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'The Lion King' brings Michigan State University grads back to Wharton Center stage

By Sue Merrell | grentertainment@mlive.com The Grand Rapids Press
on March 17, 2009 at 6:00 AM, updated March 18, 2009 at 5:11 PM

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Dueling lions: Timothy Carter as Scar and Dionne Randolph as Mufasa face off in "The Lion King."

EAST LANSING -- Andrea Jones, of Saginaw, and Omari Tau Williams, of Dallas, once walked across the Wharton Center stage to accept their degrees from Michigan State University, and this week, they'll return to that stage as cast members of "The Lion King."

Andrea Jones

Jones will appear as the lead hyena, the role portrayed in the film version by Whoopi Goldberg. Tau, who drops his last name for stage purposes, is a member of the ensemble.
"It will be a homecoming for me," said Jones, 32, whose family will be in the audience. "I've come full circle. I get to travel and do what I want to do."
Although Jones has been touring with "The Lion King" since 2005, this will be her first time as part of the tour coming to Michigan. Don't expect to recognize her, though. She'll be scampering across the stage as a four-legged hyena.
"I used to sing standing up straight and looking people in the eye," she said from a tour stop in Seattle. "Now, I'm all bent over."

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