Review: The Lion King, London

Posted by Anura Samara, 4 December 2014

After our great night out at Mamma Mia, we thought we’d buy tickets for another show – this time, The Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre. The girls had already seen this many years ago in Melbourne, so I’d heard about the production from them.

I’ll admit that it’s some feat to bring a cartoon to life in a stage show. Rather than the simple sets for Mamma Mia, these sets were huge. The ‘mechanical costumes’ that the actors wore to bring their animals to life were simply amazing, and sitting on an aisle we were able to see them up close and in action. There were even varying sizes of costumes to give a sense of perspective on the African plains. The way the characters moved through the audience meant it wasn’t just the sort of show where you face the front.

Of course, the music and the storyline is all familiar as it probably is to all parents. From our seats in the front row we could see the band playing.

Can I say that I was disappointed? It had all of the right elements – music, sets, costumes – but somehow it lacked soul. It really seemed to me like a case of putting on a musical ‘by numbers’. Maybe that’s what happens when a popular show is franchised around the world – everyone just has to stick to the original, with no sense of what the separate productions can bring to it.

Categories: Shows