Things you didn´t know about Disney’s The Lion King
Updated on 21 October 2022
Disney’s The Lion King the Musical has been performed around the world for 13 years and has become one of the most popular shows in musical theatre history.
Here are some fun facts about The Lion King, currently performing at London’s Lyceum Theatre:
Rafiki, the mandrill´s gender was changed to a female character for the Lion King musical.
The Lion King premiere took place in Minneapolis, Minnesota (USA) in 1997 before moving to Broadway at the same year.
The Lion King is the eighth longest-running musical in Broadway history.
Lion King the Musical debuted its first ever performance in Africa in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The show debuted at the West End’s Lyceum Theatre in 1999 and is still running.
Lion King has been already played in 13 countries all over the world.
More than 50 million tickets for the Lion King were sold all around the world for more than 28,000 performances.
It takes 114 people to prepare for each performance of The Lion King.
Lion King has won more than 70 major awards worldwide including Tony Award for Best Musical, the
Grammy for Best Musical Show Album and the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Costume Design.
The Lion King is based on Disney animated film from 1994.
The phrase “Hakuna Matata” (“No worries”) is being said 25 times in every performance.
There have been several new scenes and amendments in music added into the musical version of the Lion King keeping the show fresh.
There are 5 different languages used in the Lion King including Zulu, Xhosa and Swahili.
The song Morning Report originally featured in the stage version of The Lion King has been later added to the film for its Platinum Edition DVD release.
It took more than 17,000 hours to make all the costumes and puppets for the Broadway production of Lion King using 750 pounds of silicone rubber.
Performance design uses over 700 different lighting instruments including 100 moving lights.
The tallest animals in the show are the 18 foot exotic giraffes in the song "I Just Can't Wait to Be King".
The tiniest animal in the show is the trick mouse at the end of Scar's cane: 5 inches.
If you have not seen this amazing show, book your Lion King tickets now as it is certainly the must-see show in London. Described by London ticket agents as their “favourite show”.
