Changes Made Since The Lion King Opened

Since The Lion King opened at the Lyceum Theatre in London in 1999, it has been a hit with the old, the young and the in-between, and there are no signs of the musical closing anytime soon. It has become one of the most popular shows in West End history and is one of the longest-running musicals currently showing. Since it has opened, however, there have been some minor changes that have been made to the show.

So much happens in The Lion King – three lions are King at different times throughout! – and the show is one of the longer ones at the West End. It is currently 2 hours and 45 minutes long including a short interval, but until very recently, it was even longer! In mid-2010, some minor changes were made to the Broadway production of The Lion King to shorten the musical a little, and these changes subsequently transpired at the West End showing. As the musical is loved by small children who may be impatient at times (although surely not during this masterpiece?!), bosses and directors of the show decided to cut nine minutes out, but these nine minutes do not take anything away from the production.

The most noticeable cut-out is the removal of the song ‘The Morning Report’. This song is primarily sung by the hornbill, Zazu, who is King Mufasa’s advisor and arrives to deliver his daily report on everything that is happening in his Kingdom. Whilst Zazu is lost in singing, Mufasa teaches Simba how to pounce, using the hornbill as his attraction. ‘The Morning Report’ is familiar with rejection as it originally was to feature in the film version, but was deleted from the final movie before it was released to cinemas. Directors decided to use the song in the musical and it was sung for over ten years in the stage adaptation before it was eventually cut as well. However, the song still features on the official soundtrack to the show and can be seen on the new DVD release of The Lion King. Other changes to the show include the final minute or so of Can You Feel The Love Tonight being cut-out.

The changes made to The Lion King were quite minor and do not interfere with the final production. Fans of The Morning Report may be a little disappointed, but otherwise, all of the main gems are kept such as the emotional Endless Night and the songs that everyone knows and loves such as I Just Can’t Wait to Be King and the hilarious Hakuna Matata.