On the 19th October Disney’s The Lion King musical celebrated an amazing 13 years at the Lyceum theatre in London’s West End.
Whilst 13 may be unlucky for some this show in London continues to enthral audiences and is a perennial favourite.
The Lion King is a musical based on the 1994 Disney animated film of the same name with music by Elton John and lyrics by Tim Rice along with the musical score created by Hans Zimmer with choral arrangements by Lebo M that give it it’s unique international appeal and African flavour.
I think it is not only the production but the music that sets this musical apart from other family friendly shows and inspired generations and given it the longevity it so richly deserves.
Whilst other Disney shows, such as Beauty and the Beast and Mary Poppins have been fabulous shows in their own right, their popularity has focused on family audiences, and ticket sales have were concentrated at weekends and school holidays. Whereas The Lion King has broader appeal largely thanks to the music. The songs appeal not only to children but can quite easily appeal to couples, office workers and anyone of any generation. I mean you can just imagine putting on ‘Can You Feel The Love Tonight’ for you partner as a romantic ballad and surprising them with tickets. I don’t think ‘Chim Chim Cher-ee’ evokes quite the same sentiment, and I simply cannot imagine a middle-aged business man in his car singing along to ‘A spoonful of sugar’.
The Lion King musical features actors in animal costumes that are cleverly designed and not just the over-sized costumes on show at Disney parades, these costumes and the actor form the character as well as puppets that are used much as the play Warhorse have further developed.
Such is the success of the show that there have been countless productions around the world including the U.S.A., Canada, Australia, Korea, the Netherlands, South Africa, France, Taiwan, Mexico, Brazil, Spain and Russia.
The sets and costumes are striking from colourful clothes with beautiful ornate bird puppets and kites, through to the stark contrast of hyenas, vultures and gazelle skeletons.
Rafiki in The Circle of Life scene
The musical incorporates several changes and additions to the storyline as compared to the film. Rafiki’s gender was changed to a female role because director Judy Taymor believed that there was generally no leading female character in the film.
Several new scenes are present and the show adds more songs to the theatre production, including the Morning Report, sung by Zazu the hornbill and later added to the film for the Platinum Edition DVD release. However, this song was later cut from the show in London in June 2010.
