The Lion King

Lyceum Theatre, 21 Wellington St, WC2E 7RQ

£28.50 - £228.50

The Lion King opened in the UK in October 1999 and has been playing at the Lyceum Theatre for 23 years. It’s become a staple of London culture and after more than 8,000 performances it has rightly earned the status of the most successful musical of all time. I remember going to see the show when I was really young – we sat up top in one of the circles and I gawped down in complete awe at the spectacle below. Around 20 years later, my best friend took me again for my 27th birthday and I couldn’t wait to see it with my adult goggles on again.

It's a complete marvel that this show continues to be pretty much sold out every night, given how long it’s been on for, but I also think it’s fair to say that it is like no other musical production you will ever see. For starters, it’s the set: a brilliantly hand-crafted piece of machinery that allows you to adventure through elephant graveyards, jungles, deserts and more. It still feels traditional, entirely homegrown, with not a high-tech edge in sight, which I love. In fact, it’s probably so similar to the show I saw 20 years ago that it brings back that warm fuzzy feeling of nostalgia you get when you see kids these days actually outside engaging with each other, instead of being glued to a smartphone in some dingy corner of their bedroom.

Secondly, the costumes are unreal. Each animal has been expertly though out – from the giraffes on stilts, to the two-man elephant structure, to the lady leopard who has tiny invisible threads attaching the leopards body to hers, to make the elegant cat-like moves seem totally effortless. Puppets are used throughout the production, from handheld zazu, to full-sized Timon, to the small shadow puppets behind the curtain - all of which are done with incredible skill. The vocals in this performance are also above the standard for your average musical. The woman who plays Rafiki has a powerful yet beautifully elegant voice which she used to command the stage in the group scenes, and all other characters though not quite topping her, have beautiful voices of their own.

Unfortunately, the magic was broken twice during our performance, with the show having to promptly pause due to ‘technical difficulties’ (maybe that traditional stage isn’t so good after all), however both times were only momentary glitches and the show was able to resume. The acting sometimes left space to be desired, verging occasionally on the extroverted hyperbole of pantomime – but I guess this is predominantly a show for children, to which this style appeals to most. Stand out performances from Scar, Rafiki, Timon and Pumbaa were comedy gold, but the others didn’t manage to convince as well.

Overall, The Lion King is legendary for good reason. Rest assured that what you see will be like nothing else you have seen on stage before, and probably will be like nothing else you see on stage again. It’s a colourful explosion of light, hope and fun. Whilst you might not be able to take it as seriously as other performances, its refinery comes in its production quality. The group ensembles often left me with my arm hairs on end, with my eyes darting around the stage wondering where to look to make sure I was taking it all in. The Lion King is undoubtedly impressive, and is by no means just for kids.

OVERALL RATING: ****

https://thelionking.co.uk/london/