Costume & culture

Behind the scenes with The Lion King in London at 25 – in pictures

Our photographer is given backstage access at The Lion King in the lead up to the 25th anniversary of the London production at the Lyceum Theatre. Since 19 October 1999 the musical has been seen by more than 19 million theatregoers

Victoria Levine, from the costumes department, replaces some of the beads on young Simba’s body suit. More than 350 costumes are needed for the show, including 22 hand-beaded corsets, each with thousands of individually sewn beads

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

An original giraffe puppet reference card, produced by Michael Curry in 1999 for the original broadway production. The ‘puppet bible’ is used to ensure that all the puppets conform to the same design parameters

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Joe Beagley, head of masks and puppets, and Sophie Jones, global associate mask and puppet designer, check George Asprey’s Scar mask. Beagley has worked at London’s Lion King since it opened in 1999

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Details being worked on for one of the costumes

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

All the masks are based on carbon-fibre mouldings, and take three to four weeks to produce

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Owen Chaponda’s Simba mask, which uses horse hair, is checked and cleaned after each performance. Each character mask is moulded to fit specific actors

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Joe Beagley, with mask in hand, refers to the ‘puppet bible’

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Fay McCloskey, production fabricator, at work in the puppet department. There are 232 puppets in the show, including rod, shadow and full-sized puppets. There are 25 species of animals, birds, fish and insects represented in the show, including 27 kite birds

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Sarah Rae Gibbons, deputy head of masks and puppets, straightens the hair on a Simba mask before a performance

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Azola Dlamini has her grass skirt costume fitted in the ‘bunker’ backstage during a performance

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Lawrence Rowe, an ensemble cast member, prepares his Rhinoceros costume before the show starts

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

The Elephant puppet is prepared front of house before the show

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Makeup artists work on four of the principal performers

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Sara Tyndall, head of hair and makeup, applies flowers to Azola Dlamini’s face

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Backstage at The Lion King

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Ensemble cast members apply their makeup in ‘the bunker’ mid-show

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Owen Chaponda, who plays Simba, in one of the change areas backstage

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

George Asprey, who plays Scar, waits backstage for his first appearance. Asprey and Shaun Escoffery, who plays Mufasa, have been with the company for 16 years

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

The quick change area known as the Bunker directly below the stage at The Lion King

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Ensemble cast members in a front-of-house bar area, before the start of the show

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Lionesses backstage

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Wildebeest in elevated storage positions above the wings

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Front of house staff at the Lyceum

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

A production staff member keeps on eye on the stage during a performance

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Gary Jordan, who plays Zazu, gets a lift up to his dressing room

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Gary Jordan (Zazu) has his makeup applied by Sara Tyndall, head of hair and make-up, who has worked on the Lion King since it opened in London 25 years ago

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Lioness (Azola Dlamini), Mufasa (Steroy Cabey) and a dresser, Paige Holdsworth, behind Mufasa, with Chloe Deacon, sound assistant, backstage

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

The cast during pre-show warm-up routines on stage

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

A hyena takes a break backstage

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Scar during a performance

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

The score from the film was expanded for the stage and now has 15 musical numbers. As well as writing new songs, the South African composer Lebo M created an evocative blend of African rhythms and chorales, with additional material by Julie Taymor and Mark Mancina

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Scenic design is by the British designer Richard Hudson and lighting is by Donald Holder. Costume design is by Julie Taymor, and choreography by Garth Fagan. The book was adapted by Roger Allers, who co-directed the animated feature, and Irene Mecchi, who co-wrote the screenplay

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Since the UK premiere in 1999, The Lion King London has played to more than 19 million theatre goers at the Lyceum theatre. It is the fifth longest-running west end musical of all time

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Cast members and animal puppets walk through the audience during the Circle of Life scene at the start of the show. The largest puppet is the Elephant, 13ft long and 9ft wide, which requires four actors to walk her down the orchestra aisle

Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian