On Wednesday 30th September, the Theatre Visits team took us to see The Lion King Musical at the Lyceum Theatre in London’s iconic West End. Disney’s Lion King is now in its 27th year and still a very popular musical.
We had a coach arranged to pick the members up at stops in Ickenham and Uxbridge and transport us in comfort to the theatre. While on the coach, each member was given their own ticket which had been assigned based on various members request to sit with friends. We arrived in plenty of time and the coach stopped just a short walk from the Theatre. Some members took the opportunity to grab a bite or a coffee before the performance and others made their way into the theatre to wait in the bar and look over all the merchandise on sale. When the doors opened, members started the hunt for their allocated seats. The Theatre team had negotiated a block of good seats in the stalls which started 4 rows from the stage and then went back over seven rows. This gave us all a good view of the action.
Lion King the Musical is amazing. The use of puppets, some with performers inside like elephants, and zebras. Giraffes with men using stilts, antelopes prancing and birds flying overhead like kites all start the show along with the memorable warmth and rhythmic fusion of African music and English Pop with the song we all love – Circle of Life. The music / singing was the highlight for me, all thanks to Elton john and Tim Rice. Some lovely chanting and harmonies in the African style certainly enhanced the story line. A special mention about the Rafiki actor who’s everyone’s favourite and has an astonishing vocal power. We should also mention the costumes including the majestic lion masks which the actors flick up and down like a welder’s mask.
At the end of the show at 5pm, we headed back to the coach via the toilets of course, but all still excited and saying how fantastic the show was. Once we had collected everyone that wanted to return home in the coach (some members prefer to use public transport to travel home), we set off. The traffic is always busy getting out of London but we made good progress and stopped off at Uxbridge about 6:50pm and Ickenham at about 7:05pm.
A lovely trip to the Theatre. Thanks to Tony. Perin and Ken, the Theatre Visits Group Committee.
