Music & lyrics by Elton John & Tim Rice. Additional music & Lyrics by Lebo M, Mark Mancina, Jay Rifkin, Tsidii Le Loka, Julie Taymor, and Hans Zimmer. Book by Roger Allers & Irene Mecchi. Adapted from the screenplay by Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts & Linda Woolverton. Disney Theatrical Group. Capitol Theatre. Playing till 30 Aug, 2026.
Disney’s stage version of The Lion King is back and nearly thirty years on it’s still unsurpassed in so many ways. If you’ve never seen The Lion King, you owe it to yourself to experience it now.
The Lion King is the glorious oddity in Disney’s theatrical canon. Where most other Disney stage adaptations remain resolutely tied to the aesthetic of the animated films, director Julie Taymor leans into pure theatrical abstraction to bring the scope of The Lion King to the stage. None of Disney’s other shows even come close.
This is a locked in, award-winning production that hasn’t aged a day (okay, maybe the disco hyena number is starting to look a little Cats-like). The puppetry and costuming are still cutting edge — Taymor and Michael Curry’s mask & puppet design still amazes. The sheer level of invention and vision that went into turning the film into an artistically satisfying family show is staggering to behold. The giraffes are still one of the most majestic things to walk the stage. Who knew you could put grass on your head and walk around with such grace?
Apart from some minor updates to the book (a few localised jokes have been added) this is more or less the same show that won the Tony Award in 1998 and first toured Australia (playing the Capitol Theatre) in 2003.
In the enormous cast, it’s the side characters that really shine. The comedic trio of Zazu (Benn Welford), Timon (Jamie McGregor) and Pumbaa (Rutene Spooner) are all triumphs of character and costuming. Breathtaking puppetry meets kid-friendly cartoonish behaviour. Similarly the trio of villainous hyenas Banzai (Winston Hillyer), Shenzi (Ezra Williams) and Ed (Matt Verevis) nail their creepy-comedic vibes.
And, as always, it’s Scar who owns the night — getting all the show’s best dialogue to play with. Daniel Frederiksen nails the right level of evil camp and pomposity to milk this pantomime baddy for all he’s got.
Against these performances the core lion pride falls a little flat. Aphiwe Hyezi (playing adult Simba) and Emily Nkomo (adult Nala) give fine performances but their vocals are notably less powerful, and their performances more pantomime, than the rest of the lead cast.
In an age when stage shows have pushed the boundaries of magic and special effects, and face stiffer competition from screens and devices, it’s still thrilling to see the ageless wonder that Julie Taymor and her team produced to bring The Lion King into the real world. No cinema spectacle can compete with watching a puppet elephant walk down the theatre aisle, the simple joy of seeing multicoloured birds be swung around above our heads, or the engineering marvel of bringing a leaping herd of antelope on stage. The Lion King is a testament to imagination and craftsmanship.
I can think of no reason not to go see The Lion King, either for the first time or for the fifth. You may have to fight off/tolerate a sea of children (or in the case of Opening Night, a stew of badly behaved celebrity chefs — theatre etiquette please gents) but the show is worth it.
Cultural Binge 
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