Lion King - awful TripAdvisor reviews, or other musical recommendations

[Learningeverydaymore]

It's been on my plan to go see Lion King for the longest of times. I don't get out that often so would indulge in a top ticket when I do.

I've now seen TripAdvisor reviews where a lot of recent reviews are awful - uncoordinated dancing, kid acting, feels more like a school pantomime, modern jokes that take away from the performance. Is this accurate or a case of 'ppl who leave reviews have had a bad experience'?

I would be comparing with Les Mis that was astoundingly beautiful. I really do want to see Lion King - it's a classic - but don't want to be disappointed.

Other alternatives otherwise:
Frozen or Mrs Doubtfire - are they too juvenile?
Little Big Things

Any other recommendations?

Would love to hear your recent experiences.

First half is definitely amazing but second half is too long with all of the big numbers behind you

Frozen is brilliant and I seem to think it's stopping soon so I'd go to that whilst you can.
I definitely wanted to see it but enjoyed myself so much more than I expected and would actually see it again.

I've seen it twice, but last time a few years ago. It was brilliant then at least!
Have to say I hated Cats and could not fathom what the fuss was about...

I don’t like musicals as a rule, don’t go to many - I loathed Wicked (accompanying a school trip) but I loved the Lion King - each to their own!

Matilda is fantastic, would highly recommend with kids of any age. So is Hamilton with teens/pre teens IMO.

Can’t comment on the others you mention sorry

We have seen the lion king (get an aisle seat in the stalls!) and Matilda. Both were amazing, 🤩

I've seen Lion King 4 times albeit not for a long time. Absolutely brilliant.

Frozen was fantastic - my niece adored it and I was captivated as an adult.

Matilda also fantastic - my boys really enjoyed it. Saw it before the film and thought the songs were amazing and very catchy.

Saw Mrs Doubtfire in Manchester after it came across from Broadway. It was good but not amazing. The second half dragged and the kids got a bit bored.

I loved it. Doesn't (imo) compare with Les Mis on tunes but it's a great experience and beautifully done. The opening sequences are amazing. Agree with all the recommendations for aisle seat in the stalls. Also loved Matilda and hated Hamilton FWIW.

Frozen is absolutely magical! I wasn't really bothered about seeing it but we took our children and it was absolutely fantastic. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Frozen was outstanding and I saw it with my pre-teen boys who both loved it too.

A big hit was Back To The Future - absolutely brilliant!

There’s not enough story to sustain a full length musical with Lion King. It’s beautiful, but a bit dull in the second half.
I don’t fancy any of your other options. Too ‘commercial’ which isn’t always a bad thing, but is in those cases. Try Hades Town, Standing at the Sky’s Edge, Next To Normal - or if you want popular, Hamilton or Cabaret.
Also do t buy a ‘top ticket’. Waste of money. Get a cheap one and go to 3 things.

I saw the Lion King a couple of years ago, and left the theatre buzzing. The man who played Mufasa, singing was astounding. It was well worth the money, for me.

We saw the lion king in London. In the stalls there was a lot of unsettled noisy children. Not even badly behaved particularly just allowed to talk all the way through and maybe a bit young to be there. Then the venue let people just drift in to their seats when they arrived throughout the whole show. Not even in groups literally person after person down the middle of the aisle obscuring the view of the stage. I didn't think one of the children could sing, but was a good actor. It didn't feel like it flowed and the show went on and on and on. The in jokes were a bit odd too and didn't flow or fit. There were moments of brilliance and some of the scenery and performances by supporting cast were great but my overall impression was being extremely shocked at the quality versus the cost. I've loved or at least enjoyed nearly every other play I've seen. We were in access/ companion seats. If I'd paid full price for the main stalls seating I would have been absolutely gutted.

LK was not good. I cannot suspend disbelief long enough to get past the ridiculousness that was the meerkat. Waste of a lot of money.
Hamilton however I loved.

I saw Lion King in November. I laughed, I cried and wanted to dance! Loved every minute.

I was really underwhelmed by the lion king, it just didn’t live up to the hype for me.

i loved wicked though! Again I wasn’t keen on Matilda, it was okay but I wouldn’t go again.

Not a musical, but if you like Stranger Things, go and see The first shadow. Absolutely bloody amazing!!!! I'm not a massive theatre goer, but the special effects were outstanding and I think will make anything I see after that look amateur 😂

The Ocean at the end of the lane is amazing although not a musical.

If you are in London I'd go for cheaper seats and pay a £1 for the 'opera' glasses / binoculars and see multiple shows.

Hamilton is great but is better if you know the history behind it first I think.

The show that goes wrong is also fantastic but again not a musical.

Six is good, short and sweet and more a music concert than anything.

Operation Mincemeat is next on my list.

When we saw Lion King it was great although Second half a little long I paid £££££ to sit in row B near the aisle so DD was near the puppets and we were close to the front. Everyone got children settled so they were behind each other, then child in front row wanted to sit on adults lap so they all shuffled up a seat and none of the children behind could see as those seats weren't raked - however that was an audience problem not a theatre one

I don't like kid acting (always avoided Matilda etc) despite home brewing a couple 😂 so the first half dragged. Puppetry is amazing and second half was great.

Lion King was seriously boring.

I've only been to one musical in the west end in the last decade and that was Operation Mincemeat last week. I LOVED it, and would go back tomorrow, but it's totally different to Les Mis, which I've seen a couple of times years ago ,or Lion King (which I've seen in Wales millennium centre) - much smaller scale, it's a comedy etc. So depends what you want. If you do go, sign up to mailing list before booking for better seats access.

I quite enjoyed Lion king when I saw it but obviously different production so can't comment on your questions. Matilda was brilliant in WMC and I imagine would be even more so in London. Enjoyed Six in WMC too, but again much smaller scale than something like Les Mis - not much competes with that really!