|
Sammy and His Lion:
Author L. Steven Taylor Addresses How to Face Your Fears in New Children's Book
By Andrea Marvin
After spending decades on Broadway playing Mufasa in The Lion King, author and actor L. Steven Taylor releases his first children’s book, Sammy and His Lion.
The book features a healthy, sensitive relationship between a Black father and son and holds a powerful message for kids to face their fears.
When Sammy faces the first day of school, feeling nervous and scared, his father teaches him a family secret to channel his inner lion.
The story provides kids with foundational tools to deal with challenges and offers parents resources on how to navigate complex topics.
Sammy and His Lion is the first in a series that addresses handling complex issues, such as bullying, and coping with everyday life moments, like going to the dentist.
During an interview, author L. Steven Taylor explains how the inspiration for the series developed over time, spanning from his early years teaching Pre-K to his long, successful career on Broadway.
Taylor says one of the primary themes in The Lion King is that courage doesn't come from pushing away fear but instead tackling it by doing the things you're afraid of. Sammy and His Lion pushes this idea forward, that one can be fearful and brave at the same time.
The lessons from the book apply to Taylor’s own life. He says mentors were a guiding light for him to achieve greatness, as well as his willingness to get started instead of waiting for the perfect time.
When did your passion for theatre begin?
I grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana, which doesn't really have a large artist community and is not known for theatre. I was introduced to theater in high school by accident.
Where I lived, they were doing away with school zones, so you didn't have to go to the school that was in your neighborhood and could test into different high schools. I tested into the foreign language magnet department at a high school and signed up for Arabic.
However, when school started, we didn't have an Arabic teacher and were told one wouldn't start for four months. So, everybody was put into different holding classes, and they put me into the beginning choir. That's when I met my mentor, who introduced me to theater, and I fell in love with it from there.
In Indianapolis, there was no opportunity to pursue theater professionally after high school, so I did it recreationally for fun, and it became a major outlet for me.
How did you transition from a kindergarten teacher to the performing arts? What encouraged you to make the move?
The church I was going to had offered to pay for my schooling if I agreed to return and teach at the adjacent preschool. Teaching wasn’t a lifelong dream of mine until I was actually doing it and realized how much I loved it.
I always like to say that the classroom was my biggest stage, and my students were my most honest audience.
I taught preschool for three years and continued to perform in theater on the side, eventually landing a role at American Cabaret Theatre in downtown Indianapolis. The director offered me a marketing job for the theater during the day, and then I would perform at night.
Eventually, I stopped teaching and fell into acting that way. I've been fortunate to have people along the way who saw something in me and taught me when I didn't think there was a means to pursue theatre.
How did your lengthy career performing for The Lion King on Broadway unfold?
I had my first audition for The Lion King while living in Indiana. There was a bunch of us who drove to the open call in Bloomington and stood in line with hundreds of people. I was one of the last people to audition.
It had been a really long day, and I was a young performer at that time, so I didn't have a very good audition.
Later on, I moved my family to Seattle, a city with a thriving arts scene. The Lion King had another open call, this time in Seattle, so I went. The guy who was running the auditions recognized me somehow from my Indiana audition.
This time around, they held me. I fit into the role because I'm a baritone and fit the vocal part for Mufasa. When I was younger, I didn't really have the gravitas.
During my lunch break for a show at the 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle, a casting director called and asked if I was ready to make my Broadway debut as a temporary replacement for somebody who had booked the TV show.
You usually get about four weeks of rehearsal to learn your entire track, and I had two weeks to learn the whole show.
I was only supposed to be there for six months, but I've been there for 20 years. It has been quite the journey from 2001 till now.
Tell us about your new children's book, Sammy and His Lion. What is it about? Did your career influence the storyline?
One of my favorite things to do is read aloud to kids. That was my favorite thing to do when I was a teacher. I loved acting out the characters and seeing how it transported my students in a way that theatre had transported me.
That was my way of marrying the two worlds. The reading aloud was a little theater piece in itself.
I've always wanted to write a children's book. This year marks my 20th year with The Lion King. As I looked back over my time with the show and the events that contributed to my time there, it felt right to combine them in the format of this children's book.
Sammy and His Lion is the culmination of all my experiences.
I was Sammy, a six-year-old boy, with some fear and anxiety over his first day of school. His father teaches him the family tradition of “channeling his inner lion” to confront all the worries and anxieties that he might face. He learns how to channel his inner lion and overcome his fear.
One of the themes in The Lion King is that courage doesn't come from pushing away fear but instead tackling it and doing the things you're afraid of. This book pushes this idea forward.
One phrase that keeps coming up is that we can be fearful and brave at the same time. You don't have to shove away your fear to do what you're scared of.
This is the first book in this series. The character will learn to tackle other challenges, such as dealing with bullying, in the next book. We are going to the dentist in another. I'm really excited for the series.
What challenges do you feel kids face in present day?
One of the major issues I observe is a fear of differences in people and a lack of understanding of how to interact with individuals who are different from us. Maybe they have a disability or look different than you.
Having resources that tackle these situations provides kids with foundational tools to interact with people on a human level.
My next book touches on bullying from the perspective of the people who exhibit some of the bullying behaviors, specifically friends. That’s tricky to deal with.
How do you speak out to your friends, the people you care about, when you don't want to believe they are capable of that type of hate? The book will address how to deal with that.
Is that the format for this series? One issue addressed at a time that’s specific to fear in a story format?
That’s definitely the format. In addition to my observations as a parent, I have spoken to other parents with young kids between the ages of three and five and applied their experiences to the books.
The series will provide an engaging way for kids to learn how to deal with their fears and also offer parents a valuable resource on how to discuss the topic with their children.
I'm approaching the topic in a fun, imaginative way, which I didn't have access to growing up. My generation was taught to put on their big boy pants and not to cry. And that's not a lasting, sustainable way to deal with anything.
From your experiences as a parent, teacher, and your time on Broadway, what type of impact do you feel books have on kids?
Aside from the literacy advantages, one of the most helpful things we can do is encourage kids to use their imagination, which enables them to think beyond their immediate surroundings.
Where I grew up in Indiana, nobody ever left; that just wasn't something you did. I lived in a really underserved community, so we couldn't afford to travel. So, books opened a world where I felt like I could go somewhere.
Reading aloud encourages kids to use their imagination and interpret these stories in a way that boosts their creativity, inspiring them to dream beyond their immediate surroundings.
Some cool opportunities are coming up. I'm working with my castmates to turn Sammy and His Lion into a playboard format. We are workshopping the idea of having a play format that would visit schools, so you can see it happening in real time.
There's also some talk of making a short animated series. We're looking to expand the ways that we can reach children in as many different formats as possible.
For someone wanting to pursue the arts or thinking about writing a book, what advice would you give them to move forward with that?
I would say just do it. We often wait for the perfect circumstances to present themselves, allowing us to move forward. To bring it back to Sammy and His Lion, you learn there are no ideal circumstances.
If you wait until you’re unafraid to do something, you’ll probably never do it because that fear doesn't really ever go away. And in the same way, if you wait for the perfect circumstances to pursue your dreams, you’ll probably never do it because life gets in the way.
Setting realistic goals for yourself is also essential. Even if that’s journaling daily, not with the intention of writing the next novel or bestseller, but instead just putting words on a page. That's how I started, anyway.
Having an accountability partner who shares a similar set of goals also helps. Someone you can talk to about your hesitations, fears, and look to for encouragement in times of low motivation. Because that is another significant setback - we can start a project and then lose motivation, and it can sit in our drawer forever.
So, I think the greatest advice I could offer is just to do it. Don't wait for what you believe is the perfect set of circumstances to pursue your dreams.
L. Steven Taylor lives in New York City where he performs in The Lion King. His book, Sammy and His Lion, is available at the gift shop, as well as sites such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and his website.
The next book in the series will be released in early 2026.
Taylor is a member of The Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and the Actors’ Equity Association.
He has starred on Law and Order SVU as well as FBI: Most Wanted, The Good Fight, Blue Bloods, Madam Secretary, Person of Interest, Legacies, and NCIS: New Orleans.
He has done voiceover work for McDonald's, the NFL, the Food Network, Nickelodeon, SpongeBob, Geico, and Grand Theft Auto, and has narrated over 50 audiobooks.
For more information: SammyAndHisLion.com
Home |
Actors/Models |
Art |
Books |
Dining
Film & Video |
Food & Wine |
Health & Fitness
MediaWatch |
Money and Business |
Music |
Profiles
Professional Services |
Sports |
Style & Fashion
Technology |
Theatre |
Travel & Leisure
Copyright 1995 - 2024 inmag.com
inmag.com (on line) and in Magazine (in print)
are published by in! communications, Inc.
www.inmag.com
|
Advertiser Info
Subscription Form
Contact Us
|
