They Join Previously Announced Cast of Jennifer Hudson, Nathan Lane, Jeremy Irons, Ernie Sabella, Billy Eichner, Jason Weaver, Bradley Gibson and Cast Representing the Broadway Musical To Perform Iconic Songs From the Beloved Franchise
Original Special To Be Filmed in Two Concert Performances at the Hollywood Bowl on Friday, May 24, and Saturday, May 25
(BURBANK, Calif. – May 8, 2024) North West, making her Hollywood Bowl debut, alongside Tony® and GRAMMY® Award-winning Broadway star Heather Headley and Grammy Award winner, Tony Award nominee and the voice and spirit of The Lion King, Lebo M., will join “Lion King” franchise originals Billy Eichner, Bradley Gibson, Ernie Sabella, Jason Weaver, Jeremy Irons, Nathan Lane and special guest Jennifer Hudson on the Hollywood Bowl stage for the previously announced “Disney’s The Lion King 30th Anniversary – A Live-to-Film Concert Event” on May 24 and May 25. Emmy® Award-winning Disney Branded Television and Fulwell 73 Productions will reunite to capture the magic of these performances in the second music concert installment in their franchise, with the Disney+ Original special “The Lion King at the Hollywood Bowl” streaming at a later date. The special will celebrate the 30-year evolution of “The Lion King,” from the original 1994 animated film to the 1998 Tony Award-winning Broadway musical to the 2019 dramatic live-action film.
In “Disney’s The Lion King at the Hollywood Bowl,” fans will experience life in the Pride Lands as a full orchestra performs Hans Zimmer’s rousing Oscar®-winning musical score led by conductor Sarah Hicks. Immersive live performances of the beloved songs written by Sir Elton John and lyricist Sir Tim Rice — including “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” (Academy Award® for Original Song), “Circle Of Life,” “Be Prepared” and “Hakuna Matata” — will be performed by the original cast members, Oscar winner Jeremy Irons (Scar, 1994), Oscar and Tony Award winner Nathan Lane (Timon, 1994), Billy Eichner (Timon, 2019), Ernie Sabella (Pumbaa, 1994) and Jason Weaver (Young Simba, 1994). Special guests include Bradley Gibson and Heather Headley (Simba and Nala, respectively, in the Broadway stage production) and recent EGOT winner Jennifer Hudson. Cast will perform select numbers for the first time at the Hollywood Bowl, featuring the Broadway show’s award-winning and artistically acclaimed costumes, set design and innovative puppetry. Tickets to the Hollywood Bowl performances can be purchased at the links below.
“The Lion King at the Hollywood Bowl” is produced by Disney Concerts, Fulwell 73 Productions, AMP Worldwide and Live Nation-Hewitt Silva, the incredible team that produced the four-time Emmy-nominated “Disney’s Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl” and the Emmy Award-winning “Elton John Live: Farewell from Dodger Stadium.” Gabe Turner and Sally Wood are creative showrunners, Paul Dugdale serves as director and Misty Buckley is production designer.
Since the 1994 debut of Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Oscar-winning original global phenomenon, the story of “The Lion King” has dazzled audiences around the world, including with the record-breaking, Tony Award-winning stage musical (1998), the 2019 live-action box office blockbuster, animated series and sequels, as well as long-running successful shows in the Disney Parks. “Mufasa: The Lion King,” directed by Barry Jenkins, will be in theaters this December 2024.
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ABOUT DISNEY+
Disney+ is the dedicated streaming home for movies and shows from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic, along with The Simpsons and much more. In select international markets, it also includes the general entertainment content brand, Star, and in the U.S., Disney Bundle subscribers can also access extensive Hulu content, including next day TV and Hulu Original titles, on Disney+. The flagship direct-to-consumer streaming service from Disney, Disney+ offers an ever-growing collection of exclusive originals, including feature-length films, documentaries, live-action and animated series, and short-form content. With unprecedented access to Disney’s long history of incredible film and television entertainment, Disney+ is also the exclusive streaming home for the newest releases from The Walt Disney Studios. Disney+ is available as a standalone streaming service, as part of the Disney Bundle in the U.S. that gives subscribers access to Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+, or as part of Combo+ in Latin America with Star+, the standalone general entertainment and sports streaming service in the region. For more, visit disneyplus.com, or find the Disney+ app on most mobile and connected TV devices.
ABOUT DISNEY BRANDED TELEVISION
Disney Branded Television encompasses the creative storytellers and production and content marketing teams responsible for Disney-branded television series, movies and other programming spanning live-action, animated and unscripted formats. The group fuels the Disney+ streaming platform and Disney Channel, Disney XD and Disney Junior linear networks with content geared toward kids, tweens, teens and families, with stories that are imaginative, aspirational and reflective of their world and experiences.
ABOUT WALT DISNEY ANIMATION STUDIOS:
Combining masterful artistry and storytelling with groundbreaking technology, Walt Disney Animation Studios is a filmmaker-driven animation studio responsible for creating some of the most beloved films ever made. WDAS continues to build on its rich legacy of innovation and creativity, from the first fully-animated feature film, 1937’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, to 2019’s Frozen 2, the biggest animated film of all time, to our 60th animated feature, the Academy Award-winning Encanto. Among the studio’s timeless creations are Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty, The Jungle Book, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Frozen, Big Hero 6 and Zootopia.
ABOUT DISNEY CONCERTS
Disney Concerts is the concert production and licensing division of Disney Music Group, the music arm of The Walt Disney Company. Disney Concerts produces concerts and tours, and licenses Disney music and visual content to symphony orchestras, choruses and presenters on a worldwide basis. Disney Concerts’ concert packages include a variety of formats, such as “live-to-picture” film concerts, and themed instrumental and vocal compilation concerts that range from instrumental-only symphonic performances to multimedia productions featuring live vocalists and choirs. Featuring concerts from the largest movie franchises in the world – from Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, Pixar and 20th Century Studios – current titles include the Star Wars Film Concert Series, Toy Story, Aladdin, Disney Princess – The Concert, Coco, The Lion King, Up, Disney Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas and The Muppet Christmas Carol.
ABOUT THE LION KING ON BROADWAY
The winner of 6 Tony Awards including BEST MUSICAL, The Lion King is now in its 26th landmark year on Broadway, The Lion King stage production has been performed in nine different languages, in 28 worldwide productions, to over 120 million guests. Currently nine productions of The Lion King are being performed around the world on stage including Broadway, London’s West End, Paris, Hamburg, Madrid, Tokyo, São Paulo, and on tour across North America and the U.K. & Ireland. In its lifetime, The Lion King has played over 100 cities in 24 countries on every continent but Antarctica; its worldwide gross exceeds that of any film, stage show, or other entertainment title in box office history.
ABOUT AMP WORLDWIDE
AMP was founded by a highly respected, forward-thinking team of performing arts Agents, Managers & Producers. Co-founders Alison Ahart Williams, Tim Fox & Georgina Ryder have conceptualized, created, managed, and produced live concert events for the major stages of the world, including the Hollywood Bowl, Royal Albert Hall, Carnegie Hall, Tokyo Forum, Lincoln Center, Sydney Opera House, Philharmonie de Paris, and Wembley Arena. These star-studded, live-to-picture concert events have included such Disney classics as: Encanto At the Hollywood Bowl (available on Disney+) featuring the original vocal talent, The Little Mermaid starring Sara Bareilles, Rebel Wilson, Harvey Fierstein, Lea Michele, and John Stamos; The Nightmare Before Christmas starring Danny Elfman, Catherine O’Hara, and Paul Reubens; and Beauty and the Beast starring Zooey Deschanel, Jane Krakowski, Kelsey Grammar, and Taye Diggs.
As a leader in the development of creative original content for stages of all sizes, AMP develops high-quality productions that engage musicians and audiences in captivating ways, alongside of representing and producing international touring productions, world-class conductors, instrumentalists, composers and soloists.
ABOUT FULWELL 73 PRODUCTIONS
Fulwell 73 is the London and Los Angeles-based entertainment company making top-quality, event-level, television programs, including “The Grammy Awards,” Emmy Award-winning music specials “Adele: One Night Only,” and “Elton John Live: Farewell from Dodger Stadium,” and acclaimed live-to-film production “Disney’s Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl.” Additional credits include the award-winning “The Late Late Show with James Corden,” AppleTV+ hit series “Carpool Karaoke: The Series” and Disney+ music documentary series “Ed Sheeran: The Sum of It All.”
ABOUT LIVE NATION-HEWITT SILVA & HOLLYWOOD BOWL
Live Nation-Hewitt Silva (LNHS) is the exclusive promoter of concerts at the Hollywood Bowl outside of the LA Philharmonic summer season. Andrew Hewitt and Bill Silva have produced non-classical concerts at the Hollywood Bowl since 1991, hosting artists such as the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Barbra Streisand, Elton John, Dolly Parton, Eagles, Whitney Houston, Fleetwood Mac, Sade, Radiohead, Sting, Andrea Bocelli, Stevie Nicks, Billy Joel, Luciano Pavarotti, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Mary J. Blige, Jay-Z, Coldplay, Lauryn Hill, Peter Gabriel, Dead & Company, Lana Del Rey, Depeche Mode, Tame Impala, Roger Waters, The Weeknd, and countless others. With their combined superior talent bookings and music offerings, LNHS has transformed the iconic venue to become L.A.'s premier contemporary concert destination. One of the largest natural amphitheaters in the world, with a seating capacity of nearly 18,000, the Hollywood Bowl has been awarded Pollstar's "Outdoor Concert Venue of the Year" 15 times. It was also awarded Billboard's "Top Amphitheater" several times. The summer of 2024 lineup features some of the biggest names in contemporary entertainment, such as Puscifer, A Perfect Circle, Primus, Jerry Seinfeld, Sebastian Maniscalco, Nate Bargatze, Jim Gaffigan, Bill Burr, John Mulaney, Seth Rogan, Matt Rife, Taylor Tomlinson, Sarah Silverman, Nikki Glaser, Michelle Buteau, Kevin Hart, Trevor Noah, Sarah McLachlan, Caifanes & Café Tacvba, Noah Kahan, Chris Stapleton, deadmau5, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Brandi Carlile, Vampire Weekend, The War on Drugs, The National, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, John Mellencamp, and more.
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Disney Branded Television Media Contacts:
Chrissy Woo
Chrissy.Woo@disney.com
Shanda Williamson
Shanda.Williamson.-nd@disney.com
For press inquiries regarding the Hollywood Bowl performance, please contact:
For Disney Concerts and Disney Music Group:
Lillian Matulic
Lillian.Matulic@disney.com
Scoop Marketing for Live Nation-Hewitt Silva & Hollywood Bowl:
Maxie Solters
msolters@solters.com