Las Vegas Weekly

March 4, 2010 · 6:16 PM

Photos: The Lion King joins Madame Tussauds at The Venetian

By Robin Leach

A wax figure of Rafiki from Disney's The Lion King at Mandalay Bay is unveiled at Madame Tussauds in The Venetian on March 4, 2010.

Photo: Erik Kabik/Retna/www.erikkabikphoto.com

Finally, there’s fame for Disney’s The Lion King at Madame Tussauds. A wax figure of the hit musical’s iconic baboon shaman Rafiki was unveiled this morning in the collection at The Venetian. On hand was Buyi Zama, who plays Rafiki in The Lion King at Mandalay Bay, and contributing photographer Erik Kabik was at the ceremony for these photos for our photo gallery.

Several of the show’s South African cast members also turned out for a special dance ceremony. The wax figure has been dressed in a costume created by the musical’s Tony Award winner Julie Taymor and made of cotton, decorated with metal amulets and that has a horsehair collar. The hat is made of textured kente cloth, and the custom shoes are made of rubber. The elements are made to accentuate features of a baboon, while red, yellow and blue makeup highlights a baboon’s facial contours.

Julie designed the costume for Rafiki after much research on a variety of African totem figures and garments worn by the Sangomas, or traditional healers. A Sangoma often will wear a shirt hung with 100 or more tokens, which might be written blessings or curses sewn into a leather pouch, items of spiritual significance like shells, bits of bone, claws or feathers or other items used in their advice and healing practices.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.

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