The Hollywood Bowl in California is hosting a live-to-film concert of The Lion King May 24 and 25.
The concerts, which will be filmed to stream on Disney+ at a later date, celebrate the 30th anniversary of Disney's 1994 animated film The Lion King. The evenings feature a screening of the movie with a live orchestra playing Hans Zimmer's score, plus performances from the event's special guests. Audiences are encouraged to attend in costume.
As for those special guests, audiences can expect to see alum of the original animated film Jeremy Irons, Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella, and Jason Weaver (who voiced Scar, Timon, Pumbaa, and Young Simba, respectively); Billy Eichner, Timon in the 2019 remake; Bradley Gibson, who has starred as Simba in the film's Broadway musical adaptation; EGOT winner Jennifer Hudson; The Lion King Broadway alum Heather Headley; co-composer and vocalist Lebo M.; and North West.
The evenings also pay tribute to the long-running stage musical with performances of select numbers featuring the production's iconic costumes, set designs, and puppets.
Tickets for both the May 24 and May 25 performances are on sale via Ticketmaster.
The evenings are produced by Disney Concerts, AMP Worldwide, Fulwell 73 Productions, and Live Nation-Hewitt Silva. Misty Buckley is production designer, with Gabe Turner and Sally Wood serving as creative showrunners for Fulwell 73.
Loosely a retelling of Shakespeare's Hamlet reimagined to follow a pride of African lions, The Lion King released in movie theatres in 1994, featuring songs by Elton John and Tim Rice. After becoming a smash-hit in movie theatres, Disney brought the film to the stage in 1997, creating one of the biggest hits Broadway has ever seen. As directed and designed by Julie Taymor, the uniquely theatrical production employs African dance and music in concert with innovative puppetry to bring the film's animal characters to the stage. Twenty-seven years later, the musical is still one of Broadway's top-grossing musicals, with many other concurrent productions around the world. A film remake, using CGI to achieve a more "live-action" feel, was released in 2019.
