All Blacks rugby star Nicholas Afoa to star in The Lion King

Disney Theatrical Productions have just announced new cast members will join the London production of THE LION KING  at the West End’s Lyceum Theatre from 10th May 2016. With  changes in the ensemble, former All Blacks rugby star Nicholas Afoa is to take on the role of Simba.

Afoa made his stage debut as Simba in the Australian production of the musical  in 2013 and played the tole between 2013 and 2016 performing more than 860 times over that period. The opportunity to play the role in the West End production will bring Afoa to London for the first time.

The 30 yar old New Zealand-born performer had a promising rugby career with the All Blacks until he was injured andsubsequently trained for a theatre career, when nearly 20 years later he beat 400 other hopefuls to the role of Simba in the Australian production.

Other new cast members include: Etian Almeida, Jonathan Andre, Janique Charles, Zinhle Dube, Sandile Gontsana, Kwesi Jeffers, Stephanie Lo, Sadia McEwen, Khaya Maseko, Daniel Monteiro, Nosipho Nkonqa, Dominique Planter, Antoine Murray-Straughan, Kayode Salina and Ricardo Walker.