THE LION KING (the musical) to come to Shanghai Disneyland...literally- Page 2

[Starship]

Posted: 6/13/14 at 5:30pm

"The Cirque du Soleil show "La Nouba" has been extremely successful and sells out weeks, even months, ahead of time after being open several years. If families had the option of seeing a Broadway production during their Disney vacation - you better believe they would jump on it."

Largely untrue. "La Nouba" may have done well in its peak, but for the past several years Disney has been urging Cirque to replace the show with something new since the show hasn't been attracting audiences for a while. When I stopped by in 2013, I talked with one of my friends in the cast and he said there were frequent performances where the cast was only playing to 300 people (in a 1,650 seat theater). Disney and Cirque have been working since 2011 to come up with new concepts. A Marvel themed show was in the works for a while and an Avatar-themed was on the table for a while. However, since Feld Entertainment is producing a very $$$ arena circus-themed spectacular using Marvel characters, and Avatar was announced as a Cirque arena tour, I wouldn't expect either to find it's way to Downtown Disney. However, I would expect a replacement 2015-early 2016 as it will take a lot to get Disney to remove a theater they spent lots of $$$ on.

Disney's best bet would be to have Cirque bring in a show and find a way to lower the ticket price. Very few families will stroll down Downtown Disney after spending hundreds of dollars at the parks, hotels, etc., to shell out another $500+ for their family to see a 90-minute Cirque show. Cirque du Soleil's Iris closed after under two years in LA for the same exact reason. Tourist attractions can't sell nosebleed seats for $70, with good seats going for $200.

Bring in a show that will appeal to audiences of ALL ages. It doesn't have to be Disney/Marvel/Avatar themed per say, but something on a more family friendly level (which might be hard for Cirque). Also, the ticket prices need to be lowered. That's what's going to help them at this point. Updated On: 6/13/14 at 05:30 PM

[ShakinBaconGirl]

Posted: 6/14/14 at 8:34am

I didn't realize La Nouba was doing so poorly. I saw the show in the summer of 2012 and it was a nearly sold out performance. The show just hired new clowns so hopefully that's a sign that it won't be closing soon.

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2014/06/new-clowns-bring-big-laughs-to-la-nouba-by-cirque-du-soleil-at-walt-disney-world-resort/

[RW3]

Posted: 6/14/14 at 4:04pm

Carlos Rivera said he was not playing Simba in the Mexico City production. He played Simba in the Madrid production. I wonder if OCESA would try to get one of the leads in Wicked to play Simba or Nala, since Wicked has been so successful?