Buddy Holly Hall Premiere Engagement of Disney's THE LION KING Generates Estimated $6 Million Economic Impact

The Buddy Holly Hall's premiere two-week engagement of Disney's The Lion King North American tour generated an estimated $6 million economic benefit to Lubbock from travel, hotels, restaurants, parking and other businesses patronized by both theatergoers and production staff.  This figure is based upon a Touring Broadway League report which found that, on average, Broadway tours contribute an economic impact 3.27 times the gross ticket sales to the local metropolitan area's economy.  

The Lion King, which played The Buddy Holly Hall from October 6 – 15, entertained more than 25,000 theatergoers and set the record for the highest-grossing engagement in Lubbock theatrical history with a gross of $1.9 million. The touring production also broke The Buddy Holly Hall's one-week box office record for nine performances for week ending October 15 with a gross of $1,150,389.40.

“We strive to bring the best of touring Broadway to The Buddy Holly Hall stage and our two-week presentation of Disney's The Lion King not only marked the Lubbock premiere of this show, but also opened our 23-24 BROADWAY AT THE Buddy Holly HALL SERIES with a Disney phenomenon,” said Amy Hamm, Executive Director of The American Theatre Guild. “We are thrilled to celebrate this achievement with Disney, The Buddy Holly Hall, as well as the devoted Broadway patrons and businesses throughout Lubbock.”

“We were delighted to share The Lion King with audiences in Lubbock for the first time, said Jack Eldon, Vice President, Domestic Touring and Regional Engagements, Disney Theatrical Group. “We thank our partners at The American Theatre Guild, The Buddy Holly Hall, and the Lubbock community for warmly welcoming and embracing our show.” 

The Lion King has been touring North America for more than 21 years and, during that time, has played nearly 10,000 performances during more than 240 engagements in over 90 cities to more than 23 million theatergoers. 

Celebrating 25 landmark years on Broadway, The Lion King continues ascendant as one of the most popular stage musicals in the world.  Since its premiere on November 13, 1997, 28 global productions have been seen by over 112 million people.  Produced by Disney Theatrical Group, under the direction of Andrew Flatt, Anne Quart, and Thomas Schumacher, The Lion King has made theatrical history with three productions worldwide running 20 or more years and two others running 25 or more years. 

Performed over its lifetime in nine different languages (English, Japanese, German, Korean, French, Dutch, Spanish, Mandarin and Portuguese), productions of The Lion King can currently be seen on Broadway; London's West End; Paris; Hamburg; Tokyo; Madrid; Sao Paulo and on tour across North America and the U.K. & Ireland for a total of nine productions running concurrently across the globe.  Having played over 100 cities in 24 countries on every continent except Antarctica, The Lion King's worldwide gross exceeds that of any film, Broadway show or other entertainment title in box office history.   

                 

The Lion King won six 1998 Tony Awards:  Best Musical, Best Scenic Design (Richard Hudson), Best Costume Design (Julie Taymor), Best Lighting Design (Donald Holder), Best Choreography (Garth Fagan) and Best Direction of a Musical.  The Lion King has also earned more than 70 major arts awards including the 1998 NY Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical, the 1999 Grammy for Best Musical Show Album, the 1999 Evening Standard Award for Theatrical Event of the Year and the 1999 Laurence Olivier Awards for Best Choreography and Best Costume Design.  

The show's director, costume designer and mask co-designer Julie Taymor continues to play an integral part in the show's ongoing success.  The first woman to win a Tony Award for Direction of a Musical, Taymor supervises new productions of the show around the world.

The Broadway score features Elton John and Tim Rice's songs from the Lion King animated film along with three new songs by John and Rice; additional musical material by South African Lebo M, Mark Mancina, Jay Rifkin, Julie Taymor and Hans Zimmer; and music from "Rhythm of the Pride Lands," an album inspired by the original music in the film, written by Lebo M, Mark Mancina and Hans Zimmer.  The resulting sound of The Lion King is a fusion of Western popular music and the distinctive sounds and rhythms of Africa, ranging from the Academy Award-winning song “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” to Lebo M's rich choral numbers.

Elton John, Lebo M, and Hans Zimmer all collaborated on the 2019 version of the film, executive produced by Julie Taymor and Thomas Schumacher, which has gone onto extraordinary worldwide success.

The book has been adapted by Roger Allers, who co-directed the animated The Lion King feature, and Irene Mecchi, who co-wrote the film's screenplay.  Other members of the creative team include:  Michael Curry, who designed the masks and puppets with Taymor, Steve Canyon Kennedy (sound design), Michael Ward (hair and makeup design), Anthony Lyn (associate director), Marey Griffith (associate choreographer), Clement Ishmael (music supervisor), Lisa Dawn Cave (production supervisor), Thomas Schlenk (general manager) and ARC/Mark Brandon, CSA (casting). Anne Quart serves as executive producer.

For more information worldwide, visit LionKing.com.

 

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