Songs and Scars From Father to Son
Benjamin Scheuer Tells His Story in ‘The Lion’

Benjamin Scheuer, the writer and star of The Lion, has a pretty mane of blond hair and a wide, friendly smile that’s cuter than a dozen kitty videos. When he bounds onstage to open the show, guitar in hand and dressed in a natty suit with the tie slightly askew, he looks as if he’s just stepped off a fashion runway, or leapt to life from off an Abercrombie & Fitch shopping bag (albeit fully clothed). But underneath the boy-band good looks and the beaming enthusiasm lurk some pretty dark things, as we learn during this 70-minute autobiography in song and story. In The Lion, which opened on Thursday night at City Center in a Manhattan Theater Club production directed by Sean Daniels, Mr. Scheuer reflects on his turbulent life’s journey, and in particular his complicated relationship with his father, who inspired Mr. Scheuer’s love of music but also left him more troubling legacies.