Since its opening in 1999, The Lion King has marked itself as a must-see musical on the West End. It’s one of the longest running theatre shows in London, and has drawn in audiences night after night with its deeply emotive storytelling, its celebrated soundtrack, and its elaborate staging and puppetry.
It also plays home to George Asprey and Shaun Escoffery, who play the legendary roles of Scar and Mufasa on the Lyceum Theatre’s stage. They have been doing just that since 2008, and will celebrate fifteen years in the show next month, a record-breaking achievement for actors in these roles, and in the wider show.
In the lead-up to their fifteenth anniversary as Scar and Mufasa, The Indiependent had the chance to catch up with George and Shaun to hear their reflections on their time in the show so far, their friendship over the years, and the return of theatre post-COVID.
The Indiependent: I guess the first thing to say is congratulations on this momentous landmark you guys are approaching!
George Asprey: We’re kind of blown away by people who even want to celebrate this for us. It’s extraordinary.
They’re such iconic roles and it’s incredible that you’ve been able to play them for so long.
GA: I think that’s it. We’re so lucky to play such iconic roles, in probably the most iconic musical that there is, really. I mean it is, I think, it’s the biggest musical in the world.
Shaun Escoffery: Oh, it is, yeah, without a doubt.
GA: But then, we would say that. But yeah, the word ‘iconic’ is bandied around sort of willy nilly these days. But I think in this case, it’s the correct terminology.
So, coming up to 15 years, what are some of your favourite memories in that time?
SE: I think one of the most recent ones is when we all got back from the COVID break. And so, you know, we got back, and just seeing this lovely man again after 15 months of not seeing him, having basically spent the last 12,13 years with each other every day. You know, it was a surreal moment, and a very emotional one.
GA: That was a hug, wasn’t it?
SE: Yeah that was a hug, man, that was a hug. Also just connecting with the rest of the cast members as well, doing the run through for the first time, and just kind of going through the show and the impact and realising just how much this means to us. Not just the show itself, but the friendships and the realisation of theatre coming back to life, yeah, so that’s one of the most recent memories.
GA: I think because because theatre coming back was always going to be one of the last things post-COVID to come back, it was a realisation for us and the country. I think it was a real moment: that we are sort of coming out of it. We’re definitely on the way up. I mean, and as Shaun said, I mean, we spoke pretty much every day. But not actually seeing him, it was definitely a thing. And that first performance that first night, as soon as the curtain comes up, and Rafiki goes “Nants Igonya”, I think the place just erupted. It was like a rock concert. It was extraordinary. I remember, I was just like –
SE: Just goosebumps-
GA: We were like, the whole cast, just “Wow.” And we knew it was gonna be big, but when it happened, it was just incredible.
I remember watching the video of your first run through online. I remember, I watched it and was just in floods of tears. It was just so moving and so powerful.
GA: I remember Gugwana [Dalmini], just struggling to start the song even. Gugwana was playing Rafiki. And just her struggling to start the song. We were all in bits because of that, and then when she started singing, I was like, “Oh, I’m sorry, can we turn off the camera?” I mean really, it was just extraordinary.
I think, you know, there have been so many moments. But I think going back right back to the beginning of first day. Shaun and I joined on the same day. And I remember Shaun was the first person I met at Lion King. And when I met him, I was like, yeah, it’s good. This is going to be good. There was an instant bond, an instant rapport which has just got stronger over the years. Yeah, imagine spending 15 years with with your best mate!
That leads nicely into my next question. The brothers you play in the show aren’t necessarily on the best of terms, but for the two of you, how have you built that brotherhood over this time together?
GA: Well, we definitely have a better relationship off-stage than on.
SE: I mean, he kills me every night.
GA: You love it that I kill you, because you can just go upstairs and watch jiu-jitsu videos on YouTube.
SE: Speaking of jiu-jitsu, that’s one of the things that has helped to bond us as well. You know, ’cause we do jujitsu together. We’ve done jiu-jitsu together for about 10 years. I’m a black belt and George is a brown belt. So that’s another thing that’s one of our passions. If we’re not talking about theatre and acting and music and family, it’s jiu-jitsu we’re talking about-
GA: -to be fair, we’re talking about jiu-jitsu a lot more than we’re talking about theatre, acting, family… But we train together on stage between shows. So we go upstairs, take our makeup off, go downstairs, the crew was setting up for the next show, they finish, we put mats down on stage, and we roll, which means, you know, we basically fight on stage for about an hour. And people are doing backstage tours. So they’re showing people around backstage, they’re going “Oh look there’s a gazelle. There’s an elephant, that’s a zebra, that’s Scar and Mufasa killing each other on the mat.” As a martial art, it forms an incredible bond anyway, but when you’re doing it with someone that you have such a close relationship with already, it brings you even closer.
But I think the fact that that we are both gentlemen of a certain age, we are both fathers of three. Our youngest daughters were born; our wives got pregnant within a week of each other.
SE: Both girls as well.
You mentioned the iconic scene where Scar kills Mufasa. As a scene that’s not only iconic in the show, but in the whole of Disney (Traumatising but incredible.) What kind of audience reactions have you seen to that?
GA: So probably one of the more bizarre reactions was when my youngest daughter Connie, came to see the show and there’s the bit where Scar leans out, [Mufasa says,] “Scar brother help me,” [Scar replies,] “Long live The King” and throws him off. He falls down. And there’s dead silence. My youngest daughter, aged four, watching the show for the first time shouted, “My daddy did that.” So that’s, yeah, that’s one of the more extreme reactions, but I mean, we have people that… there’s crying.
SE: I’ve heard children screaming, barking, crying down the place. And that kind of, obviously, releases a laughter so then there’s people laughing at me. But hey, you get over it.
GA: Every time I hear a young child cry in the audience, I give a little fist bump.
You know, you’ve done your job, right, if you’ve got tears.
GA: It’s kind of my raison d’etre. But it is, you’re absolutely right. And the memes are hilarious. And you know, we always get whenever there’s something on Tik Tok, or Instagram, or something, they always tag us in it.
Having been part of the show for a long time, and you kind of touched on it with COVID and coming back after COVID, but how have you seen the theatre landscape change in the time you’ve been in the show? And how has that affected the way you perform?
SE: When we came back, we just thought that it would kind of be in dribs and drabs and people would gradually start coming back to the theatre. But we never experienced that here. As soon as the doors were open, it was like bang, everyone was straight in. But what I personally got from it, was that there was, first of all, a hunger for theatre, and it’s so needed, especially after what we as a country, and what the world went through in the last few years. Just that kind of sense of escapism, and gratitude for the arts, and for me, it kind of gave me a renewed vigour for the arts; it gave me a new kind of outlook on it, and I realised just how important it actually is, you know, not just to myself and my fellow colleagues and friends, but to audience members. When they come to see the show, I saw just how important it is to them, for their families, for escapism, for whatever it is, what we’re doing is actually quite important.
GA: You know, there’s that Joni Mitchell line, “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.” And I think, as far as theatre was concerned, I think the whole country felt that. On a personal note, I know now I’ll never take my job for granted. I’m not sure that we ever did, but if we did, it will never happen again. And I think it’s important to remember, there are some theatres that haven’t recovered post-COVID. And, you know, we’re incredibly lucky to be in not only the biggest show in the United Kingdom, but the biggest show in the world. So probably the Lion King was always going to come back. But there are shows on the West End that didn’t come back, there are theatres around the country that are still struggling. And so it’s important to remember that and to do what we can to support them.
We’re coming to the end of our time. But I just wanted to ask, after all these years, coming up to this landmark, what does it mean for you today to be a part of The Lion King?
GA: I think there are some shows that will go down in history for various reasons. But there’s only one show that’s going to go down in history as the biggest and greatest show of all time. And that’s Lion King. And I think to be not only just a part of that history, but within that history to make our own history, is – it’s not an incredible achievement. Because what we’ve done is we’ve just done our jobs. And we always talk about taking one show at a time, so it’s not an incredible achievement – But there’s a point where you just you stop, and you look back and you go, “Oh, wow, we’ve we’ve done that.” That’s… that’s an incredible honour to be able to say that, that we’ve played these parts longer, and with my best mate, for longer than anyone else. That’s an incredible honour. So that means a lot to me.
SE: I mean, I second exactly what George has just said, you know. It’s been a real honour, and I’m just looking back on 15 years up to this point: just what we’ve been through as friends, and the show, the talent that has passed through the show, and the people that we’ve met. I’ll tell you, I’m extremely grateful. 100% gratitude.
GA: Every person who we’ve worked with is part of our journey. Everyone who has been in The Lion King family, has helped us get to this point. And we’d also like to say, that this is not our finishing point, you know, we’re hoping to go on, but it’s nice to reach a milestone, able to reflect backwards and now concentrate on going forward. Because The Lion King is not about Shaun and George. The Lion King is about The Lion King and we are just here to make The Lion King, the greatest show that it can be, and The Lion King will be here long after we we’re not. So it’s a chance to, yes, acknowledge what we’ve been able to do. But it’s to celebrate the show itself. And it’s just another opportunity to do that really.
I’m glad to hear you’re not quite bored of the roles yet.
GA: Oh my goodness-
SE: Far from it!
GA: No, no, no, no, we’re still finding new things everyday!
Some answers edited for clarity.
Words by Rehana Nurmahi
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