The Lion King Roars in Shanghai, China, July 18-Oct. 8

Disney's award-winning musical The Lion King will open at Shanghai's Grand Theatre on July 18 and play for 100 performances through October 8th.

The engagement will be presented by The Shanghai Grand Theatre in association with The Walt Disney Company, title sponsors of the production. Special support has also been provided from the China Culture Development Fund, with media support from Wenhui-Xinmin United Press Group.

Expanded from the blockbuster animated Disney film, the stage version of The Lion King opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre on November 13th, 1997 and has since run for over 3,400 performances. The musical won 6 Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Director of a Musical for Julie Taymor, as well as 8 Drama Desk Awards and a Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album of 1998, among others. It has now been seen by over 34 million people worldwide with sell-out productions mounted in cities such as London, Tokyo, Toronto, Hamburg, Los Angeles, Sydney and Melbourne.

"We are delighted to be taking this production to Shanghai and thank our partners at The Shanghai Grand Theatre who have made it possible for us to play in their wonderful venue," said Schumacher. "We're mounting Julie Taymor's full Broadway production so Chinese audiences will see the same show they would see in New York or London."

The production coming to Shanghai has most recently been playing to sold-out audiences in Australia. The international cast, with 52 performers from 12 countries, includes 8 performers from South Africa. It takes 136 people to put the show on every night and the physical set will travel to Shanghai in two specially commissioned 747 air freighters.

Taymor became the first woman in Broadway history to win the Tony Award for Best Director of a Musical. Taymor, along with Michael Curry, created hundreds of masks and puppets for the show. Choreography is by Garth Fagan, scenic design is by Richard Hudson, costume design is by Taymor and lighting design is by Donald Holder. The book was adapted by Roger Allers, who co-directed the animated film, and Irene Mecchi, who co-wrote the screenplay. The score features Elton John and Tim Rice's music from the animated film along with three new songs by John and Rice, additional musical material by South African Lebo M, Mark Mancina, Taymor, Jay Rifkin and Hans Zimmer.

Tickets for the first 28 shows are on sale now. The Shanghai Grand Theatre will offer a wide range of ticketing options to cater to all audiences including the popular and innovative value-added Golden set tickets, Glory Tour tourism tickets, and Family and Student tickets. Prices for weekend tickets range from CNY800 for evening performances to CNY100 for afternoon shows. Additional ticketing options are also available.

To learn more about the Shanghai Grand Theatre, visit www.shgtheatre.com.