Rafiki (Tshidi Manye) began to sing, giraffes sauntered across the stage, other animals emerged from the audience and tears ran down my face. For the next two hours, we were held blissfully in the story, music and pageantry of this must see.

The choreography, the costumes, the orchestra and percussion and the amazing talents (vocal and thespian) of the participants were all jaw-dropping. For example, when Mufasa (L. Steven Taylor) and Scar (Gareth Saxe) square off, their lion heads lower in front of their faces as the they impeccably act out animal motions and gestures; a single feature so beautifully perfect.

The production answered every question regarding the translation from animation to stage with wide-eyed imagination and asked the audience to believe. And we effortlessly obliged. Each song, from the haunting “Be Prepared” (Saxe) to the playful “Hakuna Matata” (Julian Silva, Jelani Remy, Fred Berman and Ben Jeffrey), was superb.

This wonderful musical is the single most entertaining experience out there. I jumped from my seat to applaud at curtain call. Simba just can’t wait to be king and Film Clas just can’t wait to gladly bestow 5 out of 5 napkins upon The Lion King!