THE LION KING Opens Tonight at the Fox Theatre

The St. Louis return of Disney's THE LION KING opens tonight, Thursday, August 16 at 8pm at the Fabulous Fox Theatre for a limited engagement of three weeks through Sunday, September 2. In St. Louis, THE LION KING will play Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 8:00pm; Sunday evenings at 6:30pm on August 19 and 26; Saturday matinees at 2:00pm and Sunday matinees at 1:00pm. There will also be 1:00pm matinees on Thursday, August 16 and Friday, August 31. "Tickets sales are brisk for this St Louis return engagement, but there are still great seats available for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 8 p.m. performances," said Larry McDonnell, President of MetroTix.

Tickets to THE LION KING are available at the Fox Theatre Box Office and by calling MetroTix at 314-534-1111 or at MetroTix.com. Ticket prices for the engagement start as low as $28. Premium Ticket Packages, which include a prime seat location in the first five rows, a commemorative souvenir program and parking, are also available.

THE LION KING began as a 1994 animated feature-length film developed and produced by the Walt Disney Company. The story, a coming of age parable set among animals indigenous to its setting, the African savanna, tells the tale of Simba, the lion cub who rises to be the King of the jungle.

The sardonic and deviously cunning "Scar" is played by Brent Harris. Dionne Randolph is "Mufasa," the great warrior and ruler of the Pridelands. Buyi Zama is the wise baboon shaman "Rafiki." Mark David Kaplan portrays the prim and proper hornbilled bird "Zazu." Ben Lipitz is the carefree warthog "Pumbaa" and Nick Cordileone is the wisecracking meerkat "Timon." Mufasa's son, "Simba," the lion prince born to be king, is played by Jelani Remy and Syndee Winters is the loyal lioness "Nala."

The three evil hyenas are played by Keith Bennett ("Banzai"), Rashada Dawan ("Shenzi") and Robbie Swift ("Ed"). The role of "Young Simba" is alternated between Zavion J. Hill and Adante Power and the role of "Young Nala" is alternated between Sade Phillip-Demorcy and Kailah McFadden.

The North American touring productions of THE LION KING have been seen by more than 14 million theatergoers and grossed over $928 million to date. Having already played more than 70 cities across North America, THE LION KING now proudly makes its St. Louis return at the Fabulous Fox Theatre.