Lion King opening on 60% sales
Over 210,000 tickets already sold for Edinburgh run
Simba – Nicholas Nkuna. Photo © The Lion King
By Thom Dibdin
The Lion King opens at the Playhouse tomorrow night for previews of its first ever Scottish run, with just over 60% of all tickets sold.
The opening show on Friday 11 October 2013 is the first of 115 performances of the fantastically successful production, which has been seen by over 70 million people world wide. The official opening night is not until Tuesday 22nd October.
The Playhouse reports that over 210,000 tickets have already been sold for the run. Which still leaves almost 140,000 tickets at the 3,039 capacity venue still to sell.
According to a statement from the Playhouse: “Great seats are still available, particularly for midweek performances during the month of November”. The website also shows good availability for midweek during the rest of October.
The stats surrounding the production continue to astonish – the cast of 52 performers come from 18 different countries. And the fleet of 23 trucks being used to transport Disney’s enormous production to Edinburgh makes it the largest theatre production ever to tour Europe.
Jo Beale, General Manager of The Edinburgh Playhouse, said: “We are thrilled that Disney’s The Lion King opens its only Scottish season at The Edinburgh Playhouse tomorrow for a spectacular four month run. We look forward to welcoming several hundred thousand people to the Scottish premiere of this wonderful production, making it undoubtedly the greatest theatrical event the venue has ever seen.”
For those who can’t wait to see the production, a free exhibition – Exploring the Lion King: From Inspiration to Realisation – opened at the City Art Centre on 28 September. Running to January 12, the interactive exhibit includes costumes, masks and puppets from the production, along with original character models, sketches and set models.
Following its Edinburgh, the show will tour to Plymouth, Bradford and Liverpool, with additional cities to be announced shortly. In total, the production will visit 10 cities in the UK and Ireland over two and a half years.
Booking details on www.atgtickets.com (Click through the “Read more >>” tab for ticket availability details.)
Entry to Exploring the Lion King is free. It is open daily, 10am-5pm (Sunday: noon-5pm).
City Art Centre, 2 Market Street, Edinburgh EH1 1DE
Phone: 0131 529 3993. www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk
ENDS
