The Lion King – August 2023

Who? – Disney

What? – The Lion King

Where? – The Lyceum Theatre, London

When? – Since 1999

What’s the show about? The show is about a lion cub called Simba who is next in line to become king, the king being his father, Mufasa.

Scar, Mufasa’s brother and Simba’s uncle, is the bad guy and he tells young Simba about the Elephant Graveyard to try and tempt him to go there. When he goes there with Zazu, Mufasa’s trusty African red-billed hornbill assistant and Nala, Simba’s best friend, they meet Scar’s evil sidekicks, the hyenas. They close in on Simba and Nala and Zazu can’t do anything to help them but luckily they are then saved by Mufasa. He then teaches Simba about the mighty kings of the past, and that they are watching him from the stars above and so when he’s alone the kings will be there for him.

At a stampede of wildebeest, Scar sets a trap for Mufasa’s death and puts Simba in the middle of it. Mufasa saves Simba, but couldn’t save himself, as Scar shoves him away into the middle of the stampede where he falls to his death.

Simba is told by Scar to run away and never return and Simba obeyed, so Scar claims the crown of the Pride Lands. Scar claims that it was Simba who killed Mufasa and that Simba is dead.

Simba runs away and finds a meerkat and a warthog, Timon and Pumbaa, and they teach him Hakuna Matata which means take it easy. Over the many, many years they spend together they become a good trio.

Meanwhile, back in the Pride Lands, there is no food left because Scar has made it a barren and lonely piece of land. Nala eventually also leaves and then comes across Simba in the jungle. At first, they don’t recognise each other, but once they do, Nala tells Simba all about what has happened in the Pride Lands and that Scar is king. Simba still doesn’t yet decide that it’s time to leave Timon and Pumbaa, but after a talking-to from Rafiki, he goes back to challenge Scar to take the crown back as he is the rightful heir to the crown.

He completes his mission and becomes king with Nala as his queen.

What was really good about it? I enjoyed the songs and the performances to go with them. I especially enjoyed I Just Can’t Wait To Be King and Hakuna Matata. The puppets were also really impressive and there were loads of them, including; lions, Zazu, Timon & Pumbaa as a duo were great, the giraffes, the hyenas & elephants as well.

I Just Can’t Wait To Be King included Zazu and a few giraffes. Some of the characters came right down the aisle beside us which was quite cool.

The stampede of the wildebeest was impressive and it looked like the wildebeest were literally stampeding.

Scar, played by George Asprey, was an impressive bad guy. He came across as a really scary and cunning character.

The hyenas are funny, especially Ed, whose puppeteer is called Mark Tatham. Ed just sticks his tongue out and laughs a lot which made me laugh a lot too.

Timon (Jamie McGregor) and Pumbaa (Mark Roper) were probably my favourite characters because they were funny but also really kind to Simba when he needed a friend.

This was my first show in London and it was great to go to the West End and we got to see Covent Garden before the show. There was a juggler performing and he was really good. The Lyceum is a big, old theatre and I enjoyed sitting in the stalls.

What could be better?  I think it was quite hot in the theatre, but that meant that we needed an ice cream at the interval, so that was okay. I had a strawberry one and my sister had a salted caramel one which she didn’t like. According to her, the salted caramel ones in Chichester are much better.

What my mum thinks? I really enjoyed seeing this for the first time with the family – its been on the list for a while! The opening was epic and I loved seeing the animals walk past and onto the stage. Visually impressive with epic singing and costumes/puppetry. Great for the kids and I loved it too. Also big shout out to the staff who were super helpful and friendly.

Star Rating –  🧡💛💚💙