Five Rafikis celebrate The Lion King with special performance

This past weekend The Lion King celebrated a quarter of a century at the Lyceum Theatre in the West End!

To conclude the special gala performance, five Rafikis from across Europe came together for a performance of “Circle of Life”. The West End’s Thenjiwe Nofemele was joined on stage by Nokulunga Madlala, Thuli Thusi, Gugwana Dlamini and Ntsepa Pitjeng.

The number was sung in English, German, French, Spanish and Dutch, as well as the five African languages that feature in every production around the world. You can watch it below:

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In attendance were some of the show’s original creatives including Julie Taymor, Lebo M, Richard Hudson, Irene Mecchi, Roger Allers and Donald Holder, who worked on the UK premiere in 1999. Across the weekend, fans could also experience a visual installation at Outernet giving insight into the work that takes place behind-the-scenes.

Going into its 25th year, The Lion King has been transformed. The show took a pause for a week to upgrade lighting and the automation at the venue, making the production more modern, durable, and environmentally friendly. You can see more of the changes (and ride Pride Rock!) in the video below: