The curtains will rise on The Lion King, Disney’s first live Broadway-style musical to hit the stage in China, beginning July 18th at the Shanghai Grand Theatre.
The Lion King is a Tony award winning show which has been touring the world since its run on Broadway, which began in 1997. As every American child knows, The Lion King is the story of African lion cub Simba who learns to survive the struggles of growing up to be someone, in his case King of the Jungle.
Shanghai enjoyed its first musical production in 2002. Since that time musicals have developed a large following with the Shanghai Grand Theatre having hosted productions of Cats, The Sound of Music, Les Miserables, and Phantom of the Opera. "Watching musicals has become the latest fashion in China," said Fang Shizhong, president of the theater.
The original Broadway production of The Lion King was inspired by Disney’s 1994 animated movie and won six Tony awards in 1998, including Best Musical. Disney’s China managing director Stanley Cheung told the Associated Press, “We think that the story will resonate with everybody, anywhere in the world.” And indeed he is correct, more than 34 million people have seen the live show worldwide.
The international cast is made up of 52 performers from 12 countries and though the show is performed in English, South African performer Buyisile Zama, 27, who plays the baboon Rafiki says that language will not be a barrier as the spectacle is enough to get the story across to the audience. Despite Zama’s confidence, theatre staff will translate the libretto into Chinese for projection over the stage, Cheung said.
"After importing these musicals, we have nurtured a market for musicals in China and built our team," Fang said. "We plan to launch a professional company at the end of this year to import musicals as well as making Chinese versions of Broadway musicals and creating Chinese-themed musicals in the future."
The theatre has taken out a loan of 40 million yuan (4.94 million USD) to cover The Lion King’s budget of 69 million yuan and constitutes the first time the theatre has borrowed money to finance a production; however, they believe it is realistic to expect each showing of The Lion King to bring in 700,000 yuan. More than 700 VIP tickets have already been sold.
At least 100 shows are promised for the period from July 18 to Oct. 8, ending during China's week-long National Day holiday. Ticket prices are expected to range from about 100RMB to 2000RMB.
For ticketing and show information please visit: http://www.shgtheatre.com/images_e/mainindex_e.asp
The box office is open from 9:00 to 19:00 hours every day.
