“So, going through the audition process, and then starting rehearsals, we started to see the costumes, and I thought to myself, ‘How are we going to perform in these? How do we walk in a hyena costume?’ to see the whole thing unfold-learning all these movements the singing, the dancing, with the puppets. “When we first started, I had no idea what the show was going to look like,” she explains. South African performer Lindiwe Dlamini, who joined the show during its summer 1997 pre-Broadway run, has been with the show’s triple-threat ensemble ever since. Incredibly, several other members of The Lion King’s current cast, orchestra, and artistic staff remain an integral part of its “Circle of Life”-a testament to the familial warmth that permeates the production. Meanwhile, composer Lebo M (who wrote additional musical material for the production) and Tony-winning choreographer Fagan now both hold Broadway records, thanks to The Lion King with over 9,700 performances, they are the longest running Black composer and choreographer in Broadway history. The first woman to win a Tony for Best Director of a Musical, Taymor remains actively involved in the show-launching new productions and maintaining the flagship Broadway show. In 1998, The Lion King won six Tony ® Awards: Best Musical, Best Scenic Design (Richard Hudson), Best Lighting Design (Donald Holder), Best Choreography (Garth Fagan), and Best Costume Design and Best Direction of a Musical for Disney Legend Julie Taymor. All told, the show-produced by Disney Theatrical Productions (under the purview of Thomas Schumacher)-has now been seen by an astonishing 112 million people, and its worldwide gross exceeds that of any film, Broadway show, or other entertainment title in box office history. Currently, 115,000 people enjoy the show courtesy of those nine productions (on three continents) every week. Never before has a show in its 25th year put on so many productions around the world simultaneously and placed in the Top 5 grossing Broadway shows this long (at nearly 1,300 consecutive weeks and counting). Performed over its lifetime in nine different languages (English, Japanese, German, Korean, French, Dutch, Spanish, Mandarin, and Portuguese), there are currently nine productions of The Lion King around the globe: Broadway, London, Paris, Hamburg, Madrid, Tokyo, on tour across North America, and on tour in the UK & Ireland, with a separate production touring internationally. Not only has The Lion King been thrilling theatergoers for two-plus decades in New York City, but it’s been simultaneously bringing its tale of heart and home to audiences in over 100 cities in 21 countries, and on every continent except Antarctica.
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