The Lion King Roars into Action at Wayland Academy

Wayland Academy have been performing their school production to sold-out audiences of parents, hoping to get a glimpse of Simba and Mufasa in the vast savanna of The Pride Lands. 

The musical with original music and lyrics from Sir Elton John and Tim Rice was a fantastic opportunity for pupils to be involved in the performing arts. Talented pupils singing, dancing and acting thrilled the audiences over two nights with awesome performances. 

Choreography and staging left our audience in awe as students worked together seamlessly, lots of preparation and hard work went into pulling off our production from designing and engineering costumes and masks, painting and creating key parts of our set and of course lots of time in rehearsals. 

Holly Mayes-Smith, Director of the production and Curriculum Lead for Performing Arts at Wayland Academy said: 

 

“It has been an absolute privilege to work with such a talented cast of students. Our rehearsals have been filled with roars, laughter, blossoming friendships and more singing than you can imagine as the children have found their characters and grown to form a wonderful performing arts community.  

 

After our performance of Beauty and the Beast last year, we knew this year we had to ‘up the ante’ and The Lion King has done just that. Full of ensemble numbers, our cast were kept extremely busy, multi-roling as lionesses, zebras, birds, gazelles, cheetahs and not to mention the grasslands, wildebeest, butterflies, flowers and hyenas.  

 

I am as always so proud of the cast for their commitment and dedication. The fast-paced choreography and intricate harmonies just show how talented our students are. We as the production team can’t wait to start on the next one!” 

Portraying the classic story of The Lion King was an amazing experience for our pupils and iconic characters were a joy to see recreated on the stage. Performing to a high standard and working with professional lighting and sound tech gave our pupils an unforgettable experience, they acted with a high level of professionalism throughout the process and we have been blown away by their performances. 

A huge thank you to all staff and students who were involved in our production this year, we are so grateful to all who have given their time and effort to pull off such a fantastic show. We hope to announce our next show soon!