More than twenty years since debuting on Broadway, the story about a young lion cub coming of age has captured our hearts. But more than that, by taking us on a journey into the Pride Lands, The Lion King shares the magic of Africa with the world. Here's Liling Tan with the story.

It's a tale as old as the dawn of time, about growing up and growing old, of love, and of loss, a universal story brought to life against the backdrop of Africa's Pride Lands, and to the rhythm of its heart.

TSHIDI MANYE RAFIKI IN THE LION KING "It's like a heartbeat. You know what I mean? That African music is like a heartbeat where your whole body functions around that heartbeat."

Tshidi Manye is South African, and has played the principle role of the shaman mandrill Rafiki for 15 years, in what she says was a life-changing experience.

TSHIDI MANYE RAFIKI IN THE LION KING "At home, the art is not considered as something that can put food on the table. But now they see it from us, coming to the United States to perform. They see us helping family. Some of us have built homes through the Lion King. Some of us have took our families through college, through the Lion King. So they see that now. This is actually a career that you can make money off."

Tshidi and ensemble performer Lindiwe Dlamini, catching up in their native tongue Zulu, are among more than 260 South Africans involved in productions of the Lion King around the world.

LINDIWE DLAMINI ENSEMBLE CAST IN THE LION KING "With the younger people of South Africa, Lion King is a big opportunity because I don't know any show that's in another country that employs so many South Africans like in the Lion King. I've been here for twenty years. The only show I know that has South Africans on Broadway is the Lion King."

Over twenty years on Broadway, the musical boasts six indigenous African languages, introducing Swahili, Zulu, Xhosa, Sotho, Tswana, and Congolese to audiences AND fellow American cast members, like Jelani Remy, who plays Simba.

JELANI REMY SIMBA IN THE LION KING "And now I know words like sagabona kunjani, absorbing through my cast mates but also they're now my family. So it's really been one of the more rewarding things ever to tap into the cultures and subcultures of the African community."

LILING TAN NEW YORK, US "This is the Minskoff Theater, current home to The Lion King. It is now Broadway's third-longest running musical, playing to more than 90 million people in productions staged around the world including in London, Shanghai, Tokyo and Mexico City."

But in this freezing cold nearly 13 thousand kilometers from home, South Africans getting to sing right here on Broadway, in their own languages, makes this pride of performers the proudest of them all. Liling Tan, CGTN, New York.