Veteran star of stage and screen, Nick Cordileone returns to Montreal in the Tony Award-winning musical The Lion King.
“This is my third time in Montreal with Lion King,” says Cordileone who has begun his 17th year playing Disney’s iconic wisecracking meerkat Timon.
That makes Cordileone one of the longest-running cast members of the North American tour of The Lion King which is celebrating its 24th anniversary. Since launching in April 2002, The Lion King North American tour has entertained more than 28 million theatregoers. Cordileone joined the cast in 2010.
Cordileone recently sat down with Curtains Up to talk about Lion King which – after sold out Montreal runs in 2011 and 2014 – returns to Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier at Place des Arts from August 19 to September 6.
National tours are tough on the road, especially as we get older. How do you manage it?
Nick Cordileone: There’s a new city every three to five weeks, mixed with the routine and rigour of raising the bar and keeping it fresh, exciting and artistically fulfilling. That balancing act has really fed me well over these years.
As a husband and father, you have also balanced family life with being on the road.
Nick Cordileone: My wife and I made a decision early on when we realized how my days would be configured. I homeschooled my daughter whenever she joined me on tour from when she was about eight to 18.
Do the younger actors in this cast look to you as a role model?
Nick Cordileone: That’s a good question. We’re very familial, and every now and again, there’ll be a question of how things had been or compare. I’m out there before every show warming up with the dancers, so I also look to them as role models of how to stay in shape. So there is give and take.
Timon is such an iconic character. How challenging is it to control a puppet on top of singing and dancing?
Nick Cordileone: It takes a lot of responsibility. Every puppet and every mask in the show is a real work of art. It’s a full person sort of strapped to the front of you. If you let your guard down, your character can lose their life! So I really do work hard to honour the art that I carry around. Keeping Timon alive is what has probably kept this role so fresh for me for so long.
What is your favourite number in Lion King?
Nick Cordileone: The scene after the dramatic waterfall sequence where Timon almost gets swept away by this big current. Afterwards Pumbaa, Simba and Timon look up at the stars together, a quiet reflecting time catching our breath as three buddies. That’s my favourite part of the show.
Did you always want to be an actor?
Nick Cordileone: I always wanted to perform since the age of three of four. As soon as I knew that one could act for a living, that’s all I ever wanted to do.
Beyond Lion King, you have acted in great theatre productions – including Shakespeare’s Hamlet Off-Broadway – on many of North America’s greatest stages. But you are also a recurring cast member on the martial arts crime drama series Warrior now streaming on Netflix, as well as in the upcoming premier season of the horror television series Crystal Lake on Peacock. Do you prefer acting for film and TV, or do you prefer acting on a live stage?
Nick Cordileone: They’re both so different. What I found on-set is most folks who I knew who had done theatre had a similar approach, would show up to scenes in a similar fashion, really ready to go, ready with new choices, ready for whatever a director or a showrunner would throw at them. When the audience is the camera, it picks up things that are more nuanced than performing live for 3,000 people. The freedom that Disney has given me to be able to bounce back and forth gives me the best of both worlds.
Why is Lion King a must-see?
Nick Cordileone: The story is so familiar for so many people who grew up watching the animated feature. The music, the hand-dyed, hand-stitched, hand-beaded, hand-woven and painted gorgeous, gorgeous works of art that we get to animate onstage. It’s all there in front of you. It’s really breathtaking. You just have to go and let it wash over you.
The Lion King headlines Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier at Place des Arts from August 19 to September 6. Click here for tickets.
Performance schedule:
- August 19 at 7:30 p.m.
- August 20 at 1 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
- August 21 at 7:30 p.m.
- August 22 at 1 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
- August 23 at 1 p.m. & 6:30 p.m.
- August 25 – 28 at 7:30 p.m.
- August 29 at 1 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
- August 30 at 1 p.m. & 6:30 p.m.
- September 1 – 3 at 7:30 p.m.
- September 4 – 5 at 1 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
- September 6 at 1 p.m.
All photos courtesy Disney, Broadway Across Canada and evenko.
