IT'S less than a month until Disney's epic musical The Lion King returns to the stage in Southampton.

The spectacular production, which was last performed at Mayflower Theatre in 2014, will enjoy a run of nearly six weeks from Thursday, September 8 and tickets are selling fast.

Set against the majesty of the Serengeti Plains and to the evocative rhythms of Africa, Disney's beloved animated film has been transformed for the stage.

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At its heart is the powerful story of Simba and his epic adventure to his destined role as King of the Pridelands.

The talented actor Stephenson Ardern-Sodje, who takes on the role of Simba, made his West End debut covering Hamilton and is delighted to now be touring with The Lion King.

He told the Daily Echo: "It feels incredible. It feels unreal. I saw the show for the first time and I was blown away. I was about ten-years-old and with so many people, I grew up with the film.

Daily Echo:

"I think for every young black boy, it is the role. It’s the role that you look at and you go ‘imagine’. More importantly, it’s the role that you see yourself represented in. To be able to step into those shoes – I feel like a torch bearer. Thinking about the Simba’s that have come before and the Simba who I saw and now that torch has been passed to me. It feels epic in the truer sense of the word.

"I am half Nigerian on my dad’s side and Nigerian culture is vibrant and it’s very loud and very emotional. Music is such a big part of Nigerian culture alongside community and family. This show represents so much of that to me. There are of course lots of Africa-inspired sounds and there’s beautiful traditional African music interwoven with the amazing modern score but there are so many moments of real black joy that you don’t really see anywhere else in the West End or many other places in theatre."

The Lion King runs until Saturday, September 15. Tickets from mayflower.org.uk

 

 

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