The Carpendale family at “The Lion King”: A “very special moment” in Hamburg

“It’s a great feeling when we all experience something together,” enthuses Howard Carpendale (79). The hit star visited the Disney musical “The King of Lion” in the Stage Theater in Hamburg together with his wife Donnice, son Wayne (48), daughter-in-law Annemarie (47) and grandson Mads (6) on Friday.

The three generations before the show, the circle of life, were recorded with a special gesture. “A very special moment. We will always remember it and feel the emotion in us for a long time,” Howard Carpendale is certain.

Son Wayne is also deeply impressed: “I know from my own experience what the creators and actors of one piece means. How many dreams and passion they put in there.” The moment when the family was admitted to the circle was therefore “a great honor”. “Above all, because I always liked this musical, the history and music of ‘The King of Lion’.”

For Annemarie Carpendale, the visit had a very personal meaning: “The ‘Wimoweh’ by ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ was one of the first songs that we roared and danced with Mads when he was still a baby,” she recalls. “Wayne threw him under the ceiling as a mini. Now being there together at such a special moment was just beautiful crazy.”

She is particularly pleased to “get the whole bumblebee together again,” she admits. “We had gave Howard for eternity for the birthday ‘The Lion King’ in London, I’m glad that we are finally getting it now.”

Annemarie and Wayne Carpendale have been a couple since 2007 and married since 2013. Söhnchen Mads was born in 2018. “Especially when you have children, I think the story of the cycle of life is so great,” enthuses Wayne Carpendale. “That goes beyond the biological. Everything is repeated in one way or another from generation to generation.”

The musical “King of Lion” has been performed in Hamburg for 24 years and has been able to record over 16 million viewers since then. With its mixture of African rhythms, elaborate costumes and the music of Elton John (78) and Tim Rice (80), it is one of the most successful musicals worldwide.