REVIEW: The Lion King is phenomenal at Bristol Hippodrome

Being a Disney performance and a film they’ve seen countless times, I decided to bring my daughters along to see the performance of The Lion King.

I was initially concerned that the show may be too long to keep the attention of my four and six-year-olds, but boy, I need not to have worried.

More than 110 million people worldwide have seen The Lion King since it first opened in 1997, and its blindingly obvious why it’s still so successful.

As we took our seats, we spotted the percussion and drummers in the two central boxes who were happily waving to anyone in the crows that had noticed them. Staff seemed to be taking a while to ensure that everyone was seated and we soon found out why.

As the curtain lifted, we were treated to the most phenomenal show opening performance I have ever witnessed.

We were initially startled as tribal singers called out from the theatres boxes above our head, as all of our attention laid on Rafiki, played masterfully by Thandaziele Soni, as she sang gloriously from the stage.

The auditorium came alive as a huge elephant, along with rhinos, birds, cheetahs and other animals strode through the aisles to make their way to the huge stage. .

As the ensemble joined and continued to build Elton John and Tim Rice award winning song The Circle of Life – more and more animals filled the stage before the entire African Savanna was swooping and grazing in Bristol.

Actors dressed as the famous lion pride, giraffes, zebras, an elephant, a rhino and gazelles, along with majestically controlled puppets bring alive Disney’s The Lion King, the story of Simba as he lives and learns in his quest to become king of Pride Rock.

My children, as well and myself and my husband were enthralled from the outset, the music and set design are, put simply, world class.

The two child actors Jaydon Eastman playing young Simba and Lauren Simpe-Asante playing young Nala shone throughout their performance, but we were in awe watching as the duo sat astride birds that must have stood 18ft tall manipulated their movements whilst blasting out the classic ‘I just cant wait to be King’. Breath-taking.

The two actors playing, Mufasa and Scar; Jean-Luc Guizonne and Richard Hurst were incredible and entirely believable. If you closed your eyes and just listened, the voice of Mufasa filled the auditorium.

Matthew Forbes as Zazu was delightful in both his nods to the local area and in his puppetry of the bird who is integral to many parts of the story.

The death of Mufasa was an absolute spectacle, the running buffalo, the lights, sounds, crashes and bangs as the percussion gave surround sound once again, -the children were on the edge of their seats, and probably not ideal, but as the theatre quietened and Mufasa lay alone in the middle of the stage, my youngest child clapped wildly at the performance she had just witnessed.

As one character sadly departed, we were greeted by two of the most famous and loved Disney characters of all time-, Timon and Pumbaa.

The giant warthog was played by Carl Sanderson and Alan McHale worked his puppetry for Meerkat Timon, and together they had the theatre roaring with laughter.

As the curtain rose for the second time Stephenson Ardern-Sodje as Simba and Nokwanda Khuzwayo as Nala took on the roles of the adult lions. Ms Khuzwayo gave a beautiful performance alongside the pride of lionesses- one of my favourite parts.

In all, the show is something out of this world. It captured the hearts of my children who have told anyone who will listen, of their experience including a wave from Rafiki as the entire audience took to their feet at the finale.

If you can get tickets, please go. They are worth every penny.