On Sunday 19th October Disney’s THE LION KING will celebrate its 15th anniversary at London’s Lyceum Theatre. The award-winning musical has entertained over 12 million theatregoers and remains the West End’s best-selling stage production. It also recently became the sixth longest-running West End musical of all time.
To celebrate this milestone and to thank Londoners for embracing and supporting the show, Disney today gave away 1500 tickets to the anniversary performance on Sunday 19 October. Over 1000 theatregoers queued at the Lyceum Theatre to claim a pair of tickets for this Sunday’s performance.
Congratulating the production, the Mayor of London Boris Johnson says: “Congratulations to The Lion King whose long-run has contributed to the phenomenal success of London theatreland. From the bright lights of the West End, to the dozens of smaller theatres to be found across the city, it's a hugely important sector for our economy, generating more than £600 million last year and underlining London's status as one of the world's greatest cities for culture.”
Meanwhile, the sell-out UK Tour of THE LION KING has announced its final dates and will conclude in Manchester this March, since its launch in August 2012. The tour will have played in 11 cities in the UK and Ireland, bringing Julie Taymor’s acclaimed production to over 1.8 million theatregoers. The show has broken box office and attendance records at every venue it has visited.
In January 2015 Disney will release licensed school versions of THE LION KING for primary and secondary schools. These 30-minute and 70-minute versions of the show are accompanied by resource materials to help teachers and students learn about stagecraft and performance.
Julie Taymor’s internationally-celebrated stage adaptation of Disney’s beloved animated film premiered on Broadway in 1997 and has now been seen by over 75 million people across six continents. Ten productions are running concurrently around the globe: In addition to the record-breaking productions in London and New York, The Lion King can currently be seen in Hamburg, Madrid, Tokyo, Sao Paulo, Brisbane and on tours of the UK, North America and Japan. Future productions are set to open in Mexico City and Shanghai.
Listings Information
Disney’s The Lion King
Lyceum Theatre
21 Wellington Street, London WC2E 7RQ
Box Office number: 0844 871 3000
Booking until 28 June 2015
The Lion King plays Tuesday to Saturday at 7.30pm with matinee performances on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at 2.30pm.
There is no performance on a Monday evening.
About The Lion King:
In its 17th year, THE LION KING remains ascendant; it is the highest-grossing Broadway show in New York history and one of the most popular stage musicals in the world. Since its Broadway premiere on November 13, 1997, 22 global productions have been seen by more than 75 million people and, cumulatively, run a staggering 112 years. Produced by Disney Theatrical Productions (under the direction of Thomas Schumacher), THE LION KING is only the second show in history to generate five productions worldwide running 10 or more years. Translated into seven different languages (Japanese, German, Korean, French, Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese), productions of THE LION KING can currently be seen in London, New York, Hamburg, Tokyo, Madrid, Sao Paulo, Brisbane and on tour across the UK, North America, and Japan. The Australian production marks the tenth concurrent worldwide production of THE LION KING, the highest number of productions running at any one time in the show’s history. To date, THE LION KING has played 19 countries on every continent except Antarctica.
Among the most successful titles of all time, THE LION KING’s worldwide gross exceeds that of any film or 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 has in recent years supervised new productions of the show around the world.
The Broadway score features Elton John and Tim Rice’s music 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 the haunting ballad “Shadowland.”
The book has been adapted by Roger Allers, who co-directed The Lion King animated 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), John Stefaniuk (associate director), Marey Griffith (associate choreographer), Clement Ishmael (music supervisor) and Doc Zorthian (production supervisor). Anne Quart serves as associate producer.
For more information worldwide, visit LionKing.com.
