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Lyceum Theatre

  • Theatre
  • Covent Garden
Lyceum (3).jpg
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Time Out says

One of London's most storied theatres, though these days it's basically just the home of 'The Lion King'

The huge, sumptuous Lyceum Theatre has one of the liveliest histories of any London building. Originally built in 1765, it functioned as a theatre for a while before drifting off to host other things, including a circus, a zoo, a bare knuckling boxing ring and a waxwork exhibition. After a fire it was rebuilt and reopened in something like its present form in 1834.

Outside, its grand Neoclassical facade boasts Greek temple-style columns and ornate stonework. Inside, it's just as fancy, with an interior that drips with gilt and painted homages to the Italian old masters. It was a fitting home for two Victorian legends: theatre manager Henry Irving, and much loved actor Ellen Terry. Surprisingly, Irving recruited 'Dracula' author Bram Stoker as his business manager, who dealt with grumpy thesps by day, and wrote about marauding vampires by night. Stoker's blood-sucking hero is thought to be inspired by Irving, who by all accounts sapped his life force with his exhausting demands.   

The late 20th century wasn't always kind to Lyceum Theatre. In 1951, it was turned into a ballroom, and then a music venue that filled its ornate interiors with music fans, bopping to the likes of The Who, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Queen and Prince. The theatre finally closed for a decade from 1986. Since a total refurb and grand reopening in 1996, the Lyceum Theatre played continual host to 'The Lion King', the most successful theatre show of all time. A solid hit with families, this latest chapter in the Lyceum's Theatre is unlikely to end anytime soon. 

Details

Address:
21
Wellington Street
London
WC2E 7RQ
Transport:
Tube: Covent Garden/Embankment
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What’s on

The Lion King

  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Musicals

The posters have been plastered around the London Underground for years – long enough for this show to become the most successful musical of all time – but nothing prepares you for the sheer impact of 'The Lion King's opening sequence. With the surge of 'Circle Of Life' reverberating through your chest, Julie Taymor's animal creations march on, species by species. Gazelles spring, birds swoop and an elephant and her child lumber through the stalls. It's a cacophonous cavalcade that genuinely stops you breathing. You'd think Noah's Ark had emptied onto the stage. For a global blockbuster, 'The Lion King's absolute theatricality is astonishing. Techniques from all over the world – African masks, Japanese Kabuki costumes, Malaysian shadow puppetry – are smashed together in an explosion of spectacle. It's perfect for a musical, allowing both distinct flavours and an eclectic carnival spirit. Admittedly, things deflate when it sacrifices this defiant originality for subservient approximation of the film. Timon and Pumba (Damian Baldet and Keith Bookman), though impressively like their screen counterparts, step into the savannah from a different dimension. The hyena-infested elephant's graveyard swaps menace for goofiness and the famous stampede scene, so delicately handled and moving in the film, is merely ticked off with a sigh of relief. The familiarity of the film is a root cause of the show's commercial success. But, ironically, 'The Lion King' can't afford such compromises. I

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