Julie Taymor

Julie Taymor

Update: 2024-10-24
Share

Description

Theatre, opera and film director Julie Taymor is regarded as one of the most imaginative directors and designers working today. Her stage version of the Lion King is the highest grossing show in Broadway history, having made nearly $2 billion, and it recently marked its 25th year in London. The Lion King Julie two Tony Awards, including for best director of a musical in 1997, making her the first woman to do so. Julie Taymor has told Shakespearean stories on stage and the big screen including Titus, starring Anthony Hopkins and The Tempest with Helen Mirren. Her film credits also include Frida, a biopic of painter Frida Kahlo, and the Beatles jukebox musical movie Across The Universe.

She tells John Wilson how seeing Rashomon, Akira Kurosawa's 1950 film, as a teenager, was a formative cultural experience. Kurosawa's ingenious approach to narrative opened her eyes for the first time about the possibilities of innovative storytelling. She also recalls how her travels around Indonesia and Bali after graduation, and in particular, witnessing a ceremony in the isolated Balinese village of Trunyan have had a profound impact on her work as a designer and director.

Julie reveals how she came up with the ground-breaking concept and some of the designs for the stage version of Disney's The Lion King. She also gives her opinion on some of the difficulties faced by the ill-fated Broadway musical Spider Man: Turn Off The Dark, on which she was co-writer and director until being replaced during its previews. The production, which featured music and lyrics by Bono and The Edge of U2, was ridden with technical and financial problems, and resulted in several legal disputes.

Producer: Edwina Pitman

Comments 
loading
In Channel
Thelma Schoonmaker

Thelma Schoonmaker

2024-11-0743:55

Bill Nighy

Bill Nighy

2024-10-3143:11

Julie Taymor

Julie Taymor

2024-10-2443:43

Hanif Kureishi

Hanif Kureishi

2024-10-1744:00

Nile Rodgers

Nile Rodgers

2024-10-1043:35

Margaret Drabble

Margaret Drabble

2024-10-0343:39

Marina Abramović

Marina Abramović

2024-09-2643:43

Peter Kosminsky

Peter Kosminsky

2024-09-1943:28

Marlon James

Marlon James

2024-09-1243:44

Kiri Te Kanawa

Kiri Te Kanawa

2024-09-0543:44

Lee Child

Lee Child

2024-08-2943:54

Peter Blake

Peter Blake

2024-07-0442:48

Simon McBurney

Simon McBurney

2024-06-2743:28

Salman Rushdie

Salman Rushdie

2024-06-2043:45

Judy Chicago

Judy Chicago

2024-06-1343:25

Neil Jordan

Neil Jordan

2024-06-0644:33

Zadie Smith

Zadie Smith

2024-05-3044:02

Lily Allen

Lily Allen

2024-05-2343:32

John Adams

John Adams

2024-05-1644:10

Anne Enright

Anne Enright

2024-05-0943:20

loading
00:00
00:00
1.0x

0.5x

0.8x

1.0x

1.25x

1.5x

2.0x

3.0x

Sleep Timer

Off

End of Episode

5 Minutes

10 Minutes

15 Minutes

30 Minutes

45 Minutes

60 Minutes

120 Minutes

Julie Taymor

Julie Taymor

BBC Radio 4