The Lion King Celebrates 15th Birthday in West End

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. The production also recently became the sixth longest-running West End musical of all time. To celebrate the 15th birthday of the production and to thank Londoners for embracing and supporting the show, Disney gave away 1500 tickets to the anniversary performance on Sunday 18th October. Over 1000 theatregoers queued at the Lyceum Theatre to claim tickets. Mayor of London, Boris Johnson said: “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.

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.