New York, NY – Disney’s The Lion King will be featured in “The Last Last Late Late Show with James Corden Carpool Karaoke Special,” a primetime special celebrating the final night of James Corden’s groundbreaking late-night series, airing on CBS tonight, Thursday, April 27 at 10pm (EST). The multiple Emmy Award-winning late-night host reunites with global superstar Tom Cruise for an epic musical performance in the international award-winning phenomenon.
The Lion King continues to celebrate 25 years on Broadway and, while two Broadway juggernauts have previously reached this milestone, The Lion King marks several historic firsts. Never before has a show in its 25th year been playing in so many productions around the world simultaneously and placed in the Top 5 grossing Broadway shows this long – nearly 1,300 consecutive weeks and counting. Currently, 115,000 people enjoy the show in eight productions on three continents every week. There have been 27 productions over the life of the show, seen by a staggering 112 million people. That is more than the combined populations of Canada, Greece, Sweden, Holland, Denmark and Australia.
The Lion King North American tour, which has played nearly 10,000 performances during 240 engagements in 92 cities to more than 23 million theatergoers, celebrates its 21st anniversary on Thursday, April 27. The record-breaking tour is currently playing a three-week return engagement at The Stranahan Theater in Toledo through May 7, 2023.
The primetime special sketch was filmed at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles.
About The Lion King
Produced by Disney Theatrical Productions (under the direction of Thomas Schumacher), The Lion King has made theatrical history with six productions worldwide running 15 or more years, with four of those running 20 or more years.
Performed over its lifetime in nine different languages (English, Japanese, German, Korean, French, Dutch, Spanish, Mandarin and Portuguese), productions of The Lion King can currently be seen on Broadway; London’s West End; Paris; Hamburg; Tokyo; Madrid; and on tour across North America and the U.K. & Ireland for a total of eight productions running concurrently across the globe. Having played over 100 cities in 24 countries on every continent except Antarctica, The Lion King’s worldwide gross exceeds that of any film, Broadway show or other entertainment title in box office history.
The Lion King won six 1998 Tony Awards®: Best Musical, Best Scenic Design (Richard Hudson), Best Costume Design (Julie Taymor), Best Lighting Design (Donald Holder), Best Choreography (Garth Fagan) and Best Direction of a Musical. The Lion King has also earned more than 70 major arts awards including the 1998 NY Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical, the 1999 Grammy® for Best Musical Show Album, the 1999 Evening Standard Award for Theatrical Event of the Year and the 1999 Laurence Olivier Awards for Best Choreography and Best Costume Design.
The show’s director, costume designer and mask co-designer Julie Taymor continues to play an integral part in the show’s ongoing success. The first woman to win a Tony Award for Direction of a Musical, Taymor supervises new productions of the show around the world.
The Broadway score features Elton John and Tim Rice’s songs from the Lion King animated film along with three new songs by John and Rice; additional musical material by South African Lebo M, Mark Mancina, Jay Rifkin, Julie Taymor and Hans Zimmer; and music from “Rhythm of the Pride Lands,” an album inspired by the original music in the film, written by Lebo M, Mark Mancina and Hans Zimmer. The resulting sound of The Lion King is a fusion of Western popular music and the distinctive sounds and rhythms of Africa, ranging from the Academy Award®-winning song “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” to Lebo M’s rich choral numbers.
Elton John, Lebo M, and Hans Zimmer all collaborated on the 2019 version of the film, executive produced by Julie Taymor and Thomas Schumacher, which has gone onto extraordinary worldwide success.
The book has been adapted by Roger Allers, who co-directed the animated The Lion King feature, and Irene Mecchi, who co-wrote the film’s screenplay. Other members of the creative team include: Michael Curry, who designed the masks and puppets with Taymor, Steve Canyon Kennedy (sound design),Michael Ward (hair and makeup design), Anthony Lyn (associate director), Marey Griffith (associate choreographer), Clement Ishmael (music supervisor), Lisa Dawn Cave (production supervisor), Thomas Schlenk (general manager) and ARC/Mark Brandon, CSA (casting). Anne Quart serves as co-producer.
For more information worldwide, visit LionKing.com, www.facebook.com/thelionkingusa and www.instagram.com/thelionking.
