in October 2013 and being replaced by Ntsepa Pitjeng. The show closed its doors on December 14, 2014. Europe United Kingdom After the success of the Broadway show, the show opened in the United Kingdom in on October 19, 1999. The cast included Cornell John as Mufasa, Luke Youngblood as Young Simba, Dominique Moore as Young Nala, Martyn Ellis as Pumbaa, Simon Gregor as Timon, Rob Edwards as Scar, Paul J. Medford as Banzai and Josette Bushell-Mingo as Rafiki. As of October 2019, it has been playing at the Lyceum Theatre in London for 20 years. Taymor directed the British production of the show, with Melissa De Melo as the producer. The show also toured the UK from 2012 until March 2015. The West End cast of the show performed twice at the traditional Royal Variety Performance: in 1999 (led by Josette Bushell-Mingo) and 2008 (led by Brown Lindiwe Mkhize). In both performances, the song Circle of Life was performed. The company also performed at the show Strictly Come Dancing special Strictly African Dancing, broadcast in 2005, led once again by Mkhize and performed the same song. In March 2012, a few South African cast members were invited to perform at the Diamond Jubilee Pageant. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom mandating the closure of all theatres, the production was forced to take a lengthy hiatus and its return at the London Lyceum Theatre was announced for July 29, 2021. There have also been two English tours, visiting places all through the United Kingdom, going as far as Ireland. The first one, named "The Zebra Tour", ran from September 6, 2012, to February 22, 2015, with stops in Bristol, Manchester, Dublin, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Plymouth, Bradford, Liverpool, Southampton, Sunderland and Cardiff. The second, the "Rhino Tour", started on July 9, 2019, in Cardiff and later visited Bristol and Edinburgh. Due to the COVID-19 pandemics, two engagements have been rescheduled: Manchester (the planned run from October 2020 to January 2021 was postponed to October 2022) and Bradford (the original run would have taken place from April 30 to June 20, 2020, but was postponed to March 2022). Other rescheduled cities include Birmingham (starting July 2021), Cardiff (July 2022) and Southampton (September 2022). Other countries The German production has been playing in Hamburg at the Theater im Hafen since December 2, 2001, and had its 5,000th performance on January 14,