Stuart Forster goes on stage in London’s West End after attending a performance of The Lion King. He takes a look behind the scenes of the long-running musical.
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In February 2025, Disney’s The Lion King was performed for the 10,000th time in London’s West End. The show also welcomed its 20,000,000th guest to performances at The Lyceum Theatre.
The Lyceum Theatre
The first show of The Lion King’s run at The Lyceum Theatre in London’s Drury Lane was in October 1999.
Performances of the popular musical have been staged worldwide, including in Canada, Germany, Mexico and Japan. The Lion King can justifiably be termed a global sensation.
“I think what makes The Lion King so special is that it’s a show that we can all relate to. It’s a timeless piece. Yes, there are animals in it but, actually, it’s a human story. We all go through those experiences: we all experience love and loss, we have to grow up and have to find ourselves. Really, we’re just experiencing that through the guise of the show,” says Nick Greatrex, Senior Marketing Manager at The Walt Disney Company.
London’s West End
He puts the longevity of the show down to its accessibility: “People of all ages can see and enjoy The Lion King, but what you’re going to experience as a kid is very different to what you’re going to experience as an adult.”
“It really celebrates theatricality, we’re not hiding anything. We want you to see the strings. We want you to see how it works. That’s what makes it so beautiful,” says Nick.
He explains that it takes between 40 minutes and an hour to apply the main characters’ makeup before a performance. Removing it after a show takes next to no time.
Hyenas, birds and a menagerie of other animals appear to be gazing at us as we chat on stage 20 minutes after the end of a performance. During performances, a crew of around 100 and 50 cast members have to coordinate their movements backstage.
He explains that Julie Taymor, the director of The Lion King, calls the show a double event. That’s because the audience can see the puppets – the animals – and the human puppeteers operating them.
Japanese Bunraku puppetry
Set in southern Africa, The Lion King draws inspiration from Africa, South America and Asia, including techniques from Japanese Bunraku puppetry.
Nick invites me to pick up one of the hyena puppets. Doing so, I’m surprised at how light the puppet is.
“The general rule in The Lion King is, if it looks like it’s going to be heavy, it’s actually quite light and vice versa. A lot of the props in the show are made out of carbon fibre, similar to material used in Formula One racing cars,” explains Nick.
I ask what’s changed in The Lion King over the past quarter of a century. To my surprise, I hear that it has evolved quite a lot. The script is worked on to keep it feeling contemporary.
In September 2024, The Lyceum Theatre closed for two weeks to upgrade the stage, automation systems and lighting. Installing LED lights helped reduce energy usage while making the stage lighting brighter. That meant props had to be repainted and costumes adapted.
Making my way to the theatre door 45 minutes after the final curtain, I can’t help but wonder if it’s still a little early. Or do the actors who play the lions already sleep tonight?
The Lion King in London
The Lion King is performed at The Lyceum Theatre (21 Wellington Street, London, WC2E 7RQ), near Covent Garden in London’s West End.
The nearest London Underground stations are Covent Garden, on the Piccadilly line, and Charing Cross, on the Northern and Bakerloo lines. Several buses (Lines 6, 9, 11, 13, 15, 23, 77A, 139 and 176) stop near the Lyceum Theatre. Use the Transport for London website to plan journeys on public transport.
Eight performances are held each week. Evening shows start at 7.30 pm from Tuesday to Saturday. Matinees begin at 2.30 pm on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Including the interval, the shows have a duration of two hours and 30 minutes.
Tickets for Disney’s The Lion King
Tickets for The Lion King are put on sale several months before performances. Booking tickets well in advance means being able to plan travel and accommodation around attending a show.
Booking via an official ticketing outlet ensures avoiding disappointment. Tickets for Disney’s The Lion King are available from Visit London, OfficialLondonTheatre.com, The Lion King and Disney Tickets.
Books about London and The Lion King
You can purchase the following books from Amazon:
Disney The Lion King is an activity book aimed at children.
A Little Golden Book’s Disney The Lion King is a storybook for children aged two to five.
Back To Books’ Disney The Lion King is designed for building reading confidence.
Secret London: An Unusual Guide by Rachel Howard and Bill Nash.
London: A Guide for Curious Wanderers by Jack Chesher.
The 500 Hidden Secrets of London by Tom Greig.
Further information
Thank you for visiting Go Eat Do and reading this post about The Lion King at The Lyceum Theatre in London. Planning a trip to London? You may also enjoy posts about fun things to do in Covent Garden and a food tour of London’s East End.
Based in northeast England, Stuart Forster, the author of this post, is a travel writer whose work is widely published. He was shortlisted as a finalist in five categories of the 2025 Inspire Global Media Awards.
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