performing

THE COLOURFUL costumes and heart-warming songs of The Lion King first graced the West End over 26 years ago, yet one person knows the show more intimately than anyone else.

Leading actor George Asprey never imagined he would’ve stayed playing Scar in The Lion King for six months, let alone over 17 years, but it didn’t take him long to fall in love with the production.

Since then, millions have watched him act Scar on stage at the Lyceum Theatre.

And as a result, the actor obviously has a lot of tips for visitors.

His first piece of advice, is that whether you are new to the show or have seen it a thousand times, to come with no expectations.

He said: “Allow yourself to just open up to the set and the costumes.

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“It is difficult to take everything in, in one sitting, and when you come again, you’ll pick up the different nuances.

“Maybe in the scenery, for example.”

George shared how this is particularly true for one fan, who has seen the show over 100 times “just because she loved it so much and said there was always something to see”.

He added: “She would say ‘this is what I love to do’ – different shows affect different people in different ways, and for her, it was just her love of life in the show.”

One moment is particularly special though, admitted George.

He said: “When people watch The Lion King for the first time, they will never get that experience again – that feeling or reaction.

“I think I am always aware of that kid in the audience, mainly because of having my own children and I know firsthand, as to him and to everyone at the show, I need to be the best possible Scar I can be.

“It is a huge responsibility for all of us to consider the legacy and I think that’s probably one of the reasons I like to think the show continues to impress people.”

And having been in the show for such a long time, George of course has tips for those heading to the show.

He revealed: “I’ve had friends right at the front of the stalls and I have had friends right at the bottom end of the upper circle, and I think the one thing about the Lyceum is that all of the viewing is extraordinary.

“I really don’t think there’s a vantage point in the upper circle where you won’t see everything still.

“I think it its decent price for a reason and I don’t think it’s not worth it and I wouldn’t avoid coming if you can only afford a certain seat, because you still get a wonderful experience.”

George added how it is so much more than a show, that the costumes are all like their own pieces of art.

“Like you have a full-size elephant just walking down he aisle – it is such a feast for the eyes,” he said.

“There are just so many incredible moments in the show.

“I follow two of the greatest numbers in the show – Scar comes on and completely changes the tone.

“I think the Lion King has one of the greatest opening numbers of any musical ever,” he added.

And whilst people may think The Lion King is a show for kids, they couldn’t be more wrong.

George said: “When you’re younger, of course, you think Scar is the scariest character, but then as you get older – you start to think the language is so beautiful, his costume is so interesting and everything he says actually has a point to it.

“It truly is a family show, because every member of the family will get something different from it.”

Each time George performs, he gets to the show around 5:30pm and then by 6pm he is in costume.

He revealed: “We have to be there at 6pm, to start vocal and physical warm up – which runs until 6:30pm – then I am straight into hair and makeup and after makeup straight down to costume.

“I’ll get back to my dressing room by five past 10 and considering the amount of makeup I’m wearing, I’m so quick at getting it off – I am normally out the building by 10:15/10:20pm.”

Of course, they are days where it is more difficult though, like when he is unwell, but he did share “it’s never to do with the job itself”.

As for his routine to ensure he doesn’t get unwell often, he makes sure to eat clean – apart from Sundays, when “all bets are off”.

He also works out as much as he can.

Through 17 years George has had many memorable moments as well – but the most memorable?

“The first show back after Covid,” he revealed, “theatre was the last thing to return so it was a long time coming.

“And of course, it meant a lot to everyone.

“I’m actually welling up at the thought of it.

“To not be able to do what you love doing for 17 months and not seeing the people you love seeing – it’s hard and suddenly, people could enjoy the theatre again.”

He concluded: “All I can say is that it is a huge honour [to play Scar] and something that I never take for granted.”

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Dec. 19 (UPI) — President Donald Trump‘s name was affixed Friday to The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., with one Kennedy family member threatening to chisel the change out.

Signage now reads: Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.” Workers added Trump’s name before one honoring the former president.

The change has drawn opposition, including members of the Kennedy family.

“Three years and one month from today, I’m going to grab a pickax and pull those letters off that building, but I’m going to need help holding the ladder,” Kerry Kennedy, the daughter of former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, posted on X. “Are you in? Applying for my carpenter’s card today, so it’ll be a union job!!!”

On Thursday, Trump’s handpicked board of trustees voted to rename the building to also honor Trump. Eleven months ago, after he became president for the second time, he dismissed the entire board with new members and named himself chairman.

The name change requires a vote by U.S. Congress as mentioned in the U.S. Code that says no new “memorials or plaques in the nature of memorials shall be designated or installed in the public areas of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.”

Trump also changed something else that requires congressional approval: the Defense Department to the War Department.

White House press secretary Karline Leavitt posted on X, the it was changed “because of the unbelievable work President Trump has done over the last year in saving the building.

“Not only from the standpoint of its reconstruction, but also financially, and its reputation.”

Trump said he was “surprised and honored” by the news, though he hinted about the change while he emceed the Kennedy Center Honors earlier this month.

In August, he posted on Truth Social about new honorees: “GREAT Nominees for the TRUMP/KENNEDY CENTER, whoops, I mean, KENNEDY CENTER.”

Kerry Kennedy said Trump doesn’t represent the values of her uncle.

“President Kennedy proudly stood for justice, peace, equality, dignity, diversity, and compassion for those who suffer. President Trump stands in opposition to these values, and his name should not be placed alongside President Kennedy’s.”

Maria Shriver, the former President Kennedy’s niece and former first lady of California, wrote on X.: “It is beyond wild that he would think adding his name in front of President Kennedy’s name is acceptable. It is not. Next thing perhaps he will want to rename JFK Airport, rename the Lincoln Memorial, the Trump Lincoln Memorial. The Trump Jefferson Memorial. The Trump Smithsonian. The list goes on.”

Robert F. Kennedy’s grandson, former Rep. Joe Kennedy III of Massachusetts, posted on X that the center is “a living memorial to a fallen president and named for President Kennedy by federal law. It can no sooner be renamed than can someone rename the Lincoln Memorial, no matter what anyone says.”

Six Democratic lawmakers, who serve as ex-officio members of the Kennedy Center board, said in a statement to CNBC: “Beyond using the Kennedy Center to reward his friends and political allies, President Trump is now attempting to affix his name to yet another public institution without legal authority. Federal law established the Center as a memorial to President Kennedy and prohibits changing its name without Congressional action.”

Congress’ two Democratic leaders, Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, signed the statement.

Another ex-officio member of the board, a Republican, didn’t vote for the change. Sen. Shelly Moore Capito, R-W.V., told reporters at the Capitol on Thursday: “The Kennedy Center, in my view, is the Kennedy Center.”

Long Beach City College’s performing arts center is officially being named after Long Beach legend and LBCC alumna Jenni Rivera.

Last week LBCC’s Board of Trustees unanimously voted to name the new facility the Jenni Rivera Performing Arts Center.

“This naming recognizes not just an extraordinary performer, but a daughter of Long Beach whose voice and spirit transcended borders,” said Uduak-Joe Ntuk, president of LBCC’s board of trustees in a press statement. “Jenni Rivera inspired millions through her music, resilience, and advocacy. We are proud that future generations of artists will learn and create in a space that bears her name.”

Jenni Rivera Enterprises will donate $2 million over the next 10 years to the LBCC Foundation, with the bulk of the funds going toward scholarships and education programs, the Long Beach Post reported.

“Our family is deeply honored that Long Beach City College has chosen to memorialize Jenni in this extraordinary way,” said Jacqie Rivera, Rivera’s daughter and CEO of Jenni Rivera Enterprises, in a press release. “Long Beach shaped who Jenni was — as an artist, a mother, and a woman — committed to her community. Knowing that young performers will grow, train, and find their creative voice in a center that carries her name is profoundly meaningful to us.”

The performing arts center, which is scheduled to open in spring 2026, is the second honor the “Inolvidable” singer has received from LBCC. Earlier this year, Rivera was inducted into the LBCC Hall of Fame alongside actor/activist Jennifer Kumiyama and attorney Norm Rasmussen.

Rivera was born and raised in Long Beach, attending Long Beach Poly High School in the 1980s, where she got pregnant as a sophomore. She later graduated from Reid Continuation High School as class valedictorian. She went on to attend LBCC before transferring to Cal State Long Beach to get a bachelor’s degree in business administration.

She immediately put that degree to use as a real estate agent, while simultaneously working at her father’s recording studio and record label.

Her father, Pedro Rivera, was a noted singer of corridos. In the 1980s he launched the record label Cintas Acuario. It began as a swap-meet booth and grew into an influential and taste-making independent outfit, fueling the careers of artists such as Chálino Sanchez. Jenni Rivera’s four brothers were associated with the music industry; her brother Lupillo, in particular, is a huge star in his own right.

She released her first album, “Somos Rivera,” in 1992, launching a prolific career that was tragically cut short when Rivera and six others were killed in a plane crash in Mexico on Dec. 9, 2012.

The self-proclaimed “Diva de la Banda” was a self-made star with a veritable rags-to-riches story. She was a true trailblazer, a U.S.-born woman who took up plenty of space in the male-dominated world of música mexicana.

In 2015, Long Beach city officials honored the singer’s legacy by bestowing her name on a park in Long Beach. On display along a brick wall at the Jenni Rivera Memorial Park is a 125-foot-long mural honoring Rivera’s life and heritage.

The Hollywood Walk of Fame also honored Rivera with a star in 2024, which her five children accepted on her behalf.

“One of my mom’s favorite exes used to work in this vicinity. We would come and check in on him and she always dreamt — I remember sitting in the car, in her Mercedes, and she always dreamt, ‘I’m gonna have my star here one day,’” Rivera’s daughter Jenicka Lopez said at the star unveiling ceremony.

“I thought it was impossible after she passed away, but God has a beautiful way of proving people wrong.”