The Lion King

It’s been over ten years now since the Disney stage adaptation of The Lion King musical first appeared on Australian stages, but in that time it’s lost none of its lustre. It’s surely an ambitious undertaking adapting an animated rendering of African’s Serengeti for real life, yet the opening sequence is spellbinding and allays any fears immediately. As Circle Of Life plays for the first time and the animals start appearing from all parts of the theatre, including large creatures such as giraffes and elephants – incredible creations which seem part-human, part-puppet – the effect is quite staggering, allowing you to relax totally into the impending experience.

Once into the story things settle down and the actors get a chance to shine, and all acquit well (despite young Simba’s slight Aussie accent). The costumes are amazing – inventiveness helps capture the essence of characters like Pumbaa, Timon and Zazu – the songs are requisitely strong (as you’d expect from compositions by Tim Rice and Elton John), and some of the production techniques are top-level (Mufasa’s death, for example), yet it’s still the rollercoaster of emotions that is the story arc which makes the show so compelling, even if we know how it’s going to end from the moment the curtain first rises. Hakuna Matata indeed!

QPAC, Lyric Theatre to 25 Jan