Interview: Danny Grumich Finding His Own Pumbaa in LION KING at Murat Theatre

For more than 25 years, The Lion King has captivated audiences around the world, becoming much more than a stage adaptation of a beloved Disney film. With its groundbreaking puppetry, unforgettable music, and universal themes of family, identity, and finding your place in the world, the musical continues to connect with audiences of all ages.

For Danny Grumich, that connection has taken on a particularly special meaning. Grumich is currently touring the country as Pumbaa in The Lion King—a role that combines physicality, puppetry, comedy, and plenty of heart. We recently spoke with Grumich about stepping into one of the show's most beloved characters, making Pumbaa his own, and why The Lion King continues to resonate across generations.

This is your first national tour, and you get The Lion King. How does that feel?

For Grumich, the opportunity was several years in the making. He had been living in New York for about a decade, with Pumbaa on his radar for roughly three years. Then, in the summer of 2024, an opportunity opened up.

“I was fortunate enough that in 2024, that summer, they had an opening,” Grumich recalls. Then came the call that changed everything: “You need to hop on a plane. You’re in finals.”

The rest, as they say, is history. “Very fortunate to be here,” he says. Now, Grumich is preparing to begin his third year with the production, making what was already a major career opportunity into an extended journey with one of musical theatre's most iconic shows.

Pumbaa is one of the most beloved characters in The Lion King. What was your approach to making this iconic character your own while honoring what audiences already love about him?

Taking on a character as recognizable as Pumbaa comes with an obvious challenge: How do you honor what audiences already know without simply recreating what they've seen before?

“My big challenge for myself was how do I stay as true to that iconic character but not make it a sort of copy/paste of the film?” Grumich explains. That challenge became even more interesting because he had never worked with puppets before joining The Lion King. “It was sort of a whole other layer,” he says, describing the 50-to-60-pound puppet that he has to integrate into his performance.

Rather than handing him a rigid “recipe for success,” however, the Lion King team encouraged Grumich to make the character his own. “All the credit goes to our team out here on the road,” he says. “The team kind of gave me the freedom to make it my own.”

One person who has been particularly important in that process is Nick Corleone, who has been with the production for many years. Together, they explored what had worked in the character's history while looking for opportunities to put their own stamp on the relationship between Pumbaa and Timon. “How are we going to make this our own?” became part of the process.

They talked through bits that had been performed in the past, introduced new ideas, and found small opportunities for improvisation. “We found a couple of moments to ad lib or add in a reaction line here or there,” Grumich says. But for him, it ultimately comes down to the relationship between Pumbaa and Timon: “How would these two honestly react with each other?” That question allows the performers to work within the established parameters of the show while still finding moments that feel spontaneous and personal.

“Hakuna Matata” is one of the most recognizable moments in the show. What goes through your mind when you walk onstage and realize the audience is about to hear those first notes?

There are certain moments in theatre when an actor can feel the audience's anticipation before anything has even happened. For Grumich, “Hakuna Matata” is one of those moments.

“From the first, to hear the kids gasp the first time I said that.” That reaction never seems to get old. “You can feel the energy, everybody just leaning forward in their seats to hear that,” he says. And even after performing the show hundreds of times, that energy has the ability to change his entire day. “It can always turn a day around.”

Pumbaa provides so much of the comedy in The Lion King, but there’s also a lot of heart beneath that humor. How do you balance making audiences laugh while showing the more vulnerable side of the character?

For Grumich, the answer starts with something that might seem surprising for a comedic character: Don't start with the comedy.

“The best way to do that that I’ve found is to just lead with that heart.” Pumbaa and Timon aren't simply a comedic duo. Their relationship with Simba carries a deeper emotional component as they help raise and care for him. “They really take him under their wing and raising him. There’s a lot of parental themes there.”

That perspective changes the way Grumich approaches the humor. Instead of playing for laughs first and finding the heart underneath, he finds that allowing Pumbaa's genuine affection to lead makes the comedy feel more authentic. “Leading with that heart and that love. Finding the comedy and sort of moments within that.” The result, he says, is humor that comes from a “pure place”—and that purity is part of what makes Pumbaa so endearing.

After performing a show as visually and musically spectacular as The Lion King, what is the moment that still gives you a thrill each night?

Interestingly, Grumich's answer isn't necessarily one of Pumbaa's biggest comedic moments. Much of his time onstage is spent with Simba and Nala, meaning he doesn't always get to share the stage with the entire company. That's what makes one particular moment so special.

He points to the show's “Sunshine Chorus” sequence, when the sun rises on a new day. “It’s a really special moment,” he says. The moment that stands out to him comes when Simba climbs the rock and lets out his roar. “It’s one of the first and kind of only times we’re on stage with everyone else.”

For Grumich, watching the entire company come together puts his role in the production into perspective. “Here we are to elevate this story.” And while Pumbaa and Timon get to “go tell jokes,” the rest of the company is creating something extraordinary around them. “They’re dancing their faces off and singing their faces off.”

For someone who has seen The Lion King before—whether on Broadway, tour, or screen—what do you hope they discover or experience differently when they see this production?

One of the biggest misconceptions about The Lion King, according to Grumich, is that it's simply a children's show.

“The Lion King is honestly so much more than that.”

He knows that firsthand. Grumich is now introducing the story to his own two-year-old, while performing for parents who may have first encountered Simba, Timon, and Pumbaa when The Lion King was released decades ago. “There’s those parents who were kids when this came out.”

That creates something unique about The Lion King: it has become a genuinely multigenerational experience. “It’s this multigenerational thing.” And the story can change depending on where an audience member happens to be in life.

“There’s so many themes, so many different stages of life, so you can come back to it as an adult and connect with it in so many new ways.”

That's perhaps the enduring magic of The Lion King. A child can come for the characters and songs, while an adult may find themselves connecting with themes of family, responsibility, loss, identity, and growing into who they're meant to become.