Culture

The Lion King to open for first time in South Africa

by Kaitlin | June 4, 2007 at 01:03 pm

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The stage version of The Lion King, which was largely composed by South African native Lebo M and inspired by the Disney film, is opening for the first time in the composer's native country. Lebo, who also starred in the first Tony Award-winning Broadway production, directed by Julie Taymor, has reportedly wanted to bring the production home for some time. The problem, it seemed, was theatre space--there was nothing big enough in SA to house such a production. The solution? Build a theatre. If you do it, they will come, right?

JOBURG is about to get two firsts for the country: the first theatre performance of The Lion King, and the first theatre to seat 1 900 people.

The theatre, an extension of the Montecasino complex in Fourways, is being constructed specifically for The Lion King, as no theatre in the country is big enough to house the spectacular production. It will be called the Montecasino Teatro and will be one of the 10 largest lyric theatres in the world.