While celebrating its 12th anniversary of its tour since launching in Denver in 2002, Disney’s The Lion King North American touring productions grossed the highest weekly domestic gross in its history ($2,402.279 during a nine-performance week ending April 20, 2014). The sold-out three-week return concluded on Sunday, April 27 at The Fox Theatre in Atlanta where it grossed more than $6.2 million at the box office and entertained more than 97,000 patrons during 23 performances. This was THE LION KING’s first performance at The Fox Theatre, having previously played two wildly successful engagements at the Atlanta Civic Center: a seven-week premiere in 2003 and a five-week return in 2008.
Since the launch, they have played nearly 7,000 performances during 135 engagements in 77 cities. The record-breaking tours have been seen by more than 15 million theatergoers and grossed more than $1 billion to date.
“It is profoundly gratifying to know that since opening the tour in Denver at the Buell Theatre in April 2002, THE LION KING has been instrumental in bringing new audiences to the theatre across North America for the past 12 years,” said Jack Eldon, vice president, Domestic, Disney Theatrical Productions. “We were delighted to celebrate this milestone in the great city of Atlanta, where it was especially thrilling for THE LION KING to play The Fox Theatre for the first time. We remain overwhelmed by the enduring response to the show and are enormously thankful to the Atlanta community, and all of our audiences nationwide, for their continued enthusiasm and support. We look forward to sharing this theatrical phenomenon with more cities in the coming years.”
“Blockbuster shows like THE LION KING draw audiences to our theatre from greater distances and reinforce Atlanta as a leading tourism destination in the Southeast,” said Russ Belin, vice president of Fifth Third Bank Broadway in Atlanta, part of the Broadway Across America network. “We are honored to have been a part of this record-breaking engagement, especially as it coincides with a significant anniversary in the show’s decorated history. Our heartfelt appreciation goes out to the community, the patrons who supported this impressive production and the talented cast and company of THE LION KING.”
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