WHEN the full-size elephant in the room earns a round of applause for carefully negotiating its way from stalls to stage you've got a show you'll never forget. Multi-cultural, multi-coloured and multifarious in nature, quite literally, the touring version of this West End and worldwide hit places a heartwarming paw on the shoulder of its audience from the start and leaves us inspired by the might of theatre musicals for all time.

Based on the 1994 animated film, with the unusual Biblical and Shakespearean-style script by Roger Allers, Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts and Linda Woolverton, we lose the central character Mufusa (Kwesi Jeffers) in the first half – apart from a brief essential cameo – in a fashion which I defy anyone not to find moving.

The story may be familiar, but director Julie Taymor and her creative team's stunning attention to detail ensures that the heat of the savannah inside the theatre is matched by the might of Disney's dynamic production. You could argue that you can't go wrong with hundreds of masks, puppets and 700 elaborate costumes to turn 52 performers into 26 types of animal plus state-of-the-art sets and lighting which require transport from 23 trucks. But the beating heart of Africa is generated by authentic music, lyrics and choreography added to Elton John and Tim Rice award-winning clutch of songs, plus the confident swagger of a cast from 18 countries which has to convince us that it really is a jungle out there.

As expected Thulisile Thusi (mandrill Rafiki), Meilyr Sion (hornbill Zazu), Christopher Colquhoun (pantomime villain Scar), Dominic Brewer (warthog Pumbaa) and Lee Ormsby (meerkat Timon) have most of the fun, with Tarisha Rommick, Daniel Norford and Philip Oakland adding the inner hyena in all of us. Hope Maine (older Simba) and Melina M'Poy (older Nala) have the toughest task of being goody four claws, but both certainly know how to belt out a tune.

And if the Circle Of Life wasn't already complete, the news broke that The Lion King is now the world's most-watched show. No wonder Timon can tease Simba: "What's eating you? Nothing... you're the top of the food chain."

  • Runs until Saturday, November 1. Box Office: 0844-871-3022 or atgtickets.com