The Lion King at The Alhambra, Bradford left me in awe and wonder - and I immediately started looking for tickets to see it again.

As the famous beginning of Circle of Life began to blare out and the sun started to rise in the backdrop, I knew we were about to be transported into a world of gorgeous scenery, epic costume-design, masterful production and emotion-provoking songs.

When I eat food, I always polish off my favourite bit first, so rather than going chronologically, let's start there with this.

The settings and use of lighting to create colour and atmosphere was on another level.

You only have to look at the main image here to see exactly what I'm talking about.

It's a difficult emotion, or feeling to describe, in full, but certain scenes where the backdrop played a major roll, stirred something inside me.

Perhaps the most masterful example of this was the moment a dead Mufasa returns in an ethereal form to bring a now grown Simba back onto the right path.

It begins in relative darkness, with luminous plant-like structures being twirled in the air by cast members, creating the setting where Simba is roaming and having an existential crisis.

Then suddenly, as it progresses, each leaf comes together to form the huge head of Mufasa, who then gives advice to his son with a booming voice.

It was truly spectacular.

The use of imposing structures on stage was also crucial and this was the clearest during my favourite scene - the stampede.

What you're watching are shapes made to look like wildebeest, cycling on a track down scenery which is made to look like the gorge from the film, followed by another mechanism rotating with larger animals in front, and then cast members holding up large wildebeest heads, while Young Simba darts in and around them.

Yet the mastery of the production team, cast and orchestra makes you feel like you're in the most intense moment of your life.

I felt so involved, that when Mufasa was thrown to his death, I actually choked up a little, which is something that never happens any more when I watch the film.

Perhaps it was because the stage show took more time to mourn the loss of Mufasa.

A dance of sorrow from the lionesses, including Young Nala and Sarabi, was particularly emotive.

There were continued utterances of grief from the performers, combined with a surprisingly breathtaking moment when they pull streams of blue ribbon from the eyes of the masks on top of their heads, to mimic tears.

Symbolically, Sarabi's tear streams are only removed when her ongoing grief turns into anger towards Scar in the final scenes, ripping them from their sockets as the final battle ensues.

Every minute detail is thought of in this show, and that is another fine example of it.

My list of truly outstanding performances included: Matthew Forbes as Zazu (my favourite), Alan Mchale as Timon and Carl Sanderson as Pumba.

Zazu was the closest replica to the film, which is something I personally was keeping an eye out for.

His timing was impeccable, the humour was there and the movements of actor and puppet made your forgot the bird was being controlled by a human.

Being like the original cartoon movie was not the be-all and end-all though, as Rafiki - played by Thandazile Soni - proved.

She made the character her own, while still channelling the monkey's wacky energy, and she grew on me very quickly.

Mufasa, played by Jean-Luc Guizonne, proved a dominant presence on stage - something which is hard to maintain when you're trying to imitate the master, James Earl Jones.

The voice was on point, the rapport with Young Simba was authentic, but some lines were perhaps delivered a little too quickly, which meant a couple of intense moments were passed by without time to process the gravity of it.

It is but a minor point though in an overall fantastic performance.

Young Nala's smiley demeanour and face was a joy to behold on stage and she had some power behind her singing voice.

The young actress, Serenna Hunte, was quickly able to switch to the appropriate facial expressions and character as the mood changed though - fear at the elephant graveyard; affection for Young Simba after Mufasa saves them from the hyenas.

She has a excellent career ahead of her.

I've waited until this point to tell you that, I'd already seen The Lion King in London around a decade ago.

Despite this, the production at The Alhambra, Bradford still blew me away and it was even better than I ever remembered.

That is testament to the craft of the production team, cast members and everyone else who is involved.

A truly magnificent stage show and a night I will cherish for the rest of my life.