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Visually impaired community members get hands-on experience of The Lion King at Tampa's Straz Center

By Barry Wong
Updated  April 17, 2025 5:26pm EDT
Tampa
FOX 13 News

Visually impaired community members get hands-on experience of The Lion King at Tampa's Straz Center

At the Straz Center, a group of special guests recently received an up-close and personal experience with the puppets and costumes of Disney’s The Lion King Tour.

The Brief

    • Disney’s The Lion King Tour will be at the Straz Center until Sunday night.
    • Community members who are visually impaired or have sensory issues got a special experience of the show.
    • The show features 230 different puppets, including hand puppets, body puppets and shadow puppets.

TAMPA, Fla. - At the Straz Center, a group of special guests recently received an up-close and personal experience with the puppets and costumes of Disney’s The Lion King Tour.

"These kinds of events are so important to us because it expands our community. It allows people into our community," said The Lion King Tour Puppet Supervisor Michael Reilly.

The 30-minute Touch Tour hosted community members who are visually impaired or have sensory issues. They were able to touch various puppets and costumes and ask questions about the show.

What they're saying:

"For many that are visually impaired, they get to still experience the show from what they're able to hear, but taking it one step further and actually being able to touch what the costumes on stage might feel like," said Straz Center Vice President of Education & Community Engagement Alice Santana.

The traveling show features 230 different puppets, like hand puppets, body puppets and shadow puppets. 

Reilly says the puppets create the magic of bringing a beloved film to life on stage. He spent a lot of the half hour explaining how the puppets work and what they are made of. 

For example, the hand puppet bird Zazu has a neck made of a slinky and feathers made of parachute materials.

"It's very special just to share this," Reilly said. "To be able to share that and have that reaction right in front of you is pretty spectacular."

What's next:

The Lion King Tour has six shows remaining until wrapping on Sunday evening. Thursday’s 7:30 p.m. performance will feature additional audio descriptions, while Saturday’s 2:00 p.m. performance will have sign language interpretations.

The Source: FOX 13’s Barry Wong collected the information in this story.

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