The Lion King from Disney celebrated its tenth anniversary in the West End this weekend, on Sunday at the Lyceum Theatre, with a gala performance. In attendance at the gala were past cast members as well as a handful of celebrities and friends.
The show first premiered in the West End in 1999 and over the decade has been performed more than 4200 times with over eight million people in attendance overall. On average over the last ten years this means that attendance has been at 93%, which is not too bad for a show that also earned over Ł289 million, and became among the top ten longest running shows in the history of the West End.
Even after ten years, The Lion King is still one of the most sought after show tickets. Over its span it has set records in New York and London and is currently being performed in Tokyo, Paris, Las Vegas, Hamburg, and two additional tours in the US and Japan with a new Singapore opening scheduled for 2010. It features the lyrics and musical work of Elton John and Tim Rice, which may have a role in the popularity of the musical.
