Review: The Lion King (with a British Accent..)

Musical: The Lion King
Venue: Lyceum Theatre, London
Date: 27th April 2011 at 14:30
Cast: Shaun Escofferey (Mufasa), George Asprey (Scar), Brown Lindiwe Mkhize (Rafiki), Stephen Matthews (Zazu), Waylon Jacobs (Simba u/s), Narran McLean (Nala), Nick Mercer (Timon) and David Pendlebury (Pumbaa u/s)
Rating: ***1/2


Review:
This is my 4th time seeing The Lion King but the first time to ever see it in London. My last visit to this musical was back in 2007 in Tokyo so it's a pretty good gap between the two. I'm so glad to have taken my girlfriend with me on this one. We got a pretty good seat, around row T, a bit to the left on the 2nd aisle, which was just perfect for us. The Lyceum Theatre is a very big and grand theatre and the overhang of the second floor didn't bother us a bit.


The first thing that stood out to me at the show was how all the animals speak in British accent. I didn't see that coming but I guess I'm in London and that was bound to happen. So it was quite funny to notice how actors speak in really strong British accent throughout the show.


The show started off with "Circle of Life" and it was still as impressive as ever. I love the reaction of the audience each time a new animal came out and we were pretty up close with the large elephant, among other animals, walking down our aisle. Cheetah and Giraffe were my favorites. However, our Rafiki (Brown Lindiwe Mkhize) was a bit weak vocally in this song but the whole production number helped carry the song very well. At other points in the show, she was actually a very good Rafiki, funny acting and her "He Lives in You" in the second act did make it up for her.

Brown Lindiwe Mkhize as Rafiki during the opening number "Circle of Life"

Cheetah and Giraffes, my two most favourites!!

The star of the show would have to be Scar (played by George Asprey). Funny but I seem to like every Scar that I have seen in all 4 productions or maybe it's just the role itself that was good. He played the role very sarcastically, villainously and funnily at the same time. His "Be Prepared" was definitely among the highlights of the show. Shaun Escofferey as Mufasa was also very good in his (quite short) role but he did bring to the role a good combination of the "king" and "father" personality.

George Asprey as the villainous uncle Scar

Shaun Escoffery as Mufasa with Stephen Matthews as Zazu

Scar vs. Mufasa
Notice how clever the mask design is!!

Narran McLean was our Nala and her voice was just amazing. She is probably the best Nala that I've seen out of the four times. Her "Shadowland" number in the second act truly proves her singing capability, while our Simba was a huge letdown. We got swing Waylon Jacobs covering the role and he was as bad visually as vocally. His voice was not in the upper register range of Simba (or maybe it's just his bad day) and I could feel that since he was first introduced during "Hakuna Matata" song. However, I learned not to judge understudies and swings but in his big number "Endless Night", he totally blew it and his voice cracked at the last note. I could feel the tension in his voice when he sang "He Lives in You" as if he tried not to let his voice crack again by singing very intentionally and avoiding high notes. It was just sad when he totally got outshone by Narran's voice during "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" duet. His acting was mediocre to me as well.

Simba and Nala revealing their loves for each other
during "Can You Feel the Love Tonight"

The hyenas were also quite disappointing here since they seemed to try to "milk" out every joke in the book so they all came across not really funny.

The Hyenas from the 1997 Original Broadway Cast

Then we have the excellent Nick Mercer and swing David Pendlebury as the funny Timon and Pumbaa. They were just hilarious in everything they did and my girlfriend loved them so much especially Timon. "Hakuna Matata" was just so darn funny. She also pointed out that she liked the fact that Timon puppeteer was green because it gives the character a more colorful perspective. I never thought of it like that before, guess we'll have to ask original director Julie Taymor. But one of my friends said she felt that being green was actually distracting.

Nick Mercer as Timon introducing Young Simba to "Hakuna Matata"

This version of The Lion King was a bit shorter than other productions I've seen in New York and Tokyo. There were a lot of cuts and downscale which was surprising to me because it's a sit-down production that have been playing for over 10 years. Why would they downscale it? Some of the things I've noted include:


- The whole "Morning Report" scene was cut, understandable because it didn't really move the story along but felt bad for Zazu because he had less to sing
- "The Madness of King Scar" was shortened extensively especially Scar's split personality part which made the song kinda pointless.
- Zazu didn't sing "It's a small world" when he was trapped in the cage, but he chose to sing "Supercali..." from Mary Poppins instead which would have been funnier had Mary Poppins still been playing. To me, Small World was just funnier.
- "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" aerial sequence instrumental was cut and the song just jumped right to the ending.. Why???!!! And the ensemble costume looks ridiculous!
- "Hakuna Matata" didn't have the many moving-across-the-stage insect parade that Timon and Pumbaa ate


Also, there were a couple of technical problems in the show, notably is the microphone especially on Young Simba and Young Nala so it was quite hard to hear what they were singing in "I Just Can't Wait to Be King". Zazu was quite hard to hear either. And the projection of Simba's drawing on the tree didn't come up twice in the show and I think that actually took away from the story quite a bit. Some audience may have been confused when they actually turned up the third time in the second act.

"I Just Can't Wait to Be King"

Rafiki Tree's with Simba projection
(that didn't work two out of three times at my performance)

All in all, despite its many flaws, this production is still as impressive as ever in terms of spectacles. "The Stampede" never fails to impress me and the reappearing of Mufasa during "He Lives in You" was perfectly done. The use of various puppets and shadow puppetry were creative and fun to look at plus there were many other little things that was just so wonderfully done. Though inferior to other productions I've seen, I still had a great time at this London Lion King and so had my girlfriend. This is one show that I would recommend everyone to go see.

"It's the Circle of Life"
Mufasa, Rafiki and Sarabi

The Animals of Pride Rock

The model of my favourite scene, "The Stampede"

It's Timon and Pumbaa!!

Brilliant Scene! What a great stage effect!

He Lives in You by Simba

A great shot!
King of Pride Rock reclaims his land at the end of the show

MUSICAL NUMBERS
ACT ONE
Circle of Life... Rafiki and Company
Grasslands Chant... Company
The Lioness Hunt... Company
I Just Can't Wait to Be King... Young Simba, Young Nala, Zazu and Company
Chow Down... Shenzi, Banzai and Ed
They Live in You... Mufasa and Company
Be Prepared... Scar, Shenzi, Banzai, Ed and Company
The Stampede... Company
Rafiki Mourns... Rafiki
Be Prepared (Reprise)... Scar
Hakuna Matata... Timon, Pumbaa, Young Simba and Simba


ACT TWO
One by One... Company
The Madness of King Scar... Scar, Zazu, Shenzi, Banzai, Ed and Nala
Shadowland... Nala, Rafiki and Company
Endless Night... Simba and Company
Can You Feel the Love Tonight... Timon, Pumbaa, Simba, Nala and Company
He Lives in You... Rafiki, Simba and Company
Simba Confronts Scar... Orchestra
King of Pride Rock/Circle of Life (Reprise)... Company