There must be something in the water – following hard on the heels of Chiara’s trip to see Chicago, I went to see The Lion King and came bounding out of the Lyceum theatre on Saturday with a whole raft of Disney’s best songs ricocheting around my head. And when I’m not fully-conscious of it, I find myself humming the opening to ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’. Thankfully (for all within 50 yards of me) I catch myself before getting to the more full-throated parts.

The Lion King was definitely one of the most watched films of my child/teen-hood. There was a period of about two or three years when The Lion King was the ONLY film that could be watched at sleepovers. So Saturday was a little trip down memory lane. The truly fantastic costumes and dance moves already had me in a pretty good mood. To top it off though, after the performance the stalls and circles were deluged by lionesses, hyenas and a very solid and good-looking rhino: the cast and crew were taking donations for the Red Cross in Haiti. So while the awe-struck kids around us got to check out the masks, make-up, puppets and what not, a little bit of loose change was making a bit of difference. Hakuna Matata: you can also donate here.

Lesley Crooks, Sales & Marketing Manager

P.S. Just got my MoneySavingExpert email and see they are doing their bit for the Haiti appeal too. For every new person who signs up to receive the email newsletter, they will donate 50p to DEC. Easy as that – check it out here!)