"The Lion King roared and the West
End cheered last night as this wonderful evening unravelled
in the famous, restored Lyceum... Most impressively, our
very own Zimbabwe-born designer, Richard Hudson, has created
a fantasy world of savannah and veldt, of jungle and desert,
of burnished colours and a great looming, swivelling rock
that represents the seat of power. You hope all nights in
the theatre will be like this... Julie Taymour, steeped
in Bunraku puppets and Indonesian temple dancing, provides
the most glorious commercial demonstration of the actor
and the mask yet devised. You see the animal, and the actor,
and you relish the manipulation and the beauty of the choreography.
Watch out for a very slinky cheetah and a wicked trio of
hyenas. The performance energy is not yet as high or as
concentrated as it was on Broadway... Potent, popular, primitive
and perennial, The Lion King restores true magic to the
West End. The genius lies in the genorosity of spirit and
the way it embraces so many types of song while providing
an overall pictorial style. This is the ideal show for all
children from eight to 80." The Daily Mail
"Yes, this really is a musical that
invents a better class of magic than those multi-million-dollar
technological tricks and thrills flashing on celluloid.
In a beautiful dazzle of invention and imagination, the
true star of The Lion King, director Julie Taymor, has dreamed
up a way of bringing an entire African jungle and its menagerie
of animals thrillingly to the stage: eastern and western
styles meet and merge. The Disney cartoon's air of sweet
whimsy is quite banished. With intricate mobile masks, puppets,
exotic costumes and even stilts, which are all Taymor's
own creation, these jungle creatures, from prides of lions
to jeering hyenas, capture a fresh dynamic theatricality.
They look like a new alliance between the human and the
animal as they parade, shuffle and athletically dance in
Taymor's brave new world, with its gusts of chanted African
choruses. The giraffes are operated by actors on stilts
concealed within the animals' skin. The front legs of each
zebra belong to performers who wear the same skin as the
animal they play. Designer Richard Hudson's jungle is equally
startling, since it looks like a children's picture-book
brought to life with sudden promontories and gorges leaping
into view... Taymor's production - with its vivid set-piece
parades of jungle life, birds on poles and animal silhouettes
on backcloths - travels at exuberant pace, pausing for spectacular
dramatics... It lights up the West End with the blaze of
Taymor's fabulous imagination." The London
Evening Standard
"The Lion King roared into town last
night and staked its claim as the mane attraction for the
millennium. From the opening moment when the burning African
sun rose on stage and a gaint elephant sashayed down the
centre aisle it was clear we were in for some real Disney
magic. Over £6Million has been poured into turning
the hit cartoon movie into a musical. And it's money well
spent. You won't see more colourful costumes or more imaginative
back-drops anywhere else... The African music from Lebo
M is stirring. Sir Elton John and Sir Tim Rice contribute
showstoppers such as 'Can You Feel The Love Tonight'. But
even if you don't go home from London's West End humming
the songs you will sing the praises of the spectacular sets
and exotic costumes. It's a fun show for all the family.
The Lion King rules okay. This one will roar and roar."
The Mirror
"Disney's mighty Lion King has
roared into the West End in triumph. I was bowled over by
the show when I saw the premiere in New York two years ago,
and if one was going to be coldly analytical, the Broadway
staging probably just has the edge when it comes to precision
and sheer pizzazz... Adults will enjoy The Lion King, especially
those, in the odious modern parlance, still in touch with
their inner child. But it is a great family show, and the
word great is no exaggeration... The triumph of Julie Taymor's
often inspirational staging is that she constantly stimulates
the imagination. Throughout this show about animals, you
are aware of the humans inside the ingenious costumes, and
the humanity of the narrative. Many of the characters wear
masks not over their faces but on top of their heads, so
you see both the human and the animal simultaneously, and
there is no attempt to disguise the hands operating the
beautiful and ingenious puppets. In this way the viewer
is drawn into the show, invited to collaborate in a communal
act of story-telling, rather than being merely gobsmacked
with high-tech special effects. This is theatre at its potent
best. The score is one of the finest in years. The pop songs
by Elton John and Tim Rice are tuneful and witty, but it
would all seem a touch bland if that's all The Lion King
had to offer. Fortunately the African composer Lebo M has
added superbly haunting chants and vocal arrangements that
combine Zulu tradition with the vibe of the South African
townships. The result is that the show is distinctively
African, with a strong sense of place and ritual, and when
the adult Simba comes to reclaim the Pridelands, it is impossible
not to be reminded of Nelson Mandela. As always with Disney,
there are moments when it all seems a bit twee, others when
it is excessively PC. But the ingenuity of Taymor's direction
and costume designs, the beautiful, simple settings by Richard
Hudson, the power of the narrative and the wit of the dialogue
(Roger Allers and Irene Mecchi are responsible for the excellent
book) easily outweigh such critical niggles... For once
a mega musical lives up to the hype. This is a dazzling
show with the heart of a lion." The Daily Telegraph
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