Bravo Television Network's "Head of the Class: The Lion King" -- an arts education program -- premieres on March 4.
Bravo's "Head of the Class: The Lion King" documents the story of one group of students from P.S. 62 in Queens, New York, and three teaching artists, Paul Spinella, Marshell Jones and Obediah Wright as they take Disney's "Pride Rock Project" into the classroom.
Separate from Bravo's "Head of the Class: The Lion King, is " Disney's "Pride Rock Project," which is a theatre arts program that introduces under served children to some of the award-winning performance and design techniques used by director Julie Taymor in Disney's stage production ofThe Lion King.
Produced and directed by George T. Nierenberg, the Bravo show is narrated by Samuel E. Wright. Wright originated and plays the role of Mufasa in Broadway's The Lion King.
Bravo's "Head of the Class" premieres March 4 at 6 PM/EST, with an encore presentation March 5 at 11 AM/EST. The Pride Rock Project program for students culminates in a trip to Disney's The Lion King on Broadway, which many of the students will be seeing for the first time.
"We learned that we can use our imagination," said Sasha, a PS 62 Fifth Grader. "Even if things aren't real, we can make them real."
-- By Murdoch McBride