Lion King Outperforms Cats, Marked 10K Performances in Japan

Shiki Theatre Company marked gross 10,000 performances in its production of Disney's "Lion King" outperforming Disney's "Cats", reported the Yomiuri Shimbun, August 16. Lion King beat Cats the year before last when it completed its 8,450th performance and has been breaking its own performance record ever since. Behind the success are Shiki Theatre Company's own well-thought-out "ways and means" to keep the record going.

Lion King is an adaption of a Disney animated epic musical film of the same title the story of which itself was alleged to be a copy of Osamu Tezuka's legendary work Jungle Emperor Leo (Jungle Emperor outside Japan).

Now, Lion King owes its epoch-making success to the way Shiki Theatre Company maneuvered to localize the story through traditional theatrical stage arts, such as Bunraku (puppetry), shadowgraph, etc., to effectively depict such universal themes as the cycle of life, family bondage, etc. 

Unlike conventional stage production in most theaters in Japan where programs change monthly, Shiki Theatre Company has steadfastly maintained an uninterrupted staging for over 16 years since its premier stage in 1998 at the theater's home stage "Spring" in Hamamatsucho , Tokyo. The following year onwards, they opened stages in Osaka, Fukuoka, Nagoya and Sapporo, Hokkaido. Lion King took 14 years and 3 months to accomplish an all-time high of 10,000 performances in half the time "Cats" had required to attain (29 years and 4 months).

Since its premier in 1998, Lion King has enjoyed an average box-office rate of 90% each performance in Tokyo. A great many people who have themselves grown with the work return to the theater with their own children. Of the gross attendance in Tokyo last season, 360,000, more than 82,000 were school children. There is a good possibility then of the all-time high record rising higher still.