Disney musical The Lion King will stay on for an extra THREE weeks of shows in Manchester until March 2023 making it one of the longest-running shows in recent Manchester theatre history. The new dates, announced today, will take the run to an epic 19 weeks at Manchester's Palace Theatre.
The show, based on the hit 1990s Disney movie, opened for previews in Manchester on October 27, with a red carpet premiere taking place on Tuesday night. It will now run for nightly performances up to and including Saturday, March 11, 2023.
Theatre bosses say the new dates have been added after "phenomenal demand" for the musical's big return to the city. Already 200,000 tickets have been sold for the initial weeks of performances.
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The new dates added will run from Tuesday 21 February to Saturday 11 March. Priority tickets for the extension will be available from 8am on Wednesday, November 2, before going on general sale at 10am that day.
Robin Hawkes, Theatre Director of the Palace Theatre & Opera House said: “Shows of this spectacular scale create an enormous boost not just to Manchester’s thriving cultural scene but to its tourism and hospitality sectors too.
"We’re absolutely elated that The Lion King has already generated such phenomenal excitement amongst new and current theatregoers alike, and it’s just fantastic that we’ve been able to add these additional performances which will allow even more people the chance to experience this unforgettable production. It’s not every day you are asked to house 232 puppets for an additional three weeks, but it took no time at all for us to agree!”
The story of The Lion King leaps into life using spectacular masks, puppets and costumes to tell the story of Simba's epic adventures, as he struggles with the responsibilities of adulthood and becoming king.
Julie Taymor’s internationally celebrated stage adaptation of The Lion King opened on Broadway in 1997 and 25 global productions in nine different languages have been created since then. The Lion King is produced by Disney Theatrical Productions, under the direction of Thomas Schumacher.
The previous tour of The Lion King broke attendance records across the nation, including at the Palace Theatre in Manchester. Since the UK premiere in 1999, The Lion King has entertained more than 16 million theatregoers and is the sixth longest-running West End musical of all time.
The stunning artistry of the production is the work of a team of designers which drew on diverse cultural influences to recreate the rich colours and vast expanses of the African savanna in this daring and inspiring reinvention of one of the most successful animated feature films of all time.
The original score from the animated film was expanded for the stage and now features 15 musical numbers. As well as writing completely new songs, South African composer Lebo M created an evocative blend of African rhythms and chorales, with additional material by Julie Taymor and Mark Mancina.
Elton John and Tim Rice have added three new numbers to the five that they wrote for the award-winning score of the animated film. The resulting sound of The Lion King is a fusion of Western popular music and the distinctive sounds and rhythms of Africa, including the Academy Award®-winning Can You Feel The Love Tonight and the haunting Shadowland.
How to get tickets
The new dates added will run from Tuesday 21 February to Saturday 11 March. Priority tickets for the extension will be available from 8am on Wednesday November 2. The general sale will then begin at 10am on the same date.
All currently on-sale tickets are available by clicking here.
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