The Lion King returns to Sydney

One of the most beloved musicals of all time is returning to Sydney, and for Jewish audiences, it carries meaning that goes far beyond the savanna.

Disney’s The Lion King is returning to the Capitol Theatre in April, marking the production’s return to Sydney for the first time since its 2013 season. The show, now approaching 30 years on Broadway, has been seen by over 127 million people across more than 100 cities in 24 countries, making it the highest-grossing entertainment title in box office history.

The stage production, conceived and directed by Julie Taymor, won six Tony Awards in 1998 including Best Musical, and has since been performed in nine languages across every continent except Antarctica. It will be the ninth Disney Theatrical Group production to grace a Sydney stage over the past three decades.

But beyond the spectacle of the extraordinary puppetry and the soaring score by Elton John, Hans Zimmer and South African composer Lebo M, The Lion King carries a story with unmistakably Jewish bones.

The original 1994 animated film, Disney’s first truly original animated feature story not based on a fairy tale or folk tale, was co-directed by Rob Minkoff, who is Jewish. When the CGI remake arrived in 2019, it was helmed by another member of the tribe: Jon Favreau. It is a remarkable lineage for a story that, it turns out, draws deeply from the Torah.