Post by Admin on Oct 18, 2013 16:51:36 GMT -4
Roaring ahead at the box office … The Lion King sets Broadway record.
The producers of The Lion King might well be saying hakuna matata (no worries) for the rest of their days. This week, the Broadway musical will become the first in history to gross more than $1bn.
As of Monday, when the last set of Broadway box office figures were released, the musical had taken in a total of $999.26m since its first preview in October 1997. In recent weeks, the Broadway production has also overtaken the $952m worldwide gross of the original films.
But The Lion King is still, at 16 years old, a relative newcomer in Broadway terms. It is only the fifth longest-running Broadway show, though is scheduled to overtake Les Misérables before the end of the year. Nor can its success be pinned on what many consider to be extortionate ticket prices: premium seats cost an average of $130, more than $40 less than The Book of Mormon.
However, the musical has been impressively consistent, with fewer than a dozen performances playing to an audience below 80% capacity. It became the theatre district's highest-grossing show of all time last April, overtaking The Phantom of the Opera, which is Broadway's longest-running musical.
The Lion King is also threatening Phantom's record worldwide gross of $5.6bn. Julie Taymor's production, which has played in 21 different countries around the world, has now devoured of £5bn in total.
SWEET C
