Photo Credit: Las Vegas News Bureau/ Bob Brye

Disney’s award-winning Broadway phenomenon, THE LION KING, celebrated its Las Vegas premiere at Mandalay Bay Theatre Friday evening. Several members of the original creative team were in attendance to launch the show, including director/creator Julie Taymor; book writers Roger Allers and Irene Mecchi; choreographer Garth Fagan; scene designer Richard Hudson; and Thomas Schumacher, producer and president of Disney Theatrical Group.

THE LION KING at Mandalay Bay joins the seven other highly successful companies of THE LION KING currently running all over the world, including New York, London, Hamburg, Paris, Tokyo and Fukuoka, as well as the North American National Tour. The show is performed Monday through Thursday evenings at 8 p.m. with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 4 p.m.   Mandalay’s production of THE LION KING is virtually identical to the other companies seen around the globe and is staged with all of the same spectacular music, sets, and costumes that have made it a worldwide phenomenon, reaching more than 45 million people in 11 countries.

“The Las Vegas production is every bit the equal of the spectacular Broadway experience,” said Thomas Schumacher, producer and president of Disney Theatrical Group. “From the stunning procession of animals that fill the aisles during ‘Circle of Life’ and the wildebeest stampede to the show’s climactic battle, all of the magic of the original vision will be realized onstage at Mandalay Bay.”