Lion King Musical on Broadway Turns 19 – Third Longest Running Broadway Musical
Based on the Disney animated film of the same title, The Lion King, which opened November 13, 1997, Celebrates it’s 19th anniversary Sunday, November 13. Recently having played its 7,900th performance, The Lion King surpassed the original run of that other feline-themed musical, Cats, in 2015 to become Broadway’s third-longest-running show. The Lion King, which opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre, is currently playing at the Minskoff Theatre in Times Square.
The Broadway shows that has run longer than Lion King are Chicago & The Phantom of the Opera.
Lion King musical is based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, featuring music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman. The current Broadway cast: “Scar” is played by Gareth Saxe. L. Steven Taylor is “Mufasa,” Tshidi Manye is the baboon shaman “Rafiki,” Cameron Pow portrays the hornbilled bird “Zazu,” Ben Jeffrey is the warthog “Pumbaa” and Fred Berman is the meerkat “Timon.” Mufasa’s son, “Simba,” the lion prince born to be king, is played by Jelani Remy, and Adrienne Walker is the lioness “Nala.”
Top 15 longest running Broadway musicals as of November 9, 2016:
1. The Phantom of the Opera: 11,981 performances.
2. Chicago: 8,302 performances.
3. The Lion King: 7,915 performances.
4. Cats: 7,485 performances.
5. Les Miserables: 6,680 performances.
6. A Chorus Line: 6,137 performances.
7. Oh, Calcutta!: 5,959 performances.
8. Mamma Mia!: 5,773 performances.
9. Beauty and the Beast: 5,461 performances
10. Wicked: 5,433 performances
11. Rent: 5,123
12. Jersey Boys: 4,564
13. Miss Saigon: 4,092
14. 42nd Street: 3,486
15. Grease: 3,388
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