JANUARY 20 • 2022 | 41

safe being in a larger com-
munity.
“The pandemic gave me 
time to reflect, recharge and 
renew,” Lipitz adds. “It was 
an incredible time to recon-
nect to my family and to my 
faith. I did a lot of convers-
ing with God in those 18 
months.”
Even during that time, 
Lipitz made it a priority to 
continue his charitable vol-
unteer work with his home-
town Jewish Community 
Center in Cherry Hill, New 
Jersey, where Lipitz has pro-
duced a Broadway Cabaret 
show for the past 12 years. 
Monies raised — well into 
the millions — from the 
Cabaret, which was moved 
to an online fundraiser for 
spring 2021, support camp 
scholarships for special 
needs children for the JCC 
and Jewish Federation of 
Southern New Jersey.
“The depth of Broadway 
talent for this recent produc-
tion was staggering because 
all of my fellow artists were 
home during the pandemic 
and were able to participate,” 
says Lipitz, whose television 
debut was as a rabbini-
cal assistant on Unsolved 
Mysteries. Other favorite 
Jewish roles include Tevye in 
Fiddler on the Roof and Max 
Bialystock in The Producers.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN
As of September 2021, Lipitz 
is thrilled to be back on tour 
again and reunited with his 
onstage sidekick of 10 years, 
Nick Cordileone, who plays 
Timon, the wisecracking 
meerkat. 
“Timon and Pumbaa are 
beloved icons. You can feel 
the anticipation and laughter 
that’s about to happen as we 

come on stage,” jokes Lipitz, 
who shares a dressing room 
with his talented Italian 
friend. “It’s all the same guilt, 
just different holidays. He 
talks with his hands, and I 
eat with my hands.”
Their hands are integral 
components to their per-
formances and costumes, as 
Lipitz operates Pumbaa’s jaw 
and mouth with his arms. 
The Lion King is a spectac-
ular visual feast based on 
Bunraku, a form of tradition-
al Japanese puppet theater, 
that was created by Julie 
Taymor. Taymor, the show’s 
director, costume designer 
(Tony Award-winner) and 
mask co-designer, was the 
first woman to win a Tony 
Award for Best Direction of a 
Musical.
Lipitz says that his Pumbaa 
costume is the heaviest, sin-
gle-puppet costume in the 
show, weighing 50 pounds 
and topped off with three-
feet of yak hair.
“I look like a giant sonic 
hedgehog,” he laughs.
Though he misses the spe-
cial concentrated time he was 
able to spend at home with 
his family during the pan-
demic, Lipitz is thrilled to be 
bringing The Lion King back 
to audiences, especially to 
Detroiters looking for a fun 
wintertime excursion.
“I am an actor and artist 
who provides for his family 
in an industry that doesn’t 
have a lot of stability. And, 
for me, that’s the very essence 
of the tenets of Judaism in 
that we always want to make 
it better for our children,” 
Lipitz says. “Besides, I get to 
be Pumbaa every night. Why 
would I ever give up this job? 
I’ve got the greatest gig in the 
world.” 

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