Forest VanDyke absorbs ‘The Lion King’ spotlight

COSTA MESA, Calif.- Forest VanDyke considers himself fortunate to be part of the hit Broadway musical The Lion King. VanDyke talked about what it means to be part of this production in a phone interview with News4usonline.com Editor Dennis J Freeman. 

“It’s been a goal of mine to be in a production of this scale for a long time,” VanDyke said. “It represents fifteen years of work, you know, in New York City. I spent fifteen years doing other shows. It just means a culmination of a lot of hard work and prayers. That’s what it means to me.”  

With the touring show now playing at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts through Feb. 25, VanDyke and the rest of the amazing cast are preparing to perform during the echelon of Black History Month, which adds more significance to the production. 

Just about every part of The Lion King is productive to the storytelling tale of family, forgiveness and redemption. So there’s no question that even the villains in this coming-of-age story are somewhat front and center on this journey of sibling rivalry, romance, friendship, and ultimately, revenge. 

Caught up in all of this madness are three Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde characters we all have come to love to hate. That would be the three hyenas who befriend and co-conspire in Scar’s plot to do away with Mufasa and overtake Pride Rock. 

There’s Shenzi (Martina Sykes), Ed (Robbie Swift), and then there’s VanDyke’s character, Banzai. 

“Banzai is one of Scar’s three main hyenas, along with Shenzi and Ed. Banzai is wild and crazy and is driven by food and he’s just the most fun character to play because I get to do all the things that I don’t get to do normally in everyday life,” VanDyke said.

Part of The Lion King plot has Scar’s three flunkies in Shenzi, Ed, and Banzai doing whatever their leader tells them to do, including going after and trying to kill a young Simba, the real and true successor to Mufasa. Every story has to have an antagonist in it. 

The Lion King has four of them with the hyenas serving as the more sinister side of Scar’s psychopathic ambitions. But they also add some humor to their dark mindset. VanDyke says audiences enjoy the duality roles of the hyenas. 

“Many of them talk to us at the stage door and tell us how much fun they had watching the hyenas, but how funny were are,” VanDyke said. “There’s a mixture of danger there and fun. So I think it’s exciting for them to see that sort of energy on stage.” 

VanDyke said there is a challenge trying to juggle being bad and doing comedy at the same time. 

“There’s a balance there,” VanDyke said. “We’re constantly kind of fine-tuning that with our creative directors and our director. It’s always fun to play the bad guy. So I love to lean into that and I love to do the comedic relief. It’s fun and there’s a fine-tune sort of balance that we’re constantly finding.”

Before landing The Lion King gig, VanDyke worked on his acting craft in relative anonymity, doing work in productions such as Dog Man: The Musical (George/Chief, Lucille Lortel Theatre), Cadaver Synod (Pope Formosus,Playwrights Horizon), Mystic Pizza: A New Musical (Lionel Hampton, Ogunquit Playhouse), and Choir Boy (David, Marin Theatre Company). 

The global impact of The Lion King cannot be understated. Disney’s animated film The Lion King came out in 1994. The movie made more than $422 million here in the United States and generated over $968 million worldwide. That was on a $45 million budget, according to Box Office Mojo. 

With the movie becoming an international hit, The Lion King made its Broadway debut in 1997. Audiences, young, old, and in-between, have been coming to see the show since. VanDyke said The Lion King has something for everyone. 

“There are themes that are universal for everybody, you know; knowing who you are, being connected to your roots, your ancestors, overcoming fear,” VanDyke remarked. 

“I think that’s why audiences just keep coming back generation after generation, from watching the original film to the stage adaptation, seeing it when they were young and bringing their children. There’s something for everybody at every point and time in their life,” he added.