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Hey, everyone.

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Welcome back.

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In today's
session, we'll be exploring transition.

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The Lion King is a story of transition
from cub to king,

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balance to chaos, friendship
to love, and chaos to balance.

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Let's head over to the studio
to learn more.

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The transitions in The Lion King
affect all the characters

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and therefore the actors' who play them.

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For example, Nala, a character
I got to know very well,

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is Simba's best friend
and a leader in her own right.

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She goes from
being the spunky young lioness

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to saving her whole community
in the midst of a crisis.

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I collaborated with the director,
the designers and the actors

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playing the role of Young Nala
to make the character transition clear.

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I'm here with Teshi Thomas,

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who plays Young Nala in
the Broadway company of The Lion King.

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Teshi, how did you develop your character
after getting hired

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for the role of playing Young Nala?

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Well, when I got hired for the role
of Young Nala, I was very super excited.

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The director showed me all these videos
on, like, the form of a lion

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and like the roar and the walk
and the talk and stuff like that.

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How was your audition process?

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Were you up against a lot of other
young girls playing Young Nala?

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Yes. I had to,

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keep my confidence up because, like,

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I didn't feel that strong
when I walked in the room, I thought,

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Like a bunch of the other girls were like,
oh, we're going to do this thing.

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But I didn't feel confident at all.

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But once I got through the process,
I started feeling confident in myself.

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Does Young Nala think that she's
the brains of the operation?

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Yeah.

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Yeah, totally. For me, too!

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When we're playing Nala
at two stages in her life,

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it's important to share some
physical and vocal choices,

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like our walk and roar and greeting.

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A director helps actors
with character choices.

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Joining us today is John Stefaniuk,
Associate Director of The Lion King.

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While you don't see Nala transition

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into a grown lion on stage,
as you do with Simba during a "Hakuna Matata",

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the director helps us to create
and repeat certain movements or lines

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to help the audience
and even Simba know who Nala is.

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John, what's your role in bringing new
actors into the role of Young Nala and Nala?

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Well, I think what's most important is
you remember to bring a lot of yourself.

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You know, being an actor
is about half being the character

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and half being yourself
and putting those two pieces together.

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For Young Nala and for Nala,
they have very similar qualities,

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because you want to see who this girl is

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at the beginning of the story,
and at the end are the same person.

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So I think what's really important

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is that you look at qualities
that Nala has, and you try to

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really try to maintain those.

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So if I ask you what, who is Nala,
what do you think?

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Give me three words to describe Nala.

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Sassy. Confident. Brave.

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That's good words.
Good words. How about you?

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Courageous.

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Caring. Protected.

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Now take that first word you said.
What was it again?

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Sassy.

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Let me see you do a sassy bow.

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Nice.

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Now give it some energy.

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Like Young Nala would.

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Very good.

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And what was your first word again?

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Courageous.

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Courageous. Let me see you do
a courageous bow.

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Very nice.

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When we see Nala at the top of act two,

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she comes on
and she does a nice strong pose.

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Why don't you give me something physical
that shows who she is as a strong person?

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Okay.

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Very nice.

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Give me a nice, strong pose, now.

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Like, as though maybe
you're afraid of something.

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Let me see that.

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Nice. Very good.

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How about you?

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Looking back on act one,

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do you think these qualities are still in
you in act one?

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All right.

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Give me an example of a scene

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where you might be scared
and cautious like we just saw in older Nala.

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Very nice.

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So in each of your moments in act
one and act two, there's moments of fear.

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Let me see the fear.

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Nice.

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And there's moments of pride.

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Let me see those pride moments.

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That was great.

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So you see, you can see already
how both Young Nala

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and old Nala are starting to
become one character.

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Oh that's great.

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Thanks, guys.

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By retaining the same gestures
as Nala grows from cub

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to an adult lioness, we create
character continuity between two actors.

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Now let's take a look at the first pinja
moment between Young Nala

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and Young Simba from the Broadway show.

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And now the mirrored moment

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between adult Nala and Simba.

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Although the lines are different
between the two scenes,

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the movement is still the same
and thus helps Simba to remember his past

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by employing specific gestures
and movements,

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a director can help audiences
track characters through story transition.

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Let's take a look at how costume design
supports the actors and directors work.

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Costume design also helps convey
Nala’s transition.

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Both Young Nala and grown
Nala wear the same corset,

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leotard and pants
to represent the same character.

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But as Nala grows older,
her pigtails are replaced with a collar

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and a crown mask to create a more mature
and elegant posture.

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We've seen how character transitions
can be identified and developed

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through an actors, a directors,
and a costume designers perspective.

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Now you'll have the opportunity
to explore the transitions

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of my favorite character, Zazu.

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No, not Zazu! Simba!

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What?

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Have fun!