When ‘The Lion King‘ hits the stage in Philly this month, audiences will get to witness the classic story come to life, and with skilled performers helping to breathe new life to this fan favorite tale. One of those creatives, Gerald Ramsey, is taking on the role of Mufasa, and the American Samoa native’s path to the spotlight was one that seemed meant to be—especially since it was first ever major audition and first time ever hitting the stage in a musical.
To chat more about his roots, his favorite parts of the show, and what it’s like playing the leader of a lion pride, Ramsey sat down with Metro to chat more.
Tell me a little bit about how you got started in this career path?
I was raised in American Samoa, a small island called Aunu’u, where my mom is from. Then we moved to Saudi Arabia where my dad was working, and [it’s] where I graduated high school. I went to Hawaii for a university, and I was pretty much there until I was teaching for a little bit…Then I moved to another island and I was dancing Polynesian dance when ‘The Lion King’ came through and held open auditions. A friend of mine that was working with us at the Polynesian Cultural Center kind of dared me to go to the open call. I didn’t really have any interest and I’ve never performed besides Polynesian dance, but she said she’ll take me out to eat after. So I was like, okay, let’s go do it.
We prepared, and it took a while to prepare all of the audition material and figure out what a headshot is and all that. It’s just my first time doing any of it— I felt like as long as nobody knew, you know, [if] I failed I wouldn’t be embarrassed. And I got a free meal out of it, too. But man, it ended up within the year [that] I ended up getting a call from ‘The Lion King’ to join the tour. That was in 2015, and I’ve pretty much been on tour since then.
What was going through your head when you got that call? And what has the experience been like touring— especially since you weren’t thinking you would land the role—and in a huge show nonetheless?
I was in the middle of my Master’s degree program and I had just gotten a job in the department, so I was paying for my tuition when ‘Lion King’ called. And I was sure that they were going to send me back as soon as they hired me. My first city was actually Philadelphia where I started to train, and I even told my department, okay, I’m going to go to Philadelphia real quick for a few days and I’ll be back. But I never went back.
I didn’t have any expectations to get hired or to stick around. There was still a lot of pressure and it was a little overwhelming, but I never saw it as something that would be long-lasting until two or three years in…I began to see the bigger picture of what it means for a Samoan man or Samoan person to be in musical theater. There are so few Polynesians despite our history with music and storytelling and singing and dancing, so I began to see the importance of that as we traveled the continent and meeting other Polynesians who came to the shows and what it meant to them to see another person like us on stage.
How have you seen yourself grow as a performer over these 8-plus years touring with ‘The Lion King’?
‘Lion King’ has been around for 25 years now, and it’s not just for the audience. As you grow and mature, there are different parts of the story that relate to you and it still means something to you—that happens to us as performers as well, I think it’s deep in my connection with my culture. The inspiration for me to play Mufasa has definitely been my grandparents. Culturally their belief on leadership is you become a leader through service, and that’s how I’ve always viewed Mufasa. But being a younger-ish man, you’re kind of at the bottom of the totem pole culturally, and I think playing Mufasa and playing this role has made me step up as a leader myself in my own life.
Any moments from the show that stand out to you?
For me lately, there are two parts. One is the lioness chant, it’s when all the lionesses go hunting for a gazelle. I just think it’s the most beautiful mixture of music, the foundation is Zulu and the singing, it’s African. But the dance by Garth Fagan is so innovative and the costuming—the way these silks billow behind the women, it’s one of the most beautiful scenes I think that I’ve seen in musical theater. And then they go and tear this gazelle apart and I’m like, man, that’s the full circle of life right there.
Then for a scene that has Mufasa, people think Mufasa dies and he disappears, but he comes back in the second act to speak to Simba one more time to inspire him to go back to the pride lands. I can get very emotional thinking: What if I had one more chance to speak to my grandpa or my grandma one more time? Or one day when I pass and I had the opportunity to speak to my sisters or my mom or my nephews or my nieces—what would I say to them? What would they need to hear from me? It just makes me think of my family who’s passed and how much I wish that we could speak one more time.
What do you hope people ultimately take away from the show when they get to see it in Philadelphia?
There has been a couple things on my mind lately. One of them is the power of storytelling in person: I think especially during our COVID break, a lot of things became digital and screen focused, as was the tendency even before that. But there is a power in sitting down whether it’s in a theater and it’s with a professional acting group and we’re telling you the story of the ‘Lion King’, or whether it’s sitting around the dinner table and telling stories to each other face to face. I believe in that power. Even more so after being stuck on a screen for almost two years, you know?
There was something that was missing, and I think collectively we all felt it. For a lot of people coming back to the theater, I think there’s going to be an awakening that you’ll feel the importance of a human connection and being able to share stories and realize you’re not alone in how you feel or in the way that you’re thinking.
Catch ‘The Lion King‘ when it hits the stage at the Academy of Music on the Kimmel Cultural Campus Aug. 16 through Sept. 10.
