Interview: Jennifer Theriot Brings Her Talents to New Orleans with THE LION KING

This week one of the most beloved Disney stories of all time opens at the Saenger Theatre in New Orleans. THE LION KING tells the story of Simba, a little lion who returns to his home to take his rightful place as the king of Pride Rock. With colorful music written by Elton John and Tim Rice, choreography by Garth Fagan, and direction by Julie Taymor, the story comes to life on stage like nothing that's ever been seen before. Beautiful costumes, masks, and puppets that the actors use make for a gorgeous production and magical experience for the audience.

On top of all of that it is, simply put, one of the most amazing pieces of musical theatre I've ever seen. I first saw the show in 2003 on a 16th birthday trip with some high school friends and our moms to New York City. I remember sitting in the balcony and as the animals/actors made their way into the theatre during the opening number I was almost face to face with a giraffe. I had a serious case of slack jaw throughout the show's entirety. I laughed, I cried, I danced in my seat a little, and had to hold myself back from singing along. It was my first Broadway show experience, and something I will never forget.

You and your family and friends can have this experience, too. The show is in town for a month so there is plenty of opportunity to make it down to the Saenger to share in this piece of art. Jennifer Theriot, born in New Orleans and now a professional actor and singer, is part of the ensemble as well as an understudy for the characters of Nala and Sarabi. Read the interview below to hear about her experience touring with this show for the past eight months.

How did you become interested in musical theatre?
For me, it was kind of late. Some people are Broadway babies. They know from when they're in elementary school, when they do their community plays. I thought I was gonna be a teacher. I always sang. I sang with my grandma. I used to sing in weddings when I was little. I always sang. That wasn't new, but the acting aspect and the singing aspect didn't really combine until high school. I'd do dance recitals, but I wasn't singing. And then I'd sing in church, but I wasn't dancing. So it wasn't really combined until high school, and my senior year I had all these full rides to these other colleges and my parents were so excited and I chose to choose a school in New York that gave barely any money. They were pissed, but that was my passion. I didn't know much about it. I just knew that I liked it, and I was pretty good at it. I just wanted to be immersed in it, and I felt like if I went to New York that was my best bet.

What school did you go to?
I went to AMDA - The American Musical and Dramatic Academy. They have a campus in New York and a campus in L.A.

You're also a New Orleans native!
Yes. I was born and raised there. My mom and dad were in the military, so I bounced back and forth from Maryland. Maryland became pretty much my home base, so I claim Maryland. But, everybody still lives in New Orleans and I still visit. My grandma's there, my cousins, everybody's there.

Have you been back to New Orleans to perform since you started your career?
Yeah, I did my first tour when I was 18, and yeah we did go to New Orleans for a week. So that was awesome, but not a lot of my family got to see it. It wasn't good timing, so we're there for a month now so they don't have an excuse!

Yes, and this is quite a show that you're in... THE LION KING. This show has been around for quite a while now. I remember seeing it in New York over 10 years ago, so it's been a while. Tell me about what this touring production is like.
It's like nothing else. I've been a part of big productions. The last tour I was doing was BEAUTY AND THE BEAST International, and that's pretty big. But this show, especially the puppets, I think the puppetry is what gets you. It's magical. You can't even describe it. When people ask, "What character do you play?"... when you're in the ensemble, because I understudy Nala as well, but when I'm in the ensemble I can't really explain to them what I do unless they see it. We make up the show. There's no backdrop. It's all lighting and us. It's magical. It's definitely a family. People [cast members] travel with their families and their dogs. It's a beautiful thing.

So, you mentioned the puppets, which is something I thought was really neat when I saw the show, so is there any kind of specific training or anything like that you have to go through to be able to wear them or use them?
No, you kind of just have to get used to it. I didn't realize how much my neck was getting a workout until I got my first massage. Now, as far as Zazu and Timon, those puppets are a little more intricate, so they have to go through more of a training process. But we more just have to figure it out. We get notes, like my lioness head... If I'm a normal person looking forward my lioness head looks like she's looking to the sky so I kind of have to play with it in the mirror sometimes, but it's more just getting used to it and rehearsals. They rehearse us for four weeks before you get into the show.

Wow. Yeah, they're so beautiful and impressive. You've got these huge pieces like the elephant and giraffe. These are huge pieces that come into play in different parts of the show. What is it like to travel with all of that?
The cool thing about that is we have two sets. In order for us to move on to the next city we have to move fast because we open usually the day after we travel. The only way to do that is to have a truck leave in advance. We have two sets. We have two sets of puppets, two sets of stage, two sets of the soundboard, so that we can continuously move. And it is different, like I can tell... there's a shadow puppet I have and I can tell which one is which set. One is a little lighter. You can kind of tell once you do the show long enough.

How long have you been with this tour?
I'm kind of new, I'm eight months in.

But you're not new to touring life in general.
No, I'm just new to this one. I mean it went fast. I was just speaking to our Timon, and he said it's been seven years for him and it feels like two years. It goes fast.

Did you have the opportunity to see the show before you were part of the cast?
I did. I saw the UK tour and I saw it on Broadway. They have you watch it before you join it as well, so that's very helpful. I never thought I was going to be doing this. It's surreal. It's even funny because I used to work on Disney Cruise Line, and one of the shows we had I had to sing "Circle of Life." I was working on that ship for about three contracts, and I remember saying, "If I have to sing 'Circle of Life' one more time!" And now, it's my favorite song! It's my favorite number.

Are there any other favorite moments in the show or moments that audiences tend to particularly look forward to?
Oh that's tough because "Circle of Life" is like really amazing. People start crying before we even get through it. They definitely enjoy "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" because the giraffes and it's very colorful. In "Be Prepared" they like the dance break because the guys are dancing all sexy-like. They pretty much enjoy the whole thing, but those are probably the highlights... more the numbers in Act I... "Hakuna Matata" because they know those words.

So with you being in the ensemble, but also understudying, how does that work? You already have to learn all of the roles that you play and then also all of the roles that you're understudying!
Normally they vet you in with the four weeks for the ensemble, and then once they see that you're ready then they start helping you learn your understudy role. It takes two weeks, maybe three. It doesn't really take that long. What's hard about it is you always have to be on guard. I had to go on for Nala during... I had already been doing my ensemble track, and our Nala got dizzy and I had to go on. You always have to be ready. It's also hard because I'm on stage with her a lot as an ensemble member, so it's kind of hard to not watch too much so you can stick to what you learned. That part is tricky, and I understudy more than one thing so sometimes I'm like, "Who am I today?" It really depends. They're very patient; it depends on how fast you're catching on. I had an interesting thing because my costume... when I joined they were opening in Shanghai and my costumes weren't ready yet. So I learned everything at once. But they're so good. They're very patient. They rent out a studio, you're in front of a mirror, you get puppets. You know... they work with you.

To be a part of a show like this, do you kind of naturally have to be a triple threat or do you have singers who move or dancers who can kind of sing? Do you have to be able to do it all?
Well, for the singer auditions there's always going to be a dance audition as well. They more want to see if you can catch on quickly. If they teach you something, they need to know that you can catch on. With THE LION KING, it's special. This is the only show I've been a part of where you don't necessarily have to be able to dance to sing. You can definitely tell the singer tracks and the dancer tracks. The commercials you see with people dancing and jumping and stuff... those are the dancers. But they still have to sing. They still do have to sing, which is hard for them... it's athletic and crazy jumping and turning and they still have to know the words and sing. We don't jump and do all of that as ensemble, but we sing the whole time. There are no tracks. Some people think it's a track for the whole two and a half hours, but we're singing. So, triple threat... it's helpful to be able to move well, but for this show particularly, you it plays towards your strengths.

Is there anything that's different about being in a Disney show from being in any other show?
They're a machine! They know what they want, and they're very together. That's the difference. They know what they want. They know the magic, they know what works. They know how to pluck those emotional strings of the audience. They know what makes people cry and what makes people happy. They just know. That's the easy part with working with them... you never feel lost because they're like, "Oh, I'll help you, let me know." We know what we want. It's the magic. That's the biggest difference. With THE LION KING, it's been around for so long that it's a perfect puzzle. It just fits.

It's quite an incredible show, and I'm looking forward to seeing it again. So, since you all will be in New Orleans for a whole month, what are some things you're looking forward to while you're here?
Food! We're looking forward to food! Some of us also really like putting on benefits and such, so that's something that people are putting together. Food and music, you know? We really want to get out there and be able to share other than on the stage. We like to go out there into the community and sing other things. And the culture, of course... it'll feel so good to be home for a month!

Join me in welcoming Jennifer home this month, and coming to the Saenger to experience a show like nothing you've ever seen before. I can vouch for Jennifer when she says that it is magical and like nothing else. Trust us, this is not a show you want to miss! Bring the kids, bring your grandma, bring your neighbor, bring anyone you know who can use a good laugh, cry, and renew their sense of magic and wonder. You won't be sorry! Visit www.saengernola.com for tickets and more information