Heather Pierce
Rowan-Cabarrus Community College
Professor Whitaker
Theatre vs. Theater
“Hakuna Matata” -Timon and Pumbaa, the all-time famous quote from the well-known production from Disney. Hearing the name ‘Lion King’, causes one to assume the person is just talking about the movie, but others may assume one could be talking about the Broadway production. “Lion King”, the movie, and “Lion King”, the play, are completely different. Since the two literally have the same name one may automatically assume the two would be completely alike, but that is not the case. The two are different in cost, audience appeal, special effects, and much more than the eye can see. The plots are still similar, and they both share the same characters, but the over-all appeal is different.
‘The Lion King’ premiered in movie theaters on June 15th, 1994 for limited audiences and officially premiered to the whole world on June 24th, 1994. In the limited theaters the opening weekend made $1.586,753 and in the world wide theaters the movie made $40,888,194 the opening weekend. (http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=lionking.htm) “Lion King” the musical debuted on July 8th, 1997 in Minneapolis, Minnesota at the Orpheum Theatre and was an instant success before premiering on Broadway at the New Amsterdam Theatre on October 15th, 1997 in preview with the official opening on November 13th, 1997. The musicals’ highest gross point was April 2012 making $853.8 million dollars. The two have ranged completely different in cost from when the two have premiered. (http://www.broadwaybox.com/shows/the_lion_king_musical_nyc_tickets.aspx)
Audience appeal is probably the biggest difference between these two productions. The movie is highly watched by the younger crowd ranging from all ages from preschool to elementary school. The movie can be watched from the comfort ability of the home which allows children to sing, jump around, and dance to the movie. Also, at home a family can snack on...