The West End’s current Simba, Nick Afoa will join the second UK and Ireland tour of Disney’s The Lion King from 30 April 2020.
After making his stage debut in the Australian production of the hit show in 2013, the New Zealand-born former All Blacks rugby star will follow his three-year run in London by taking to the stage as Simba when the tour reaches Bradford’s Alhambra Theatre.
Presented by the Walt Disney Company UK, the current touring production of the landmark show launched in September 2019, just a month before the award-winning West End production celebrated its 2oth birthday at the Lyceum Theatre.
With a cast of over 50 actors, singer and dancers, the previous tour of The Lion King broke attendance records when it played venues across the UK and Ireland from 2012 until March 2015.
Julie Taymor’s internationally-celebrated stage adaptation of Disney’s much-loved animated film premiered on Broadway in 1997 and has now been seen by more than 95 million people.
Performed in nine different languages (English, Japanese, German, Korean, French, Dutch, Spanish, Mandarin and Portuguese), productions of The Lion King can currently be seen in New York, London, Hamburg, Tokyo, Madrid and on tour across Japan and North America – a total of eight productions running concurrently across the globe.
The show which has played over 100 cities in 20 countries on every continent except Antarctica has achieved a worldwide gross that exceeds that of any film, Broadway show or other entertainment title in box office history.
After winning five Tony Awards for The Lion King on Broadway, the original creative team reunited in 1999 to re-create the show in London. Taymor and Michael Curry created hundreds of masks and puppets for the production which also features scenic design by Richard Hudson, lighting by Donald Holder, costume design is by Taymor and choreography by Garth Fagan. The book was adapted by Roger Allers, who co-directed the animated feature, and Irene Mecchi, who co-wrote the screenplay.
The original score from the animated film was expanded for the stage and now features 15 musical numbers. As well as writing completely new songs, South African composer Lebo M created an evocative blend of African rhythms and chorales, with additional material by Taymor and Mark Mancina. Elton John and Tim Rice added three new numbers to the five that they wrote for the award-winning score of the animated film.
The Lion King is produced by Disney Theatrical Productions. A CGI film version of The Lion King, helmed by Jon Favreau, the director of the 2016 live action version of the classic The Jungle Book, was released in July 2019.
Angela Thomas
Tickets for the West End production of The Lion King are available HERE.
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