Enter the Backstage Lair of Lion King's Timon and Pumbaa

Some actors have a limited time on Broadway, but Danny Rutigliano and Tom Alan Robbins have enjoyed 12 long years in the powerhouse musical The Lion King. What does the Lion’s den look like for the Broadway originators of hilarious characters Timon (Rutigliano) and Pumbaa (Robbins). Broadway.com entered the duo’s lair to find a couple of sweet family men with a lot of sentimental stuff. They are also clearly great friends. (“You’ll see I don’t have any pictures or anything decorating my mirror because I’m not sure how long I’m going to be here,” Robbins exclaims. “He’s been saying that for 12 years!” Rutigliano retorts.) Of course, The Lion King shows no signs of slowing down. How do these two keep up with their grueling schedule? In a word: coffee! Scroll on to see the dressing room treasures of this adorable comic team.

Photo by Jenny Anderson for Broadway.com

 
Rutigliano: “These are photos of my wife, and here’s a photo of my wife and my niece. I call this my niece picture because this is my niece in Cape May, which is a favorite place of ours to go, and this is my wife and I in Nice. So it’s nice.”

 
Robbins: “I call these my niece braces! These [knee braces] are the thing that allows me to walk, so they are very precious to me.”

 
Rutigliano: “As Tom will attest, I’m a huge Yankee fan and this is just a symbol of my Yankee love: my big mug. It’s always here for me.”

 
Robbins: “And this is my fully automatic self-grinding, self-brewing coffeemaker, which I got because I realized after a few years that I was spending so much of my paycheck at Starbucks. It didn’t even pay me to work for The Lion King.”
Rutigliano: “That’s how much he loves coffee.”
Robbins: “Now I can give myself a jolt of caffeine whenever I need one.”



Rutigliano: “This couch is a double recliner that is our pride and joy. We get to relax here, especially between shows. Of course, we face the wonderful flat screen television so we can enjoy that on our lovely recliner.”
Robbins: “We do both sleep on the couch, and we both snore. Between shows, it is such a cacophony in here that people are afraid to come in for fear of wild animals.”