‘Lion King’ performer finds strength in Nala on and off stage

If Thembelihle Cele’s mother had her way, Cele would have become an accountant or an actuarial scientist. If her dad had his way, she would have become an engineer of some kind, because she and her family are big fans of motorsports and Formula One.

For a while, it looked like Cele would go down one of those two paths by choice until one day during her freshman year of college at the University of KwaZulu-Natal when she saw a clip of Heather Headley, who originated the role of Nala in the Broadway production of “The Lion King,” perform.

“I said ‘That’s what I want to do. How do I get to that?’ ” she said. “Literally everything from that moment in my life became tailored towards getting to this moment, to performing on this stage and doing this.”

Cele grew up singing in church and with family members while doing chores, plus, she said, her home country of South Africa is a very musical nation, yet she had never before considered a career in the theater until that moment.

Cele, who was born in Durban, South Africa, began taking singing and dance lessons and enrolled in the university’s drama and performance studies program. Through that hard work, Cele landed a spot in the original cast of the musical’s U.K. and Ireland tour in 2012 as a member of the ensemble and an understudy for Nala.

Seven months later, she joined the first national tour in North America, again as a member of the ensemble and Nala understudy. About two years ago, Cele became the full-time Nala, even stepping into the role on Broadway for a short period.

“It’s been quite a journey with this role, and I’ve grown up in this show and in this company,” she said.

“The Lion King” comes to the First Interstate Center for the Arts on Wednesday and plays through Feb. 15.

The musical tells the story of Simba (Gilbert Domally) – Aaron Chao and Josiah Watson play Young Simba – a ion who is set to one day be king of the jungle. After his father Mufasa (David D’Lancy Wilson) is murdered by his uncle Scar (Peter Hargrove) in an attempt by the latter to take over the throne, Simba is exiled from the kingdom. He grows up with the help of a few friends and must decide whether to confront his uncle about taking over the throne, which is rightfully his.

The musical is an adaptation of the animated Disney film of the same name. It features a book by Roger Allers and Irene Mecchi and songs from the film by Elton John and Tim Rice as well as new songs from Lebo M. Mark Mancina, Jay Rifkin, Tsidii Le Loka, Julie Taymor and Hans Zimmer.

Taymor directed the musical adaptation. She was also the costume designer and co-designed the masks and puppets.

Putting on Nala’s costume, which includes a headpiece and a beaded corset, for the first time solidified all of Cele’s hard work was worth it, even when she doubted herself along the way.

Nala, after all, is a lioness: strong, protective and nurturing.

“Putting on the corset and putting on that puppet and having to be all of these things that are so contrary to what I believed about myself at some of those moments in the process, I really discovered that the gems for me were in the journey,” Cele said. “Being at this place where I get to do it eight times a week in front of thousands of audiences all over North America is really a culmination of the support from my family, my village, my trainers, my tutors, my professors and everybody who really poured into me.

“It really did not just become about what I saw and what I wanted, but making them proud and making myself proud and ultimately proving to myself that I can do it, even though, along the way, there was certainly moments of like ‘Do I have this? Do I have what it takes? Can I do this?’ “

To embody Nala’s spirit, Cele learned to incorporate a lion-like physicality. “The Lion King” performers are trained by movement coaches from Bali, Indonesia and Southeast Asia, learning how to move as the animal they portray.

Cele said performers initially feel like fish out of water. But eventually, Cele said, costumes become an extension of the performers.

Adding to the look of the show, director Taymor, as Cele puts it, didn’t want to hire puppeteers but rather wanted to hire actors who could bring the animalistic qualities of each role to life. To help pull off what Taymor calls “a double event,” performers aren’t hiding behind masks and full-coverage costumes but rather incorporating their human selves into the animal role.

“It was such a smart thing, because even though we are animals, we’re telling a very human story,” Cele said. “The idea of the circle of life and belonging and being part of a whole and how we all function as ourselves within the whole, and how we contribute to that, and how that brings vitality and goodness all around us, and also the journey of self discovery.”

Moving with, and really living in, Nala’s strength on stage eight shows a week has inspired Cele to live in that strength offstage as well, reassuring her that she does in fact have permission to be strong and courageous.

“If I can step onto that stage and play that and portray that and hear people say ‘Wow, that was so beautiful. You were so strong. I love how you did this or how you did that,’ that really tells me that I do have those qualities,” she said. “If I can make people see that and believe in them, that means that I do have them, and I just have to believe that myself.”