Disney executives are all "Hakuna Matata" over this AP story: The Broadway musical The Lion King is now Broadway's highest-grossing show, beating out the all-time gross from The Phantom of the Opera last week.
The AP reports, "The cumulative gross for 'The Lion King' is $853,846,062, according to the show's numbers. Its chandelier-swinging rival's cumulative total was $853,122,847, according to the show. The 'Lion King' surged past 'Phantom' after netting over $2 million at the box office for the week ending Sunday, while "Phantom" pulled in about $1.2 million."
The Lion King opened in 1997, while Phantom premiered in 1988, and the AP says the Lion King has had "higher average ticket prices and a slightly larger theater." Plus, many know the Lion King from the film! Thomas Schumacher, president of Disney Theatrial Productions, credited director Julie Taymor, whose decision to incorporate African masks and puppets gives the show a more transcendant majesty, "Her vision, continued commitment to the show and uncommon artistry account for this extraordinary success." And she didn't hurt anyone!
However, the gross figures are not adjusted for inflation and Phantom has, officially, sold 14.8 million tickets with over 10,000 performances while The Lion King has had over 5,900 performances, selling over 10 million tickets.
Back in 1988, then-NY Times theater critic Frank Rich wrote of Phantom, "It may be possible to have a terrible time at ''The Phantom of the Opera,'' but you'll have to work at it. Only a terminal prig would let the avalanche of pre-opening publicity poison his enjoyment of this show, which usually wants nothing more than to shower the audience with fantasy and fun, and which often succeeds, at any price." Yes, the chandelier is worth it!
In 1997, Times theater critic Ben Brantley's review of The Lion King begins, "Suddenly, you're 4 years old again, and you've been taken to the circus for the first time. You can only marvel at the exotic procession of animals before you: the giraffes and the elephants and the hippopotamuses and all those birds in balletic flight. Moreover, these are not the weary-looking beasts in plumes and spangles that usually plod their way through urban circuses but what might be described as their Platonic equivalents, creatures of air and light and even a touch of divinity."
