THE LION KING Breaks Single Day Sales Records At The Overture Center

Tickets for Disney's Tony® Award-winning musical THE LION KING went on sale in Madison, WI on Saturday, December 5 and sold over 8,000 tickets, dwarfing the previous record for single-day sales of a single event, set in 2007 when 2,962 tickets were sold. Saturday's totals even surpassed Overture's biggest overall sales day, when patrons bought just over 6,000 tickets for the 80 performances on the entire 2006/07 season.

Madison's most eagerly awaited stage production will begin performances at Overture Center for the Arts on Tuesday, April 27 for a limited 4-week engagement through Sunday, May 23. The opening night is Thursday, April 29 at 7:30 pm. With 8 performances a week, there are still approximately 30,000 tickets available, although weekend matinees have limited availability. Weeknight and Sunday night performances have the best choice of seats.

"Saturday was a great day for us and a great day for Madison," said Overture Center President & CEO Tom Carto. "The energy and excitement here at Overture was incredible. We're thrilled to bring this one-of-a-kind show to Madison."

Now in its second sold-out decade in New York, the global phenomenon is the winner of more than 70 major awards worldwide, including the 1998 Tony Award® and NY Drama Critics Award for Best Musical, the 1999 Grammy® for Best Musical Show Album, and the 1999 Laurence Olivier Awards for Best Choreography and Best Costume Design. The show has been seen by over 50 million people in 13 different countries. In addition to Broadway and the North American tour, THE LION KING can also be seen on stage in Las Vegas, London, Hamburg, Paris and Tokyo.

Director Julie 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 LION KING. Choreography is by Garth Fagan, scenic design is by Richard Hudson, costume design is by Julie Taymor and lighting design is by Donald Holder. The book has been adapted by Roger Allers, who co-directed the animated film and Irene Mecchi, who co-wrote the screenplay for THE LION KING. 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, Jay Rifkin, Julie Taymor and Hans Zimmer.

In Madison, THE LION KING will play Tuesday through Thursday evenings at 7:30, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00, Saturday matinees at 2 pm, Sunday matinees at 1:00 pm, Sunday evenings at 6:30pm, and a special matinee on Thursday, May 20 at 2:00 pm. Ticket prices start as low as $25.50. Premium Ticket Packages, which include prime seat orchestra seats, a commemorative souvenir program and an exclusive merchandise item, are also available. Tickets are currently available at the Overture Center Ticket Office or online at overturecenter.com. To charge tickets, call 1.800.309.699. Orders for groups of 15 or more may be placed by calling 608.258.4159.

The Madison engagement of THE LION KING is presented by arrangement with Overture Center for the Arts and is a subscription offering of the M&I Bank Broadway at Overture series.

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