I have wanted to see The Lion King in the theatre for a long time as this film holds so many sentimental memories; after watching the trailer, I had to book! Theatre is somewhere I go to when I feel at a crossroads and looking for some inspiration, something to evoke emotion and challenge my perspectives. I thought The Lion King was the perfect production to escape me from reality and something I could immerse myself in. My friend and I come from theatrical backgrounds, so when I told her we were going to see The Lion King in theatre, she was just as excited as I was.

We made the most of our night out in London and made sure we booked a dinner beforehand; in the Westend, there are so many choices for restaurants and bars, we were spoiled. Most of the restaurants around the area provide a pre-theatre dinner menu; we dined in Sophies, Soho, a 15-minute walk from Lyceum Theatre, where The Lion King was showing. We opted for the steak fries, paired with creamy peppercorn sauce and treated ourselves to the dark chocolate brownie for afterwards. We also drank some gorgeous lychee martinis to wash it all down! I recommend that you book your table reservation for around half four, that will ensure you have enough time to get to the show as it starts promptly at seven-thirty.

As soon as we arrived at the Lyceum Theatre, I was so excited to see where we would be sitting; I was in awe of how close we were seated to the stage, we were in the stalls right at the front; they are the closest you can be to the stage and added such a special touch to the evening. I now understand why these tickets would be more expensive; seeing their facial expressions from being so close added to the overall magical experience.

The show opens with the song, Circle of life; The actor, Thenjiwe ‘Thendiva’ Nofemele, who played Rafiki, had a breath-taking voice; my whole body shivered with goosebumps, and my friend and I welled up with tears. Her voice was so powerful that the entire audience was captivated; she sang it perfectly. I will never forget that opening scene; there is no feeling like it! Also, the chemistry between Theo Querico, who played young Simba and Divine Cole, who played young Nala, was mesmerising to watch.

I was amazed at how realistic the characters were; I read that the puppets and masks made for the show took over 37,000 hours to create; it gave a whole different meaning to method acting. The way the actors became the characters effortlessly blew my mind; their talent is mind-blowing.

Live performance inspires you to be in the present, to switch off from the outside world and engross yourself in something meaningful. You’ll never regret seeing a theatre production; the feeling it gives you is entirely different from watching a film in the cinema. And what better show to see than an old classic Disney favourite, a real family-friendly show with songs we all know; it’s a must-see.

I mentioned above that I love watching live theatre when I feel at a crossroads with life; doing so, I always notice different signs that I might not have noticed from watching the film. The quote that stuck out for me was, “The past can hurt. But from the way I see it, you can either run from it or learn from it”. Thus, one of the beauties of watching a live show, everything we experience in life are just lessons and blessings, Hukuna Matata!

Tickets are available to purchase here

Written by Danielle Tobin for Luxuria Lifestyle London and International