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After eight years on the road, the North American tour of Disney's THE LION KING continues to celebrate unparalleled achievements and delight new audiences in the U.S. and Canada. The touring production has been seen by over 12 million theatergoers and grossed over $765 million to date and is one of seven productions of THE LION KING running worldwide along with the original Broadway production, London, Hamburg, Paris, Tokyo and Las Vegas. An all new production will bow in Singapore in September 2010 - a first for Disney Theatrical Productions.
After five years, THE LION KING has returned to Boston, where it is currently playing to nearly sold-out houses at the Opera House for a limited engagement through Sunday, March 21. Tickets are still available and can be purchased online at BroadwayAcrossAmerica.com/Boston.Having already played 60 cities across North America, THE LION KING continues to break box office records and entertain audiences in new cities. In 2010, the tour will play the following cities for the first time: Madison, WI, Vancouver, B.C. and Salt Lake City, UT. THE LION KING will debut in Madison, WI in April 2010. Tickets for the premiere engagement went on sale in December 2009 and sold over 8,000 tickets in one day, dwarfing the previous record for single-day sales for an event. Madison's most eagerly awaited stage production will begin performances at Overture Center for the Arts on Tuesday, April 27 for a limited four-week engagement through Sunday, May 23. With eight performances a week, weeknight performances offer the best choice of seats. Tickets are currently available at the Overture Center Ticket Office or online at overturecenter.com.
THE LION KING will debut in Vancouver in July 2010 and tickets for the long-awaited production went on sale to the public on Saturday, March 6 and sold over 5,500 tickets in one day. The first ticket buyer arrived at 3:00am on Friday, March 5 and when the event ended at 10:00am, over 230 people purchased tickets at the box office. Performances in Vancouver will begin at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Tuesday, July 13 for a limited engagement of four weeks through Sunday, August 8, 2010. THE LION KING will debut in Salt Lake City, UT in August 2010. Tickets for the premiere engagement went on sale Saturday, February 27 and broke records at the Capitol Theatre by selling more than 11,500 tickets in one day and greeting more than 500 guests at the box office. Due to popular demand, the Salt Lake City engagement has been extended for two additionAl Weeks and will now play Wednesday, August 11 through Sunday, September 26, 2010 at the Capitol Theatre. Tickets for all performances are on sale now at ArtTix.org.
THE LION KING North American tour will also play the following venues and cities in 2010: The Academy of Music in Philadelphia, PA, the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa, CA, Keller Auditorium in Portland, OR, the Cadillac Palace Theatre in Chicago, IL and Schuster Hall in Dayton, OH. Future engagements to be announced. For more information and dates, please visit TheLionKing.com (http://disney.go.com/theatre/thelionking/tour/#/home/).THE LION KING continues to reign as one of the most popular shows on Broadway and around the world. Now in its 13th year, THE LION KING is the eighth longest-running musical in Broadway history and the first American musical to welcome 50 million guests worldwide. 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.
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.
