THE LION KING Opens Tonight in Sydney

Disney's landmark musical event, The Lion King opens tonight in Sydney, Australia at the Capitol Theatre, with a record number of tickets already sold.

The opening marks the 10th production of The Lion King running concurrently worldwide, the highest number of productions running at any one time in the show's history. Five of those productions have been running for 10 years or longer, an accomplishment shared by only one other show in history. Additional productions include; Broadway, North American Nation Tour, London's West End, UK National Tour, Tokyo, Japan National Tour, Hamburg, Madrid and Sao Paolo.

THE LION KING played its 6,681st performance on Saturday, November 30th, becoming the fourth longest-running show in Broadway history. To date, The Lion King has played 18 countries on every continent except Antarctica.

Having recently celebrated its 16th anniversary on Broadway last month, The Lion King finds itself in a position unprecedented in the history of Broadway: routinely ranking as the #1 Broadway show in a given week, a feat previously unimaginable for a show at this stage in its life. The fact is thrown into stark relief considering the title's strength is greater even than when the show premiered in Australia in 2003.

The New York production recently became the first show in Broadway history to pass $1 billion in cumulative gross, an achievement made by the North American tour of The Lion King earlier this year.

Produced by Disney Theatrical Productions, The Lion King is playing at Broadway's Minskoff Theatre (200 West 45th Street). For tickets, show information and performance schedule, call Ticketmaster's Disney on Broadway hotline at 866-870-2717 or visit online, LionKing.com.