Walt Disney has announced that the Broadway musical, "The Lion
King," will be shown at the Shanghai Grand Theater from July
28.
Shanghai will be the only Asian city to host the Tony
Award-winning musical.
"We think that the story will resonate with everybody, anywhere
in the world," said Stanley Cheung, executive vice-president and
managing director of Disney China, at a news briefing on
Tuesday.
Three Boeing 747s will transport the set from Melbourne,
Australia, and the stage crew for each show will comprise 136
people.
Fang Shizhong, president of the Shanghai Grand Theater,
disclosed that his organization had spent 40 million yuan (4.93
million U.S. dollars) to import the musical. Tickets for the first
round of 28 shows went on sale on Tuesday in dozens of China's
mainland cities, as well as Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.
President Fang said he hoped the move would advance the
development of the musicals business in China.
There are 21 kinds of ticket prices, with the highest fare being
2,000 yuan apiece and the cheapest being 100 yuan for shows on
weekdays. The show will last until October.
(Xinhua News Agency February 23, 2006)
