The Lion King facts & factuals

Interesting Facts About The Lion King

The Lion King has become one of the most loved and popular London classics of all time. Walt Disney's long running and multi-award winning musical The Lion King is delighting theatre lovers across the world. The show made its grand debut on Broadway in 1997 and has become one of the most successful London shows. Julie Taymor, the director and designer has designed a colourful, imaginative and highly creative world featuring flora, fauna and animals of Africa. The timeless score by Elton John and Tim Rice, with additional songs by Lebo M, Julie Taymor, Mark Mancina and Hans Zimmer makes the show a must watch experience for all.

Some Interesting Facts:

  • The mandrill´s gender was changed to female in the Lion King musical.

  • Before making its debut in Broadway, The Lion King premiere took place in Minneapolis, Minnesota (USA) in the same year
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  • In the history of Broadway, The Lion King has attained eighth position of longest-running musical.

  • The Lion King Musical made its first ever performance in Africa in Johannesburg, South Africa.

  • Year 1999 marked the debut of The Lion King in the London West End’s Lyceum Theatre and still going strong.

  • The hugely loved show, Lion King has been hosted in 13 countries across the globe.

  • The show is a huge success with more than 50 million tickets has sold across the globe having more than 28,000 performances.

  • For each performance of The Lion King, approximately 114 people are required.

  • Lion King has won more than 70 major awards worldwide including Tony Award for Best Musical,

  • The music of The Lion King is simply memorable and has won Grammy for Best Musical Show Album and the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Costume Design.

  • The show is adapted from the popular Disney animated film released in the year 1994.

  • The phrase “Hakuna Matata” which means No worries has been said 25 times in each performance of the show.

  • Disney’s The Lion King is certainly one of the best-selling shows of London Westend and has been delighting audiences from the last 16 years at London's Lyceum Theatre. The award winning show is dazzling the world with its glorious colours, stunning effects and enchanting music. The memorable show is a powerful and moving saga of Simba, the young cub and its epic adventure of his journey to reclaim his kingdom back and to his destined role as King of the Pridelands. Elton John’ music and Tim Rice’s music churned out some of the finest musical scores which are created by Hans Zimmer and choral arrangements by Lebo M. Some of the popular musical numbers are I Just Can't Wait to Be King, The Circle of Life, Endless Night and Shadow Land.

    Here are some more interesting facts about The Lion King:

  • The blockbuster award winning show has added various new scenes along with amendments in music in The Lion King to give audience a fresh feel.
  • In the Lion King, there are five different languages used and they are Zulu, Xhosa and Swahili.

  • Originally featured in the stage version of The Lion King, song Morning Report has been added later to the film in the Platinum Edition DVD release.

  • The Broadway production took approximately 17,000 hours for the creation of all the costumes and puppets using 750 pounds of silicone rubber.

  • There is usage of more than 700 different lighting instruments including 100 moving lights in the Performance Design.

  • 18 foot exotic giraffes which feature in the song "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" are the tallest animals in the show The Lion King.

  • The trick mouse which appears at the end of Scar's cane of 5 inches is the tiniest animal in the show.

  • So, get set to be the part of amazing show by booking your Lion King tickets now! This is certainly one of the must-see shows in London.