Return of the King
RECORD-BREAKING SHOW BACK ON STAGE
DISNEY’S award-winning musical The Lion King is returning to Bristol Hippodrome next year.
The show is set to make a triumphant return in February, having already played two sell-out seasons previously at the theatre.
It was in 2019 that the production last visited Bristol Hippodrome, when it received five-star reviews and was described as “impossible not to enjoy”.
On its first visit in 2012 it was credited with bringing in more than £6m to the city’s economy.
With a cast of more than 50 actors, singers and dancers returning to the Hippodrome stage for a limited run, the return of the show provides a new opportunity for new and returning audiences to watch the show.
The story of The Lion King will be told using puppets, spectacular masks and costumes to tell the story of Simba’s epic adventures, as he struggles with the responsibilities of adulthood and becoming king.
Julie Taymor’s international celebrated stage adaptation of The Lion King opened on Broadway in 1997, and 25 global productions in nine different languages have been created since.
The show has performed in more than 100 cities in 20 countries and has been seen by 100 million people
worldwide.
The previous tour of The Lion King broke attendance records and since the UK premiere in 1999, the show has entertained more than 16 million theatre-goers, becoming the sixth longest-running West End musical of all time.
The original score from the animated film was expanded for the stage and now features 15 musical numbers. As well as writing completely new songs, South African composer Lebo M created a blend of African rhythms and chorales, with additional material by Julie
Taymor and Mark Mancina.
Elton John and Tim Rice added three new numbers to the five that they wrote for the award-winning score of the animated film. The resulting sound of The Lion King is described as a fusion of Western popular music and the distinctive sounds and rhythms of Africa, including the Academy Awardwinning Can You Feel The Love Tonight and Shadowland.
The Lion King is produced by Disney Theatrical Productions, under the direction of Thomas Schumacher.