Children and staff of Northdown Primary School, Margate, were delighted to welcome two special guests from the West End when Shannon Taiwo and Kuan Frye, current and previous cast members of Disney’s Lion King, visited the school.
Having travelled up en-masse to see the show in London last month, the youngsters were treated to their own singing and acting workshop led by the two performers who have trodden the boards as Mufasa and Simba respectively in London’s famous theatre district.
Year 5 teacher Tammy Provost-Lines, who organised the visit, said: “We wanted to bring our transition topic of the Lion King to life and for our children to meet up close with a West End star and have that opportunity to ask questions about life in the West End. The children couldn’t believe that Kuan Frye, the actor who had been on stage as our Simba when we went to London last month, was actually standing in our school hall!”
The pupils were given the chance to ask questions and learn what was going on backstage during their visit.
Cooper,8, said: “It was great because they told us all about what happens behind the scenes” and Samuel,9, agreed: “I think it was amazing and glorious because they had a lot of high energy, and it woke me up!”
After a song-filled whole school assembly where the actors conducted the children in a harmonious performance of the famous songs, the pupils took part in acting workshops. Six-year-old Elijah gave the workshop two thumbs up: “It was really good because we got to do activities, and we pretended to be wildebeest stampeding down.”
The day ended with children flocking round for those all-important autographs from the stars to treasure forever.
Macie,9, summed up the day: “It was really good, and we had a lot of fun and the people were really cool.”
