The autumn run of The Lion King at Manchester's Palace Theatre will warm-up audiences well into winter, the theatre has announced.
After initially announcing a residency from October 27 until Christmas Eve, demand has been such that producers have added another seven weeks, taking the full run to February 19.
The extension coincides with the show celebrating its 20 millionth UK guest. The landmark production has now been seen by over 110 million people in 100 cities around the world.
Priority tickets for the extension will be available from 10am on Monday, June 13. General sale will begin 10am on Friday, June 17. Tickets up to Christmas Eve remain on sale immediately.
The story of The Lion King leaps into life – as a large section of the UK population already knows – 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 version opened on Broadway in 1997 and 25 global productions in nine different languages have been created since. The previous tour of the show broke attendance records across the nation, though 16 million of the total have seen the production in London since 1999 - making it the sixth longest-running musical ever seen in the capital. The original score of the animated film was expanded for the stage and now features 15 musical numbers – three of them added by Elton John and Tim Rice, who wrote five for the movie.
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