Michele Steckler of Hancock calls herself “one the luckiest people in the whole world.”

A lifelong theater professional, Steckler helped create of one of the most-successful Broadway shows of all time – Disney’s “The Lion King.” She will share slides, video clips and memories of the her many years touring with “The Lion King” at Friday night’s “Stories to Share” presentation at the Jaffrey Civic Center. The event, which is free and open to the public, starts at 5 p.m. and will be followed by a question-and-answer session.

“I was just so lucky to be a part of ‘The Lion King’ while it was all unfolding,” Steckler said. “I’ll try to give the audience a sense of the creative process that went into it, step by step, and I’ll be ‘showing, not telling.’ ”

Steckler’s talk will center on how “The Lion King” team, led by director Julie Taymor, adapted the story from film to stage.

“What Julie did was completely groundbreaking, and it’s why ‘The Lion King’ still sells out of after 27 years on Broadway,” Steckler said. “Julie’s vision of how to bring the animals to life was totally unique. She did it by celebrating the humans, the human spirit. She integrated the human body with the animal body, not by using just one type of mask or costume.”

Before working on “The Lion King,” Steckler traveled the world with luminaries such as composer Philip Glass, composer Seiji Ozawa and “The Vagina Monologues” playwright V.

“I’ve gotten to work with amazing people and gotten to have incredible adventures around the world,” Steckler said. “All that led to me being a part of the creation of ‘The Lion King.’”

Steckler became original assistant director on “The Lion King” in 1997, later becoming senior vice president and senior producer overseeing “The Lion King,” “Tarzan,” “The Little Mermaid,” “Mary Poppins” and “Peter and the Starcatchers” for Disney Theatrical Group.

“I’m excited to share what went into creating something like ‘The Lion King,’ and acknowledging that it all takes practice when something is done well. It looks effortless, but it’s all about the hours and hours of trial and error and experiments and things not working. You just stay at it, you keep rehearsing, and the crew keeps practicing the process, and you just keep going and going and going,” she said.

Steckler said the “authenticity” of “The Lion King” was essential to the play’s success.

“That term gets overused, but with ‘The Lion King,’ everyone was just truly what and who they are when we created it,” she said. “The choreographer, the composer, the whole team. People who spend that much time together develop a sense of shared purpose and pride and become a family. That is a huge ingredient in the process. Everyone has a story to tell and you need everyone to tell their story.”

Steckler, a Hancock resident, consults groups and businesses on leadership, creativity, mentoring, navigating transitions and change. She is also on the board of Firelight Theatre Workshop and Music on Norway Pond.

“Theater has taught me so much,” she said. “It inspired my work with mentoring and young people and business leaders, with all kinds of organizations. The learning process is never over. You’re never done learning; you never have it all figured out. There is always something new to learn.”

Jaffrey Civic Center Stories to Share is the first Friday night of every month, October through June. For information, go to jaffreyciviccenter.com/stories.