03] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: I think so. I did. I think I heard that. It also was cut from the animated film. Poor Morning Report. It just keeps getting the heave-ho.

[35:14] Terron Brooks: Now, with all of this kind of tempting from Scar, Simba decides that he's going to go sneak off and go to the place where he's not supposed to, the elephant graveyard, and in order to do that, he's going to go get his friend, who also happens to be his betrothed, Nala. And Nala is with all of the lionesses who are hunting, and there's this amazing number, it's actually one of my favorite pieces of choreography in the entire show, called The Lioness Hunt.

[35:46] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: And I guess this would be a great time to talk about Garth Fagan, who also won a Tony Award for his work here on The Lion King. He is a Jamaican-born choreographer who really has kind of crafted his own vocabulary in terms of modern dance. He fuses modern dance with ballet, with kind of Afro-Caribbean movement, and it's on full display in Lion King, and it exhausts me because not only did he put that on you fine people, but then made you figure out how to do it with a freaking puppet on your head. And still stunning to this day, that whole thing, the women are so strong, as the men are, but the power, how often do you see that displayed?

[36:33] Terron Brooks: Another great example, because it does seem to be like this male-dominated world where we're talking about kings and blah blah blah, but then it reminds us that in this circle of life, the women are the ones in charge of finding food, right? They are the ones who make it even possible to live, so don't get too cocky. Simba gets his friend Nala, they ask if they can go on a little adventure, they're just going to go to the waterhole, they're not really going to the waterhole, and the mom says, okay, you can go, but you have to bring Zazu with you.

[37:04] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Oh, crap, no, he's such a pain in the butt, I don't want to go with him, he goes. So now it's about how do we get rid of Zazu? I know, we'll do a number called Just Can't Wait to be King, and it's another fantastic number full of costumes, full of color, full of everything that you could possibly want in a theatrical experience.

[37:24] Terron Brooks: That's the power I do think of the musical, because that never felt disjointed. You didn't feel like all of a sudden, ooh, it's spiritual heavy, and then you're doing this comedy thing, and then you go back to this. It still felt part of it, which is another beautiful way to say how complex life is. It isn't just one thing, you know? And how does that thread together? I love that moment, that fun moment.

[37:40] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: So now they're at the elephant graveyard, yeah, they've lost Zazu, and while there, they run into the hyenas. Now there are these three hyenas who are always with Scar, but in general, Scar has created an army of hyenas, all of whom...

[38:00] Terron Brooks: Do you have any theories about the hyenas?

[38:07] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: No, but tell me yours.

[38:07] Terron Brooks: Are the hyenas really just hungry? They're constantly talking the entire show about they're starving, right? And part of it is because, yeah, as animals in general, they tend to be bottom feeders, and just kind of constantly eating everything without any sort of recognition.

[38:26] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: But it's interesting that in that desperation, Scar saw an opportunity to get them on his side. In kind of a Hitler way, he was like, I know that you are desperate. If you stick with me, I'll make sure that you have everything that you've ever wanted. And they're like, great, sounds good. Who do you want us to kill? Yeah, we get to eat. We get to feast.

[38:48] Terron Brooks: Opportunistic. Yeah, that's kind of what it is. And they're cowards.

[38:54] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: At the same time. Totally. At the same time. So they found some solace. Well, if the lion is coming to make a deal with us, maybe we can get behind the lion. And he'll protect us. We'll kill, but they were disillusioned because they were dumb.

[39:09] Terron Brooks: Yeah, right. On top of it all. And greeting, so they didn't see that they were going to get the short end of the stick. It's funny. Nothing more dangerous than being dumb and greedy.

[39:20] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yes. That being said, they're really fun characters. Those puppets are amazing. They're hyena puppetry. And they try to eat Simba and Nala. Mufasa comes in just in time to save the day. And now Simba's in huge trouble. This is such a gorgeous moment. Like you're saying, Mufasa takes off the king hat. And now he's just dad. And he is going to teach his son a thing or two about what has just happened. What he basically says is, we are all connected. And if you think that your actions don't echo throughout the ages, you're wrong. Look at these stars. All of these stars above us are basically the echoes of our ancestors. Please never forget that.

[40:12] Terron Brooks: And he sings the song called He Lives in You.

[40:14] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yeah, good night.

[40:14] Terron Brooks: Good night. It's amazing. Because you also see a king in power become vulnerable, loving, sensitive, and compassionate. I don't think we could say that enough in the majestic quality and the fact that he was king of the pride lands to have a moment where you could see them even having fun. Remember at the end of that?

[40:35] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Of course, yeah.

[40:35] Terron Brooks: And laughing and joking per se, but to see that as a nurturing moment as well, like a behind the scenes that you might not see in somebody that powerful.

[40:48] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Hot take, is Mufasa quite possibly the best father figure in all of musical theater?

[40:55] Terron Brooks: Could be. And I'm thinking about wanting to be him now that I'm old enough.

[40:59] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yeah. I mean, that's gotta happen.

[41:02] Terron Brooks: Just go back and do that. Torture myself more.

[41:06] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: You only have to make it through the first half of the first act. Scar sings his song, Be Prepared. Shout out to Elton John for writing a great villain tune, which I was really upset got cut from the new movie.

[41:16] Terron Brooks: Oh, yeah. That was another bummer.

[41:21] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yeah. They decide through Be Prepared that they are going to kill Mufasa and Simba too. What that leads to is leading Simba into this, what is it, like a ravine?

[41:34] Terron Brooks: Gorge they call it.

[41:37] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Gorge, thank you. And this scene, which becomes the stamp.

[41:40] Terron Brooks: The wildebeest stampede was one of the most epically animated scenes in all of animation at that time. And so it was like, how on earth are you going to do the stampede on stage? Very simply, you have these, it's kind of like a rolling pin. It's like a rolling pin with wildebeest stuck on it. And there are how many of them? Like two or three, maybe? Yeah. So like the closer that they get to the audience, the puppets on the pins are bigger. So it looks as they start turning, like the wildebeest are, you know, going to be attacking little Simba who is on a treadmill. Is he on a treadmill or is he just running in place, pretending? He's just running in place. Good for him. Way to use that childhood imagination.

Sure. Sure. It did look like something against the wall of other things happening. Absolutely. Cue another hydraulic lift that brings up actual actors holding different wildebeest pieces. You are surely. Really? Oh, yeah. That's my, the bane of my existence was that number. Oh my gosh. Talk to me about this. Why? Because the choreography was not, it didn't make sense. The foot, the footing, the footing, the way that we had to use the wildebeest, there were heads and that my arms had to move and my legs had to move. Not at the same time. You know, a freaking modern dance. I wondered if I ever got it right. I just was, I was just out there sweating, going, I hope, I hope. Is this right? But it was very, very, very challenging.

And the stamina too, because it was long with the army. That's why we were, our bodies were in so, it wasn't the gym. It was the, what we had. It was the freaking wildebeest. It's the wildebeest. But to your, to what you're talking about, the genius of how it started with the puppet and they brought more puppets and then the human aspect made it and the music made you feel like, you know, danger was coming, was there for Simba. And it is. And Mufasa once again tries to come in and save the day. He rescues Simba. And on the way out of the gorge, Scar is responsible for him falling back into the stampede and being killed. And how dramatic you remember that fall was. Yeah. And it's, you know, honestly, it's dangerous.

But a lot of the Mufasas have had back problems. And I mean, the show is no joke as far as the injuries and the risk. This is interesting because spoiler alert for everybody, next week we will be covering Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, which is another Julie Taymor show, but one that flopped in a way that Lion King did not. Right. And is very well known for the injuries that plagued its run. So I guess my question for you is, do you think Lion King is too dangerous? I think that there was a high risk that Disney, they could have done things differently to protect the actors. Really? I'm just going to say that. And that's not a surprise. They could have for the risk or for the look or for the drama or for whatever reason, there were too many cases of injuries all around that were not listened by Disney.

And since it's already out on the table, and I don't care. I mean, I can tell you how many times I've heard that you're never going to work in this town again. And you just laugh at this stuff. But I want to highlight this because it's important. Yeah. As a performer in the Lion King, I loved every minute of it on stage, off stage, I had many, many problems with the management, with Disney in itself, and its regard to their people. And I'm gonna go ahead and say it. Why not? And that has to change. Because what we were doing as performers was risky and unnecessary in a lot of ways. I mean, it was on a rick stage. There were people to this day that can never dance again. There's people that still having financial problems.

There's people on many kinds of things. And we know it's not that you don't know the risk. But to answer your question, what was necessary and what was not necessary, Disney, and I've worked for Disney for years, they have the mantle that it doesn't matter who you are, because we're Disney. And everybody wants to work and they're right. That if you don't do it, somebody else is gonna... That's it. And you feel that. And you're not supposed to feel that when I've worked with many other productions and people and I feel valued for what I bring to the table. And that's what we talked about earlier with the bravado of wealth and power. It sometimes doesn't have the regard for its people in the way that it should in the relationship to other entities that don't have as much.

It's baffling to me. And I had to get that off my chest because there's so many of my friends to this day that have suffered. And with a company like Disney, there's no way that they should have. And there should have been some more regard for that. I completely agree. Sorry for the darkness, but it's just...

[46:57] Jeff Parsons: No, no, it's so important.

[46:58] Terron Brooks: And that's the bittersweet pill that I have when people say, how was my experience? I have to stop in my track. I could weep. Why do I have to stop in my tracks to think about a wonderful time of my debut in a wonderful show, to have to think about all of the other grievances that had gone on? Well, and in this time when theater isn't possible, let us take a moment and talk about this and be like...

[47:25] Jeff Parsons: We have to.

[47:26] Terron Brooks: What is worth it and what isn't when it comes to human life? I'm sure there were things that could have been done to protect people.

[47:35] Terron Brooks: That actually would not have changed the integrity of it too much because there was so much of that they could have made those adjustments. And I'm not saying that one person suffered that, so they should have changed for one person. I'm saying if there's many, many cases of a same injury or same problem, who's going to say, let's do it a different way? Or who's going to say, we'll get someone else?

[47:53] Jeff Parsons: Oh, you just said it. That was great.

[47:57] Terron Brooks: So I'll never work again.

[47:59] Jeff Parsons: No, please, please don't. Don't even. So Mufasa dies, hopefully not actually because of the dangerous. And there's this really beautiful moment in the show where they actually take time to mourn Mufasa's death. There's a burial. There's a ritual involved in bringing that to closure that I really think is beautiful.

[48:23] Terron Brooks: It made those animals, the lions come to life, that the tears, the fabric of the tears, right? It was like, oh, that's right. And they would weep and then they would pull the tears out of their masks and visually stunning.

[48:37] Jeff Parsons: Wow. See, nobody's getting injured through that, right?

[48:41] Terron Brooks: No, no, no.

[48:42] Jeff Parsons: So it's like, yeah, anyway, how impactful and yet so simple. The other kind of brilliant thing about Scar is he kind of uses mind games on Simba and says, you're responsible for your dad's death. You probably need to go or else everybody's going to know exactly what you did.

[49:00] Terron Brooks: Absolutely.

[49:01] Jeff Parsons: And so he runs away and eventually collapses in the desert due to heat exhaustion. And these vultures, of course, amazing puppets are coming in on him to devour him. But he's saved by a meerkat and a warthog by the name of Timon and Pumbaa, another great bunch of characters who essentially save him. And even though he's in all of this trouble, they teach him a little phrase, Hakuna Matata, in order to continue on, right?

[49:34] Terron Brooks: Forget all of that heavy mantle of becoming a, you know, of expectation, let's say.

[49:40] Jeff Parsons: Yeah.

[49:40] Terron Brooks: Where we live, you know, you're not the king. You don't have any responsibilities.

[49:44] Jeff Parsons: Right.

[49:45] Terron Brooks: Just eat. You just eat and hang out. And little Simba grows up to big Simba. So now if you're playing Simba at this matinee, this is the first time you come on stage.

[49:54] Terron Brooks: I'm chilling for an hour and a half. I'm getting my makeup on and doing it. Yes, I come out, which is great and cool because I do everything in act two. But the adrenaline of knowing, right, the show is going on and I'm about to make my, I make my entrance at the end of act one.

[50:13] Jeff Parsons: Right.

[50:14] Terron Brooks: Just to say hi and then go eat.

[50:16] Jeff Parsons: It's like seriously five seconds before intermission, you come out on stage.

[50:20] Terron Brooks: And it's a glorious entrance and another entrance of people getting hurt.

[50:24] Jeff Parsons: Really?

[50:24] Terron Brooks: One Simba was injured so bad he couldn't do the show ever again because of that.

[50:30] Jeff Parsons: You're kidding.

[50:31] Terron Brooks: The landing of that. Just to let you know, there's a lot going on there. But fun. I get to be a child and swing in on a vine and the switch of the young to the teenage older Simba was brilliant.

[50:44] Jeff Parsons: Brilliant.

[50:45] Terron Brooks: That's so cool. All right. So coming back from intermission, we go to "One by One," which is this beautiful choral number with these amazing puppet birds that people are swinging around above their heads and everyone's dressed incredibly colorfully. It's so joyful.

[51:01] Jeff Parsons: It has nothing to do with anything.

[51:05] Terron Brooks: It doesn't. It really doesn't. I'm telling you, I still go, what was it about? The one thing that I kind of was able to mine from it is going back to this whole circle of life thing. One by one, the power of one within our community. And also the fact that we're about to contrast all of that joy, all of that color with what has happened to the Pride Lands since Mufasa's death, which now it's desolate. The hyenas have overeaten. And so their gluttony has really destroyed what made this place so beautiful and connected in the way that we witnessed during "One by One." So now that we're back into the Pride Lands, looking at what has happened to everything, we get this really long song called "The Madness of King Scar," in which he kind of has a little bit of an existential crisis in song.

That being said, let's get back to what we actually want to talk about, which is Heather Headley. So for any listeners who listened to the Aida episode, you know that I'm a big fan of Miss Heather Headley.

[52:14] Terron Brooks: And one of her first big gigs was as Nala in The Lion King on Broadway. And Nala's role has been beefed up. At the end of "The Madness of King Scar," we hear that Scar is wanting to take Nala on as a wife. And she's like, absolutely not. I am going to instead go look for some help. Something has to be done. Women getting the job done. So with the blessing of her community, she promises that she will return home. She will always remember home, but she's got to go find some help. And so she sings the gorgeous "Shadowlands."

[52:50] Terron Brooks: Taylor made for Heather Headley. Really. I mean, many people have sung it beautifully, but really using her strengths. All of those like deep, dark tones and everything that she's got. Altos are never celebrated. And not that Heather has an amazing range, but to hear a song that wasn't in the rafters for the whole time was kind of new, I think.

[53:13] Jeff Parsons: Absolutely.

[53:14] Terron Brooks: Absolutely. That brings us to, okay, this crazy moment where Timon almost drowns. Timon, Pumbaa, and Simba are walking along the river. And then does Timon fall in?

[53:35] Terron Brooks: Yep. And it starts rushing him toward a waterfall. The entire stage transforms. And you see the silhouette of like little Timon hanging at the top of the proscenium about to fall off the waterfall. People in the audience are losing their minds. What is happening? And the trauma of him falling triggers Simba into remembering the death of his father.

[53:58] Jeff Parsons: So talk to me about what's going on in Simba's brain at this moment.

[54:03] Terron Brooks: Well, I think he's, talk about checked out. His identity has been reduced to eating and sleeping and hanging out with these two friends with no purpose, you know, insight. And what is he going to do? You see Simba paralyzed. He could, he could save his friend. He was calling for him. Yes. And he's paralyzed, bringing him back to the moment. That inspires him to sing "Endless Night," which is a gorgeous song. Talk to me about singing that one.

[54:35] Terron Brooks: The first time I got to sing it, it was the top of 2001. And I think I actually did the first performance of the new year because I remember vividly. And I remember it was the first time me going on. And I remember everybody being in the wings to hear me. I remember the support. So there was a community, there was a community, but then they were listening to me sing that song. And I remember for me, I'll go ahead and admit it again. There was a torture a little bit. I remember feeling, I, you know, where no straight tones where, no, that's not it. What, you know, it almost the abuse. I'm just, I'm, you're getting exclusive here.

[56:03] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Welcome back to A Musical Theatre Podcast. Today, we are diving into the world of Disney’s landmark musical, The Lion King, with the incredible Terron Brooks.

[56:33] Terron Brooks: Thank you for having me! I’m excited to talk about this show.

[56:53] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: The Lion King has such a rich history and cultural impact. What do you think makes it resonate with audiences so deeply?

[57:13] Terron Brooks: I think it’s the universal themes of love, loss, and the circle of life. The music, the visuals, and the storytelling all come together to create something truly special.

[57:33] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Absolutely. And the performances are so demanding. What do you think it takes for a performer to embody such iconic characters?

[57:53] Terron Brooks: It requires a lot of heart and vulnerability. You have to connect with the character on a personal level and bring your own experiences into the performance.

[58:13] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: That’s a great point. The Lion King is known for its stunning visuals and choreography. How does that enhance the storytelling?

[58:33] Terron Brooks: The visuals are a character in themselves. They help to transport the audience to the African savanna and immerse them in the story. The choreography adds another layer of emotion and connection.

[58:53] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: It really does. And the music is such a huge part of that. What’s your favorite song from the show?

[59:13] Terron Brooks: I have to say “Circle of Life.” It’s such a powerful opening number that sets the tone for the entire show.

[59:33] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: It’s iconic for sure. And you’ve performed in the show as Simba. What was that experience like for you?

[59:53] Terron Brooks: It was life-changing. Being able to portray Simba and connect with the audience through that character was an incredible honor.

[1:00:13] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: I can only imagine. The Lion King has been running for so long. What do you think contributes to its longevity?

[1:00:33] Terron Brooks: The timeless story and the way it speaks to all generations. It’s a show that can be enjoyed by children and adults alike, and that’s a rare thing in theatre.

[1:00:53] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Very true. And the community around the show is so supportive. How has that impacted your experience?

[1:01:13] Terron Brooks: The community is everything. The friendships and connections you make with your fellow cast members create a family atmosphere that makes the experience even more special.

[1:01:33] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: That’s beautiful. As we wrap up, what advice would you give to aspiring performers who want to follow in your footsteps?

[1:01:53] Terron Brooks: Stay true to yourself and your craft. Work hard, be persistent, and never lose sight of why you love performing.

[1:02:13] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Great advice! As always, if you have recommendations for shows you'd like us to cover on A Musical Theatre Podcast, you can always email me at amusicalpodcast at gmail.com.

[1:02:33] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and Instagram at amusicalpodcast where you can find more great content.

[1:02:53] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: And while you're at it, hop on over to our TeePublic store where we have great designs based on favorite moments of episodes past and present.

[1:03:13] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Terron, how do we follow you and everything you're up to?

[1:03:33] Terron Brooks: Follow me on Facebook, Terron Brooks. I actually respond. I talk to people. I'm old school, so I love Facebook.

[1:03:53] Terron Brooks: And of course on Instagram, Terron Brooks. And then if you're really interested in hearing some music, I do have my latest record. It's called The Soul of Broadway.

[1:04:13] Terron Brooks: And so that's www.thesoulofbroadway.com where we rebelliously twist Broadway songs.

[1:04:33] Terron Brooks: And I actually sing “Circle of Life” in a different kind of way on that record.

[1:04:53] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: That's amazing. We will definitely be tagging you and all of this amazing stuff in your career throughout this week.

[1:05:13] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: You also have a Christmas show coming up, right?

[1:05:33] Terron Brooks: I have a Christmas show with one of my best friends of many, many, many years, Camila Marshall.

[1:05:53] Terron Brooks: This will be our 11th year doing Holidays Harmony. We call it the Black Donny and Marie.

[1:06:13] Terron Brooks: So it's a variety. It's campy. It's fun. It doesn't take itself too seriously.

[1:06:33] Terron Brooks: And then it's soulful. We sing a lot of songs because we've been singing forever.

[1:06:53] Terron Brooks: So go to GaryMarshallTheatre.org and get your streaming tickets for Holidays Harmony 11.

[1:07:14] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Fantastic. Thank you again, Terron. You're amazing.

[1:07:23] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: And to everybody out there. Oh, man, this happens to me sometimes.

[1:07:28] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: I try to think of a tagline and then I can't think of it.

[1:07:35] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: And to everybody out there. Can you feel the love tonight?

[1:07:38] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: It's so stupid. I was going to say Hakuna Matata.

[1:07:45] Terron Brooks: Oh, my gosh, that's so much better. And to everybody out there, Hakuna Matata.