The Lion King (West End) London Reviews and Tickets
Member Reviews (293)
See it if you have nostalgia for the film and want to see a big budget stage version, featuring some incredibly innovative choreography and costumes.
Don't see it if you want a consistent show. Circle of Life is enchanting, but it’s the first song and the show struggles to reach those heights again.
See it if you want to see undeniably impressive theatre Engaging vibrant, demonstrates the rich animal culture of Africa. Amazing ensemble!
Don't see it if No reason not to see it.
See it if you love musicals
Don't see it if you expect a spectacal
See it if You love theatricality, invention and big bold statements
Don't see it if You expect the animation live on stage. Read more
See it if You love the DIsney film and being swept up in the music
Don't see it if You don't like noisy children in the audiance
See it if you like spectacle
Don't see it if you've seen enough LionKing
See it if You want to see some puppetry.
Don't see it if A more thought provoking, interesting and exciting show. Read more
See it if You love the music from the film
Don't see it if You don’t like seeing the puppeteer
Critic Reviews (5)
“The kaleidoscopic visual brilliance of Julie Taymor's production...lies the ultimate source of the show's success...The show was, and is, a shrewd synthesis of global avant garde techniques; and, even if nothing matched the opening parade of antelopes, elephants and zebras down the Lyceum aisle, it provided a feast for the eyes...I don't believe it's the archetypal narrative structure that is the secret of the show's success. In the end, the eyes have it.”
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If there is one thing Disney knows what to do it is put on a big show. This journey into theatre spectacles started with the Disney classic, The Lion King which has existed in theatres worldwide since 1997 and has held strong in the West End since 1999.
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“A beautiful dazzle of invention and imagination...The Disney cartoon's air of sweet whimsy is quite banished. With intricate mobile masks, puppets, exotic costumes and even stilts, these jungle creatures capture a fresh dynamic theatricality...John's very soft-rock music and songs generally serve as no more than a pleasing and heartfelt background. For this is a show where the eyes, not the ears, do the feasting...It lights up the West End with the blaze of Taymor's fabulous imagination.”
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“15 years on, it still works brilliantly...It’s easy to overlook what a radical piece of theatre ‘The Lion King’ is, and always was....Taymor has created a world that is fiercely non-literal, often to moving and wondrous effect...There’s a tough-mindedness about her method of story-telling...But it works superbly. The performances in the London production are outstanding."
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“’The Lion King's’ absolute theatricality is astonishing. Techniques from all over the world are smashed together in an explosion of spectacle. It's perfect for a musical, allowing both distinct flavours and an eclectic carnival spirit. Things deflate when it sacrifices this defiant originality for subservient approximation of the film...Its plot is thin...and the score remains disjointed...Nonetheless Taymor's theatrical fireworks...are more than draw enough...A show that demands to be seen.”
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