THE LION KING Opens Tonight in Richmond

The Richmond premiere of Disney's THE LION KING opens tonight, Friday, February 17, 2012 at 8:00pm at Landmark Theater for a limited engagement of four weeks through Sunday, March 11, 2012.

"Even though the response from Richmond and surrounding areas has been tremendous and ticket sales have exceeded our expectations, we want everyone to know there are still great seats available. We are excited to welcome the cast and crew of Disney's THE LION KING to Central Virginia," said Steve Traxler, President of Chicago-based JAM Theatricals, the presenting company for Broadway in Richmond.

Tonight's opening marks THE LION KING North American tour's 4,000th performance, making it one of the rare few touring productions to achieve this milestone. The tour has played over 60 cities across North America and has been seen by more than 13.5 million theatergoers, grossing over $875 million to date.

In Richmond, THE LION KING plays Tuesday through Thursday evenings at 7:30pm, Friday evenings at 8:00pm, Saturday at 2:00pm & 8:00pm, Sunday at 1:00pm & 6:30pm with a special 1:00pm matinee on Thursday, March 8, 2012.

Given the high demand for tickets to the Richmond engagement of Disney's THE LION KING, the only way to guarantee the authenticity of the ticket is to purchase from an authorized ticket seller, and the ONLY authorized ticket sellers are the Landmark Theater Box Office, CenterStage Box Office, HYPERLINK "http://www.broadwayinrichmond.com"BroadwayInRichmond.com and by calling 1-800-514-3849. Many good seats are still available, especially for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night performances.

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 J. Anthony Crane. 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." Adam Kozlowski 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.