Broadway’s next young ‘Lion King’ star is a 10-year-old from Delco

When Donovan Louis Bazemore was 7 or 8 — no one quite remembers — his parents took him to see his first Broadway show, The Lion King.

He had been to a few musicals in Philadelphia, and thought this one was cool.

“I just saw a bunch of grown-ups in the show at first,” said Donovan, now 10, who is from Upper Chichester, Delaware County. “And then I saw a kid run out on stage and my eyes lit up. I was like, ‘That’s a child! On stage! On Broadway!’ ”

After that, he just couldn’t wait to be king.

On Tuesday night, Donovan fulfilled that goal, making his Broadway debut as Young Simba in The Lion King.

Donovan has the arts in his blood. His mother, Dawn Marie, was a dancer in Philadanco for many years, performed on tour in The Color Purple, and now is a choreographer and dance professor at Rowan University. She met her husband, Dwight, when they were in a play together at the Ritz Theatre Company in Haddon Township.

His grandmother — Dawn Marie’s mother — Helen Sugland, is an executive producer on the TV show Black-ish, and business partners with Laurence Fishburne. She met Dawn Marie’s father when they were both performing summer stock.

Since Donovan got the role in January, he and Dawn Marie have been staying in an apartment in Weehawkin, N.J., convenient to New York’s theater district. Dwight and the other children, Donato, 18, and Dani, 5, are still in Pennsylvania, but visit. While Donovan is performing, Dawn Marie is working toward her doctorate in dance education from Columbia University.

Donovan shares the Young Simba role with another boy. There are also two Young Nalas, the female lion. All are new to the cast, as the children only get contracts for six months. If they succeed — and don’t grow too much — they may be offered another six months.

Donovan’s schedule includes Saturday and Sunday matinees and Tuesday and Wednesday evening performances. But he has to be in the theater for all shows, in case the other Young Simba can’t go on. Mondays are his day off. .

He attends his regular school virtually. He is a fifth grader at the Christian Academy in Brookhaven.

The school is “supporting me online,” Donovan said. “And I’m doing some of my work asynchronous. But I get to hop on Google Classroom and say hi to my friends, because I miss them a lot. And my teachers.”

Keeping up with his friends back home is a challenge.

“Whenever they FaceTime, they join the call,” Donovan said of his friends. “And then as soon as they join, [someone says], ‘Hey, guys want to go outside?’ And then they hang up.”

He has, however, bonded with the other young lions, and his mother is looking into getting him into a social program for Broadway kids.

Donovan is very poised for a 10-year-old, and his parents long suspected he had star power.

He has had TV roles in The Last O.G. and FBI: Most Wanted.

In Philadelphia, he performed in Ragtime at the Arden Theatre. He was the caterpillar, singing “Zippety Doo Dah,” in Alice in Wonderland with Music Theatre Philly, where he took classes.

In his free time, he enjoys writing scripts for musicals. He is working on one about the Beatles.

“Donovan was always singing. We actually thought he was gonna be a musician,” Dawn Marie said. Even when he was a baby, “he was always banging on things, but, like, making actual rhythms.”

His parents tried him in piano lessons, on the drums, and in ballet class. Nothing stuck.

“I never wanted my kids to feel pressure,” Dawn Marie said, “but they didn’t have a choice but to be in the studio [with me], to see how art is made, and to be around such an interesting group of people.”

When Donovan discovered musical theater, his mother supported him in ways most people couldn’t. She called her former agent for advice. She got him into theater classes. She knew he didn’t care much for dance but didn’t harp on it too much until it was necessary. He had to learn a dance combination for his Lion King audition, which was virtual.

He was a natural mover, Dawn Marie said, very expressive. But this was serious.

“OK, well, I’m going to step in here,” she decided, “because what you’re not going to do is dance bad and be my kid.”