Disney's The Lion King Tickets - Lyceum Theatre

They can be! Disney's The Lion King is one of the most popular musicals in the West End and possibly the most successful family show in the world and that makes tickets for the London production at the Lyceum Theatre very much in demand.

Finding discount tickets to The Lion King online is right up there with winning the lottery, locating buried treasure or bumping into a Unicorn drinking in your local pub unfortunately! In fact, the show is so popular that even the official ticket agencies are forced to charge customers a booking fee to turn a profit on this show as they are paying full price themselves to acquire ticket stock! 

If you are going to book tickets online to The Lion King it is strongly advised that you use an agency/website that is a member of the Society Of London Theatre (SOLT) and the Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers (STAR) as these agencies are regulated and work closely with the theatres themselves to ensure that all customers get a fair deal with no hidden charges. Booking fees can apply for some sold out productions such as The Lion King but all fees will be transparent and visible at the point of purchase to avoid any confusion and guarantee customer satisfaction. 

While The Lion King is undoubtedly an expensive show to go and see that does not mean that there is never good value or cheaper tickets to be found. Like any business, theatre experiences both peaks and troughs and there are certain weeks of the year that even a sold out smash hit musical like The Lion King will struggle to fill up a large venue like the Lyceum Theatre. Try to avoid school holidays and weekends, and do a little research looking at midweek dates that follow on from school holidays as there is often a lull which can lead to ticket prices being lowered. The week after the half term holiday in February is particularly good for this and can produce bargains. 

Some shows, including The Lion King offer a very small selection of discounted tickets on the day of the performance that are exclusively sold to customers at the box office from 10am on the day. There are big savings to be made if you can make the effort and arrive early to queue up, however you must also be prepared to walk away disappointed as there are very few of these tickets available. A handy tip for getting cheap day tickets to The Lion King would be to try on a Wednesday morning when there are two performances on the day, therefore doubling your chances of success! 

Official theatre ticket agencies and websites such as theatretickets-london.co.uk sometimes buy tickets to The Lion King in advance at negotiated rates with the theatre in the hope that they can offload them at either a cheaper price than the opposition, or for an increased profit margin. If they fail to sell these tickets they are left with a loss (or 'liability') and therefore occasionally there are bargains to be found late in the day as the clock runs down. It should be noted however that agencies would not operate like this if they consistently lost money doing so and do not do this every day or for every show so it is not a good strategy if you want to see a particular show on a particular day as you are very likely to be left disappointed! 

The Lion King first opened up in London at the Lyceum Theatre on October 19th 1999 and has remained the resident production at the venue ever since. 

There is no official dress code at any theatres in the West End and all patrons are encouraged to dress both appropriately and comfortably which can include casual wear such as T-shirts jeans and and shorts. 

The official running time of The Lion King is 2 hours 30 minutes including an interval. The musical has evening performances at 7.30pm from Tuesday to Saturday which finish at approximately 10pm and there are matinee performances at 2.30pm on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday that finish around 5pm. 

The recommended minimum age to see the show is 6 years old however a well behaved 4 or 5 year old should be ok. It is worth remembering though that the show is 2 hours 30 minutes long so if your child struggles to sit still for long periods then this could be an issue. Please be aware that children aged 3 years or younger will not be admitted into the theatre. 

The show is based on the screenplay from the 1994 animated movie of the same name from Disney and features a book from Irene Mecchi and Roger Allers who also worked on the original screenplay along with Jonathan Roberts and Linda Woolverton. The show also has a musical soundtrack written by Sir Elton with lyrics from Tim Rice and additional music and lyrics from Hans Zimmer, Julie Taymor, Lebo M, Jay Rifkin and Mark Mancina. 

While the London production of the Lion King is primarily performed in English, there are actually six different indigenous African languages that feature in the show: Zulu, Sotho, Congolese, Swahili, Tswana and Xhosa. International productions of the Lion King have also been translated into German, Spanish, Dutch, Mandarin, Korean, Chinese to name but a few! 

The musical has won a hatful of awards including six prestigious Tony Awards (Best Direction of a musical, Best Musical, Best Scenic Design, Best Lighting Design, Best Costume Design, Best Choreography) and two Laurence Olivier Awards (Best Costume Design, Best Theatre Choreographer). There are also eight Drama Desk Awards to date, one Theatre World Award, three Moliere Awards (for the French production of the show) and four Helpmann Awards in Australia.