London West End Shows - The Lion King

The film is a real coming-of-age story which follows the life of a lion called Simba, from his adventures as a young lion cub to his responsibilities of adulthood and his preordained role as the king of the jungle. When he is a cub he spends his time playing with his friend Nala, while his father, King Mufasa, the ruler of Pride Rock and all the lands as far as the eye can see around it, teaches him about the Circle of Life, which bonds all animals together. Simba's father has an evil brother, Scar, who never wants the day of Simba's crowning as king to arrive and will stop at nothing to ensure that it will be him that will assume the throne. Scar has a group of hyena followers – Shenzi, Banzai and Ed – who lure Simba into the extreme danger of a wildebeest stampede and Mufasa dies trying to save his son.

Scar leads the innocent cub to believe that he is responsible for his father's death and implores him to leave the Pride Lands forever. Simba, afraid and filled with remorse and guilt flees into exile where he is befriended by a warthog named Pumbaa and his meerkat companion, Timon. This very odd couple guide Simba in life with a 'Hakuna Matata' (no worries) attitude, and they go on enjoying life one day at a time. The three grow up together, with Simba becoming a young adult, forgetting about his past and having a great time! That is until one day when a beautiful young lioness turns up. She turns out to be Nala, his best friend from his youth and she brings tales of great woe from the Pride Lands. Scar now reigns over the Pride Lands and is causing suffering and hunger in the lion pride and all the other animals that he rules over. Nala begs Simba to come home and take Scar's place as the rightful king of their homeland. Simba still feels guilty over the death of his father until he meets Rafiki, the wise baboon in the jungle, who tells Simba that Mufasa lives on in him, he must remember who he is, and take his place in the Circle of Life. So Simba returns to Pride Rock with Nala, Timon and Pumbaa, where they find the land bare and dry. Simba goes in search of Scar, and a huge battle between the hyenas and the lionesses takes place, which culminates in Scar going over the side of a cliff, landing at the foot of Pride Rock, surrounded by hungry hyenas, and Simba is joyfully adorned as the king of the jungle, with Nala by his side.

It is such a massive story that one would have great difficulty in visualising it as a show, but having just seen The Lion King at the West End, I can confirm that they have more than done the show justice. It was truly sensational with amazing costumes and outstanding performances – you really do feel like you are in the jungle!