Impromptu Performance of "Circle of Life" by Cast of "The Lion King" on flight: The Story Behind
Published on 3 Apr 2014
It started as an impromptu serenade to help kill time before taking off on a flight from Brisbane to Sydney. But the Monday afternoon performance aboard a Virgin Australia flight by the Australian cast of the Lion King has evolved as the perfect viral video as they field inquiries from news crews across the globe — including a call from producers of the US TV show Good Morning America. First appearing on The Daily Telegraph's website on Tuesday afternoon when its YouTube video view count stood at just 25, the video was soon picked up by TV, radio and internet sites both nationally and internationally. Singer Buyi Zama, who led the a cappella rendition of A Circle of Life and stars as Rafiki in the musical, said the 24 hours after the video first appeared online had been 'insane'. "We really didn't plan on it going viral ... we really just did it for a bit of fun but I can't believe what happened after that," said Zama, who explains how the world's best 'in-flight entertainment' played out.
"We were sitting at the airport in Brisbane and Nick Afoa (who plays Simba) said; 'We should do a flash mob and sing Circle of Life' but I said: 'No, I'm not doing that', because I am the one that has to lead that song and sing the intro," she laughed. "But we talked a little bit about it and another cast mate Graham Isaako (Simba's understudy) mentioned it to the flight attendant as we were boarding the plane and just before they closed the doors the attendant walked over and said; "if you are going to do it ... now would be the best time". "Then Nick, who was sitting in front of me, turned and just gave me this look that said, 'Go on'. "So I just started singing and thankfully the cast are all such great singers, they caught on straight away and it just happened." According to Zama, several members of the ground crew even boarded the flight to see the performance though they can't be seen behind the flight attendant who filmed it using one of the cast member's phones. "It was weird because we have sung that song so many times and we had been singing it all day," said Zama, who travelled with the cast to Brisbane to promote the Queensland leg of the show which begins in September. "But once you start singing that song ... it's so fun to sing you can't help it." The show's Sydney run at The Capitol Theatre ends in August.
