When audiences experience "The Lion King Musical" on stage for the first time, one thing they're going to see is a lot of puppets.

There are 230 in the production, to be exact.

For the past 13 years, Michael Reilly has been their "puppet master." As such, he's also responsible for rebuilding them when they're damaged.

“Everyday something is new -- something is different. Something breaks I've never seen before," said Reilly. "It keeps it fresh. It's awesome,"

Reilly is here in Tampa with the smash hit musical, which takes the stage at the Straz Center through Sunday, Feb. 14.

The show, nearly two decades old, was first to make no effort to hide the human who carried, wore or handled a puppet.

In fact, the actors were adorned and incorporated into the puppetry costuming--a breakthrough by creator Julie Taymor that still resonates with audiences today, according to Reilly.

"It's all made super light because people have to wear it on their heads, on their bodies," said Reilly.

That makes them super fragile, and super likely to end up on Reilly's "operating table."

Reilly has a trade school background, so repairing the mechanical Scar head or the mechanisms onside the hand-held blinking Zazu is no problem.

Sometimes, Reilly has to get creative with his tools to get the job done. For example, he uses a toilet brush cleaner for splatter paint touch- ups.

Each puppet will break in its own time.

And each time, Reilly will be there to fix it.

He is his own Circle of Life.