New York Diary
Meet the Amazing Queen Behind ‘The Lion King’ – A True Fan Moment!
Sometimes you meet a genuine celebrity when you least expect it – among the nameless crowd in the push and tumble of a packed theater foyer.
Julie Taymor is the Queen behind the magnificent Lion King which continues to draw audiences to Broadway. She is the Academy Award nominated and Emmy and Tony Award winning director whose productions range from musicals and Shakespeare plays to classical operas and films.
We have all seen The Lion King and her creativity and magic has fired up the imagination of a whole generation.
Talk of a language that everyone understands: Taymor’s The Lion King continues to play in New York, and its worldwide gross exceeds that of any entertainment title in box office history, seen in over 100 cities in 20 countries. It is said that over 110 million people have seen this beloved show and it made her the first woman to receive the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical, and another Tony for best original costume design.
In addition to her two Tony Awards, Taymor has also received a MacArthur Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship, two OBIE Awards, the first Annual Dorothy B. Chandler Award in Theater, the Brandeis Creative Arts Award, the 2015 Shakespeare Theatre Company’s William Shakespeare Award for Classical Theatre, a 2017 Disney Legends Award, and induction into the Theater Hall of Fame for Lifetime Achievement in the American Theater.
In that crowded theater, her humanity and unpretentiousness shone through, and we, at a loss for words, were turned into selfie-seeking fans with this lightning quick brief encounter with a real legend.
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