Broadway's Alton Fitzgerald White on Reprising The Lion King Role for CBS' Code Black: 'People Burst Into Tears'

The Lion King alum Alton Fitzgerald White, who’s played Mufasa over 4,000 times on Broadway and across the country, has taken on a new role that’s all sorts of meta: an actor playing Mufasa. The actor has a featured role on the November 25 episode of the CBS medical drama Code Black, starring Marcia Gay Harden.

“I had to really dig deep and find him,” White joked while talking to Broadway.com. “But really, to be able to solidify [my performance] on film with such a beautiful storyline was pretty amazing.”

The episode, titled “The Son Rises,” features two plots highlighting the Disney musical—one directly and one thematically—and unites White with cast members from the national tour, which was in Costa Mesa at the time of filming.

White plays Lawrence, an actor under extreme vocal stress. He’s forced to confront a high-stakes medical procedure that could cause permanent vocal damage. “For a lot of performers,” White explains, “that’s what we fear. If something happens to my gift, what will I do then?”

The episode weaves Lawrence’s storyline with a son preparing to say goodbye to his dying father. The two arcs culminate in a performance of the musical’s anthem “They Live In You." “We must have done the ending 15 to 20 times,” he recalls. “People burst into tears each time. It’s a powerful song, especially when you’re talking about somebody’s death. How can you not be touched by that?”

White credits the Code Black writing team for recognizing the humanity in a non-human story. “Death is very much a part of the human experience—the acceptance and how we deal with the transition,” he explains. “And to be there for the transition of someone you love, and this beautiful song…they really did a great job of bringing those two mediums together”

It’s a connection White was forced to make during his own time on tour. While playing Mufasa in his hometown of Cincinnati, White left after “They Live In You” for the hospital, where he watched his father take his last breath. “The lyrics hit me. And I had already done at least a thousand shows at that point. Had I waited until the end of the show like I had planned, I would not have been there.”

Though the episode’s content elicited difficult memories, the experience confirmed White’s next venture. “The filming made me want to do more film. Being there from the table read to the final day of shooting made me say, ‘Yeah. I’m ready to express myself in this way.’”