The Lion King - Chicago Creative Team

Mr. Allers has been instrumental in shaping the structure and dialogue of many Disney animated features since 1988, including Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Oliver and Company, Rescuers Down Under, Prince and the Pauper and the computer-animated movie Tron. Prior to working with Disney, he created animation on children's programs and features for studios in Boston, Toronto and Tokyo. He is currently developing an animated feature for Sony and a new stage musical with Irene Mecchi. ... read more Acclaimed by critics and musicians, particularly for his work during the 1970s, his music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry. His songwriting partnership with lyricist Bernie Taupin is one of the most successful in history. John was raised in Pinner and learned to play piano at an early age, winning a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music, where he studied for five years. He formed the blues band Bluesology in 1962, but left in 1967 to embark on a solo career and met Taupin that same year. For two years, they wrote songs for ... read more ... read more ... read more A Tony® nominee and multi-platinum, three-time Grammy Award®-winning composer, he was an obvious choice to produce the music for the stage production of The Lion King, having arranged and produced songs for the blockbuster animated feature film, for which he received both Grammy and American Music awards in 1994. The film also spawned the hit album Rhythm of the Pride Lands, for which Mr. Mancina co-wrote, arranged and produced three tracks, including "He Lives in You" and "Shadowland," which are featured in the stage production. Ranked among the upper echelons of film composers, his credits include mega-hits Training Day, Speed, ... read more Irene Mecci began her association with Disney in March 1992, when she wrote Recycle Rex, an animated short, which won the 1994 Environmental Media Award. Irene is a co-writer of Disney’s animated features The Lion King, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Hercules. Along with co-author Roger Allers, she received a 1998 Tony® nomination for writing the book for The Lion King. Irene wrote the teleplay for “Annie,” which aired on ABC. Irene is developing an animated film at Pixar, a television adaptation of Broadway’s classic musical, Peter Pan and has a production company which is acquiring literary material written ... read more Sir Tim Rice is an author and Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Emmy Award, Tony Award, and Grammy Award-winning lyricist. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Evita; with Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson of ABBA, with whom he wrote Chess; for additional songs for the 2011 West End revival of The Wizard of Oz; and for his work with Alan Menken on Disney's Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, and the musical King David. He also worked with Elton John on Disney's ... read more Jay Rifkin is an American record and film producer. Rifkin co-founded the company Media Ventures with Hans Zimmer, a childhood friend. As CEO of the company from 1988, Rifkin partnered with Zimmer to produce and to compose. Media Ventures is a diverse entertainment group that includes music, new media, film and television. The partnership earned them numerous awards and nominations, including Academy Award nominations, for the film scores of Driving Miss Daisy, Rain Man and The Lion King. After the success of The Lion King, Rifkin conceived and produced the platinum-selling follow-up album Rhythm of the Pride Lands. Rifkin was also chairman ... read more Jonathan Roberts (born Jonathan Robert Stubenrauch; April 20, 1974) is an American professional ballroom dancer. He decided to take up dancing after he received a free trial at a local dance studio and enjoyed it. He currently resides in California. He competed in seasons 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 9 of the U.S. version of Dancing with the Stars. ... read more Taymor is an American director and writer of theater, opera and film. Her stage adaptation of The Lion King debuted in 1997, and received eleven Tony Award nominations, with Taymor receiving Tony Awards for Best Director and Costume Designer. Her film Frida, about Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, was nominated for five Academy Awards, including a Best Original Song nomination for Taymor's composition "Burn It Blue". She also directed the jukebox musical Across the Universe. ... read more ... read more