VIDEO: The Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre in London
October 19, 2010
The Lion King is the acclaimed stage adaptation of Disney’s successful animated film. Directed and designed by Julie Taymor, the spectacular show has won a slate of awards including six Tony Awards.
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Disney’s The Lion King Celebrates 10 years in London
VIDEO
Video trailer for Disney’s The Lion King – in stunning HD
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Disney’s The Lion King tickets at the Lyceum Theatre
July 29, 2010
Disney’s spectacular and multi award-winning musical based on the animated film.
Set against the majesty of the Serengeti Plains and to the evocative rhythms of Africa, Disney’s acclaimed musical The Lion King will redefine your expectations of theatre.
A spectacular visual feast, this adaptation of Disney’s much-loved film transports audiences to a dazzling world that explodes with glorious colours, stunning effects and enchanting music. At its heart is the powerful and moving story of Simba – the epic adventure of his journey from wide-eyed cub to his destined role as King of the Pridelands.
Book tickets to see The Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre in London
The Lion King – Ticket and meal deal £40
February 14, 2010
The Lion King is the much loved musical stage adaptation of Disney’s hugely successful animated film.
When the young lion prince Simba is born, his evil uncle Scar is pushed back to second in line to the throne. Unimpressed with his future prospects, Scar plots to kill both Simba and his father, the lion King Mufasa, becoming king in the process. Young Simba survives the heinous plot but is led to believe that his father died because of him. Devastated, he flees the kingdom and soon finds a carefree life. But without a real king, the pride soon falls on hard times and a hero is needed to bring back prosperity.
Released in 1994, The Lion King is one of Disney’s most popular modern movies. At the 1995 Oscars it won the awards for Best Music: Original Score for Hans Zimmer’s score and Best Music: Original Song for Elton John and Tim Rice’s Can You Feel The Love Tonight. Two of the film’s other songs – Circle Of Life and Hakuna Matata – were also nominated. Both score and songs feature in the stage musical adaptation, along with some new material.
The show is directed by Julie Taymor, who also designed the Olivier award winning costumes which transform the stage of the Lyceum theatre into the African plains, occupied by lions, giraffes, birds, zebras, hyenas and even a stampede of wildebeest.
The Lion King won six Tony Awards when it opened on Broadway and was nominated for eight Laurence Olivier Awards.
‘You hope all nights in the theatre will be like this!’Daily Mail.
‘It lights up the West End with a blaze of fabulous imagination’Evening Standard.
London’s longest running shows
January 4, 2010
The West End’s longest running shows
Last month Disney’s The Lion King became the ninth longest-running musical in West End history. The show, which plays at the Lyceum Theatre, pushed Cameron Mackintosh’s hit production of Miss Saigon off the spot, when it played its 4,265th performance on 18 December 2009.
The Lion King is one of only five musicals in theatre history to play for ten years or more on both Broadway and the West End, and the Broadway production also stands as the ninth longest running musical on the Great White Way.
In London the show has been by more than 8 million people and has won a slate of international awards.
It has quite a way to go to beat the longest running musical on the West End’s stage, Les Miserables, which originally opened at the Barbican Theatre on 8 October 1985. The show is closely followed by Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera, which is in its 24th year in the West End – and still at its original venue, Her Majesty’s Theatre. Lloyd-Webber must be hoping his sequel to The Phantom, Love Never Dies, is as much of a success. And it’s looking good given that the show has already taken around £8 million in ticket sales, with previews not starting at the Adelphi Theatre until 20 February.
Of course, all of the musicals on the longest-running list pale in to insignificance compared to the longest-running show on the London stage: The Mousetrap, which opened on the 25 November 1952 at the Ambassadors Theatre and is still going strong 57 years later at the St Martin’s Theatre.
The West End’s longest-running musicals:
1. Les Miserables at the Queen’s Theatre – opened 8 October 1985 originally at the Barbican Theatre
2. The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty’s Theatre – opened 9 October 1986
3. Blood Brothers at the Phoenix Theatre – opened 28 July 1988 originally at the Albery Theatre
4. Cats – opened 11 May 1981 at the New London Theatre and closed 11 May 2002
5. Starlight Express – opened 27 March 1984 at the Apollo Victoria Theatre and closed 12 January 2002
6. Chicago at the Cambridge Theatre – opened 18 November 1997 originally at the Adelphi Theatre
7. Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story – opened 12 October 1989 at the Victoria Palace Theatre, transferred to the Novello (formerly the Strand) Theatre October 1995 and closed 19 May 2002
8. Mamma Mia! at the Prince of Wales Theatre – opened 6 April 1999 originally at the Prince Edward Theatre
9. Disney’s The Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre – opened 19 October 1999
10. Miss Saigon at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane – opened 20 September 1989 and closed 30 October 1999
The West End’s longest-running plays or entertainment shows:
1. The Mousetrap at the St Martin’s Theatre – opened 25 November 1952 originally at the Ambassadors Theatre
2. No Sex Please, We’re British at the Strand Theatre – opened 3 June 1971 and closed 16 January 1987
3. The Black and White Minstrel Show at the Victoria Palace Theatre – opened in 1962 and closed about 1972
4. Aldwych Farces at the Aldwych Theatre – opened in 1925 and closed in 1933
5. There’s A Girl In My Soup at the Globe Theatre – opened in June 1966 and closed in 1973
Book tickets to The Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre in London
