The hit West End version of The Lion King is running out of black performers - and the search for new talent is now heading for the Caribbean.
Casting director Pippa Ailion leaves tomorrow to hold open auditions in Jamaica, Trinidad and St Lucia. She will be looking for performers for the lead roles of Simba and Nala, and also to play the lionesses, hyenas, giraffes and antelopes of the African savannah.
"The demands of the London production, now into its fourth year, and of the production in Hamburg which opened last December, are such that we are running out of performers," she said.
"Of the 55 people in the cast, almost all are of black, Asian or mixed race origin. It is a very multi-racial show with 25 different nationalities involved but only about 10 of the cast are white.
"We are going to the Caribbean because most of the London cast are of Caribbean extraction. There is a huge number of dance companies there - even St Lucia has its own national dance company - and singing is natural talent.
"The show was always conceived with black performers in mind because it is set in Africa and because so much of the music is by South African composer Lebo M. We are doing everything we can to encourage the talent here, but the skills required in this highly-choreographed show are of a very high order.
"Equity, the actors' union, are aware that we have a problem casting the show and they have been very helpful." She and other members of the Disney production team have already been round Europe and held open auditions in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Coventry and Bristol. But they say they have found that British stage schools are turning out, on average, perhaps no more than one or two performers a year capable of doing the job - and eight times a week at that.
To help those with potential reach the necessary standards, Disney is running free singing, dancing and acting masterclasses. A dozen young hopefuls attended a recent class at Sadler's Wells Theatre in Islington.
