Now in its 24th year, The Lion King is still drawing the crowds, and leaving them dazzled and delighted
The Lion King erupted onto the stage at Palace Theatre Manchester last night, and will stay there for an extraordinary 19 weeks, completing its run on 11 March 2023. This wasn’t part of the original plan, which was to close shortly into the New Year, but the demand for tickets – from people prepared to travel from across the UK – can only be satisfied by extending the run for as long as they can. Why? Because The Lion King on stage is one of those events that thrills an audience of all ages, genders and theatre-familiarity. Last night’s show was packed to the rafters with families containing small children, big children, grandmas and grandpas, parents proud to be providing such a memory for their offspring, young couples, long-established couples... For many it will be their first experience of live theatre (and not just the children present) drawn by the hype that goes before this extraordinary occasion. And it is an occasion, of that there is no doubt.
The thrill starts quickly, as the animals gather to meet the new son of Mustafa, King of the Pride Lands, as young Simba is held up to the sun. As the animals gather, huge elephants and rhino pace slowly down the aisles of the auditorium, making their way slowly to the stage and causing a ripple of excitement to travel down through the rows of thrilled audience members. They are accompanied by singing, dancing puppeteers, swirling birds overhead, and culminating in a grand rendition of one of the most famous of numbers, The Circle of Life.
We’re off to a great start. The puppets are superb, designed to work with the actors’ body movements, reflecting the smooth, silent stroll of a cheetah, the scurrying, sly aggression of a hyena or the graceful leaping of a gazelle. There’s humour too: Zazu, the Hornbill who acts as King Mustafa’s Major Domo, can be manipulated to give silent witness to his inner thoughts and muttered sarcasms, while hyena Ed is a crazy psychopath with barely two braincells to rub together and portrays all of this through physicality alone.
The skill of the actors is the driver here, of course, and the sheer talent on display last night brought the audience leaping to its feet at the show’s end.
Among a great cast, certain members will always stand out. Scar, played by Richard Hurst, is the smooth-talking, slightly creepy, bitter ‘irrelevance’ Jeremy Irons first gave us, yet here there’s a hint more humour and his engagement with the audience is spot on. As he fell from the top of Pride Rock in his closing scene, a small voice from behind me piped up “Well, he’s dead then”, much to the amusement of all around her.
Zazu (Matthew Forbes) is another who brings the audience with him. His comic timing is superb, as is his slightly annoying fusspot manner – pure Disney, right there, live on stage. Thandazile Soni, who plays the baboon Rafiki, is also just superb – holding the audience in her hands with her energy and presence. Mention must also be given to the young actors playing Young Nala and Young Simba. Note perfect, pose-perfect, they delivered beautifully.
For a family show, it’s long – two and a half hours – and could actually be trimmed a little, losing dance, song and puppetry scenes that don’t actually move the story on. Taking it to two hours without any impact on the storyline or the storytelling, wouldn’t damage the audience experience in any way. But then, maybe I am just being fussy – every child and adult left the theatre last night buzzing and with a smile. Families exchanged views, parents carried little ones tired but happy, couples laughed. Job done, Disney boxes ticked.
As theatre experiences go, this is a big one, and will hopefully encourage many of those there last night to keep coming back, as there’s nothing like live theatre – music, dance and drama, all enhanced by the shared experience being part of an audience brings – to boost the mood and bring a smile. If you’ve not seen it, book your tickets now – if you can.
atgtickets.com/shows/disneys-the-lion-king/palace-theatre-manchester
