The Lion King’s North American tour will close after its August 15, 2027 performance, ending a run that began in 2002 and has never stopped. Disney Theatrical Group says the shutdown is temporary. The creative team led by director Julie Taymor will reimagine elements of the production, and a newly configured tour will launch afterward with cities, dates and casting still to come.
The numbers behind the closing explain why Disney is calling it a next chapter rather than an ending. The tour has welcomed more than 28 million theatergoers across 291 engagements in 97 cities, and it has played more than 10,000 performances, which makes it both the longest-running and the most-attended Broadway tour in North American history.
Built For The Audiences Of The Future
Managing director Andrew Flatt and executive producer Anne Quart issued a joint statement thanking the hundreds of theater artists who have carried the show on the road. “The touring landscape has changed considerably since this production first launched in 2002, and the time has come to build the show for the audiences of the future,” they said. “This evolution will allow The Lion King to continue entertaining guests across North America for years.”
They added that touring is “a vital part of our business,” and that Disney Theatrical is committed to bringing its productions to audiences in their hometowns for generations to come. No return date or estimate was given, and Disney has not said what will change. The statement promises the reimagined version will keep the scale and emotional power that have defined the show.
This Is Not The First Time Taymor Has Rebuilt The Tour
The tour paused once before, in the summer of 2017, when Taymor and her design team recreated their original designs so the physical production could fit into smaller theaters and reach markets the original touring set could not. That reconfigured production rolled out in October 2017 and is what has been on the road since. Thomas Schumacher, then president of Disney Theatrical, said at the time that the most common reaction when the show opened on Broadway was that the spectacle could never be recreated on tour.
Taymor was the first woman to win the Tony Award for direction of a musical, and she also won for costume design and co-designed the masks and puppets with Michael Curry. She continues to supervise new productions of the show around the world.
Broadway Is Closing In On Thirty Years
The tour closing does not touch the Broadway production, which continues at the Minskoff Theatre and premiered November 13, 1997. Across 32 global productions, the musical has been seen by more than 130 million people. It won six Tony Awards in 1998, including Best Musical, and has collected more than 70 major arts awards, among them the 1999 Grammy for best musical show album and two Olivier Awards.
The score pairs Elton John and Tim Rice’s songs from the 1994 film with three new songs by the pair and additional material from Lebo M, Mark Mancina, Jay Rifkin, Taymor and Hans Zimmer. Roger Allers, who co-directed the animated film, and Irene Mecchi, who co-wrote its screenplay, adapted the book. The production is now produced by Disney Theatrical Group under Flatt and Quart. Disney’s other Broadway news this month was Sherri Shepherd’s casting as the Genie in Aladdin.
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