Considered as one of the best broadway musicals of all time, the Lion King broadway show, also known as the Lion King Musical, was a musical play based heavily on the 1994 Disney animated film. The Lion King Musical was first shown on July 8, 1997 at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis, Minnesota where tt immediately became an instant success. On October 15, 1997, it had its premiere preview at the New Amsterdam Theater before the official opening on November 13, 1997 as the Lion King broadway show. On June 13, 2006, the show was transferred to the Minskoff theater to make way for the Mary Poppins musical. The Lion King is still showing today, and is now ranked 9th in Broadway’s longest running shows in history.
Like the animated feature, the Lion King broadway show still used the music by Elton John, the song lyrics of Tim Rice and musical score of Hans Zimmer. However, the musical has many changes and additions in the story when compared to the film. For instance, the mandrill Rafiki’s gender was changed to female, to allow for a leading female character in the play. The Lion King broadway show also has more songs compared to the film; some of the characters had their own songs like Morning Report” sung by Zazy the hornbill, and “Shadowland” sung by Nala and Rafiki.
Aside from belonging to the list of longest running broadway shows, the Lion King broadway show is also a recipient of several Tony and Olivier awards.