The Lion King musical at Shanghai Disneyland is set to close on 8th October 2017, with a brand new Broadway show to debut in 2018.

The ground-breaking mandarin version of “The Lion King” opened at the resort’s Walt Disney Grand Theatre in June last year, coinciding with the opening of Shanghai Disneyland.

The production brings the captivating story, choreography and costumes of the Broadway show to China for the first time, and is performed in the specially built 1200-seat theatre in the resort’s shopping and entertainment area, Disneytown. Not only was the show translated into mandarin, but Chinese culture and dialects were incorporated, with the music reimagined to include elements from the Beijing opera and Chinese pop songs.

Although the show is closing after just 500 performances, the New York production has run since 1997, the resort is hailing it as one of the longest-running Broadway performances staged in China.

Once The Lion King has closed, the theatre will screen a selection of classic and new Disney movies, including some which have never been released in mainland China. Then in 2018, a new Broadway musical will premiere.

Featured photo and information from the Shanghai Disneyland press release.

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