arts&life

theater

Pumbaa
The Great

PHOTO BY JOAN MARCUS

Nick Cardileone as Timone and Ben Lipitz as Pumbaa

Dashaun Young as Simba

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Get to know
the man behind
the warthog.

details

The Lion King runs Feb. 1-26, at
the Detroit Opera House. Tickets
start at $25. (313) 872-1000;
broadwayindetroit.com.

50

January 26 • 2017

I

t’s been more than 5,000
performances of The Lion
King for Ben Lipitz, and
he’s still counting. By the time
the actor reaches the Detroit
Opera House as Pumbaa for the
February tour stop, he will be
going beyond some 5,260 cur-
tain calls.
That comes to about 15 years
in one part — with some brief
intermissions to take on other
roles.
His family — wife, Rosalie,
and children Matthew, 11, and
Mikaela, 8 — don’t exactly get
in on the act, but they get in on

jn

the fun going to various cities
where the show is being staged,
never bored by the storyline
and the music. Most recently,
they got to spend the week of
Chanukah in San Francisco as
the four celebrated the holiday
together.
“I started the show
as one of the first prin-
cipal replacements,”
Lipitz says in a phone
conversation from
the road. “I love that
Pumbaa is an every-
man character who
Ben Lipitz
wears his heart on his

sleeve, and I think we all aspire
to be like that.
“I sing the big comic number,
‘Hakuna Matata.’ It’s an iconic
Disney song, and that’s one of
the privileges of dong this and
why I’ve been doing this so
long. The joy that I feel
I get to contribute to
the experience of the
story gives me the best
job in the world.”
Productions of The
Lion King have been
seen by more than 85
million people around
the globe since it

launched in 1997. The score,
originated by Elton John and
Tim Rice in the 1994 movie,
includes “Can You Feel the Love
Tonight?” and fuses Western
popular music with African
sounds as lions compete to rule
a kingdom.
“I like that the play has a
really great message that espe-
cially resonates with my Jewish
heritage,” says Lipitz, 52. “It’s
not just that we all have to take
our place in the circle of life; it
also talks about knowing your-
self before you can help others.”
Lipitz, whose character is a