Three words: Upbeat, Heartfelt and Spectacular.
This musical has been seen by 110 million people all over the world and it is still one of West End’s best selling shows. And to proof it, they have been showing at Lyceum Theatre in London, since 1999. It is also currently the sixth longest running show in London’s West End. Many people travel from different cities and countries, just to witness and live this show. We are surely talking about non other than The Lion King. It is finally making its debut in Cardiff, since being here back in 2014. It is showing at the Wales Millennium Centre and Cardiff makes part of their UK tour. The best part is, they will be performing for seven glorious weeks.
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If you have seen Disney’s The Lion King animated film, then it is perhaps now time to watch the stage production. We attended the show’s press night on Tuesday and from the moment you get to the Wales Millennium Centre, the atmosphere is upbeat and you just see smiles on people’s faces. We were excited and our youngest This is Cardiff team members were static and they could not wait for the show to start.
We can not lie, we have seen The Lion King animated film many, many times and one of us is a die hard Lion King fan, so you can imagine the anticipation to see this musical. When we walked in the Donald Gordon Theatre, the atmosphere was joyful and everyone was smiling with excitement. As Act 1 begins, you witness performers dressed as animals, elephants, rhinoceros, antelopes and lions, to mention a few. They were running from the back of the theatre hall and exit doors, towards the stage and passing the audience.
The animals were going to greet the new baby cub Simba and Rafiki (played by Thandazile Soni) appears doing the ceremony, whilst the “Circle of Life” song is playing. And we must admit from this moment on, there were non expected tears. The stage set up, along with the animals moving around and the music, just makes it such an emotional moment. You will feel transported back to the 90’s, early 2000’s when you used to watch this film as a child.
All throughout Act One there are drums, vibrant colours, heartfelt music and you get immersed in the story of this little cub named Simba, who is a cheeky, curious and happy. You witness Simba being drawn to the Elephant Graveyard, a land forbidden by his father. Who is none other than Mufasa, the king of the pride and is very protective of Simba. By this time you would have definitely laughed, cried and smiled, because this musical makes you feel so many emotions at once.
One moment you are smiling, then the next Zazu the red-billed hornbill (played by Matthew Forbes) delivers a cheeky line and you laugh with such joy. The lines Zazu delivers give the musical a modern feel and it makes the dialogue more relatable, specially for the children, when Frozen is mentioned (everyone knows about Frozen) and the Welsh city, Swansea is also mentioned.
From the beginning of the show you get a feel of the upbeat African rhythms, the live drums give it a realistic feeling and the beautiful colours on the stage set up, props and costumes, adds the cherry on top of a wonderful cake. The musical arrangements are managed by Mark Mancina and Lebo M, who do an outstanding job of bringing out nature, the African culture and causing excitement in the audience with the cheerful melodies. This musical is directed by Julie Taymor, who not only directs the musical but is also responsible for costume design and has won a Tony Award for her work on The Lion King.
Costumes
The cast members costumes are insane. So well planned out, the way the masks on the lions lowers when the lions bow, is actually genius. The lionesses masks are another story (we do not want to spoilt it, so you will find out if you go and watch it.) The cast members are acting, dancing in these wonderful costumes and what look like slightly heavy masks. So well done to them, because it is a magnificent job they do for us to enjoy such performance. There can be over 30+ performers all on stage at once, some with head pieces, others are moving puppets and then there are performers like Timon, Pumbaa and the three hyenas Shenzi (Rebecca Omogbehin), Banzai (Simon Trinder) and Ed (Owain Rhys Davies), whos costumes have special features like the legs. And the mouth on Pumbaa. These costumes have complex methods of operation.
Stage and Props
We have already mentioned the costumes, now it is time to talk about the stage and props. The Lion King takes inspiration from the landscapes in Africa. So you can imagine, the beautiful colours and scenery. The backdrops used are simple, yet they are enough to give the feel of the land and jungle. The use of lighting, specially in the scene Under The Stars, where Mufasa appears and talks to Simba in Act Two, it is so impressive and the prop to create Mufasa’s face is just wow. That was definitely one of our favourite parts of the musical. We were also impressed with the stage set for the stampede where Mufasa dies, it looked very real and took the musical to another level. There were definitely many favourite moments that will stay in our memories forever, but we do not want to spoilt it for you all.
The songs featured are “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” by young Simba, the all time favourite Timon and Pumbaa’s “Hakuna Matata” and the very romantic “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” amongst others.
Cast members
In “Shadowland” Nokwanda Khuzwayo who plays adult Nala, gets to truly shine and show the audience her impressive voice and so does Stephenson Ardern-Sodje who plays adult Simba, in his performance of “Endless Night.” The part of young Simba is played by Joshua Khanyisa Smith, who did a fantastic job of captivating the essence of Simba’s adventurous and innocent self. Young Nala, was played by Riley-Ann Nicholls Murphy, who was also brilliant and did her performance so effortlessly. It was very impressive, because these two performers are young but so profesional. Now, we are giving a special mention to Richard Hurst, who plays Scar (Mufasa’s brother), his performance was fenomenal, he was scary and played his role so beautifully, he is a villain but is loved by many.
And another mention to Jean-Luc Guizonne, who plays Mufasa, what a strong presence he has. His talent is insane and he played his character so on point, showing Mufasa’s authoritative side as King of the pride, his loving and caring side as a father and his strong presence as a lion. And how can we forget Alan Mchale (who played Timon), Carl Sanderson (who played Pumbaa), these two are Simba’s best friends who take him on adventures in the jungle, when he ran away as a cub. They will always make you belly laugh with their sillyness and great humour. Matthew Forbes (who played Zazu), Mufasa’s majordomo and royal advisor. His funny lines would come out unexpectedly and Thandazile Soni (who played Rafiki) with her heart warming and impactful voice, that would travel miles.
What are the differences between The Lion King film and The Lion King musical?
Now you may be wondering. Are there differences between the musical and the animated film. The answer is yes. There are a few differences, for example: Rafiki in the film is a male and in this musical is a female. There is more focus on the lionesses this time, with them doing a dance/chant that was very well choreographed and so harmonious. This was nice to see, because there was not much focus on the lionesses in the film, which would have been nice specially at the time when the film came out. And we also must remember this is a musical, so every aspect of the film is portrayed by costumes and stage designs, to bring the scenes to life.
What is the length of this musical?
The show runs for approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes, with a one 15 minute interval for you to stretch your legs, wipe your tears and prepare for Act 2.
Reviews from a younger audience
The reviews from our T.I.C (This is Cardiff) minis are as follows:
It was good, I liked the music and I liked the characters. – T.I.C mini (9 years old)
Can we go watch Lion King again tomorrow please? And also that the hyenas were scary – T.I.C mini (5 years old)
As you can see honest reviews here from a much younger audience. We did get a comment that it was a little long, but they sat down and watched because they found it very entertaining.
Special thanks to Wales Millennium Centre for having us. We had a blast.
Where to buy tickets for The Lion King musical
The Lion King will be showing at Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay, until 27 August 2022. This event is recommended for ages 6 and up. Children under 3 years of age are not permitted at this show. Tickets start from £22.50, just click HERE to book your tickets or visit the Wales Millennium Centre website for more details. You won’t regret it. There are a few tickets left on different dates, so be quick as you would not want to miss out.
Note: If you go to The Lion King, you can use Disney’s filter on Instagram. It can be found by searching for “The Lion King UK” in the app, so you can take some cool pictures.
As always thank you for your support and if you have read this far, thank you for reading.
Be safe.
Kay
