Back in 1998, the arrival of a hit Broadway show from the Walt Disney Co. was too much to resist for the wags who create “Forbidden Broadway,” the annual satirical revue lampooning all things theatrical. “The Circle of Life,” the pop anthem at the heart of “The Lion King,” became “The Circle of Mice,” a ditty mocking the show’s notoriously controlling producers.
Back then, the New York theater industry was nervous about how Disney would fit into the scrappy work of commercial producing. And Disney and its CEO Michael Eisner also were worrying about how to deal with an urban world of difficult unions and entrenched ways that they would find hard to control.
It has taken more than five years for “The Lion King” finally to reach Chicago — the consequence of a bizarre prior deal with a Toronto presenter and Disney’s dogged determination to ignore pressure, control a hit product and move at its own pace. But even if Chicago is seeing the Julie Taymor family extravaganza long after Houston, Dallas, Ft. Lauderdale, Tampa and even Cincinnati, “Lion King” was still getting a warm welcome as it loaded into the Cadillac Palace Theatre last week in time for its first performance on April 23.
Disney-fy the Loop? Be our guest, Mr. Eisner, just as long as you don’t want to fly into Meigs Field.
And, by the way, what took you so long?
As they say in the show, “Hakuna Matata” (no worries). After Taymor came through as the conceptual genius behind “Lion King,” Disney figured out how to play profitable Broadway games very fast — even, along with other big corporate producers, getting union musician concessions earlier this year.
The New York production takes in $1 million each and every week. The Chicago production — which Disney actually views as the first stop on a new national tour — likely will gross $50 million over its firm nine-month stand.
And that’s fine with Chicago. These days, long runs of touring shows are very thin on the ground. The twin difficulties of a recessionary economy and the distraction of the war have meant tough times for leisure and tourism.
Gearing up for business
So local businesses and bureaucrats are licking their lips like Scar the lion with a bit of fresh gazelle meat.
Hotels are lining up packages — some, like the Renaissance Hotel, even have snagged their own tickets to re-sell to guests. A local bank is using Taymor’s images to hawk checking accounts.
Restaurants are sticking titles like “Simba’s Safari” on their pre-theater menus. West Loop parking garages are hiring extra attendants. Local musicians and some 60 Chicago-based stagehands have some nice work. And Chicago actors such as Larry Yando (who plays Scar) are salivating over nine months of guaranteed work in their hometown with weekly salaries made up of four figures, not three.
“This show could not be coming at a better time,” says Matt Nielson, Chicago’s deputy commissioner of cultural affairs. “It offers all the more reasons for people to come into downtown Chicago.”
“When there’s a show at the Cadillac Palace we do at least $30,000 more a week in sales,” says Dean Zanella, the chef at the 312 Restaurant, just down the street from the theater.
“The Lion King” is a much bigger deal than most touring shows for several reasons. First and foremost, it will be here for nine months, whereas most shows — even big hits such as “Hairspray” or “Urinetown” — have Chicago runs ranging from two weeks to six weeks. When a show is here longer, the economic impact is much greater.
“When shows only come to town for two weeks, there’s a lot more downtime for the venue over the course of the year,” says Marj Halperin, executive director of the League of Chicago Theatres. “People don’t spend money when the theater is dark. And long stays also mean much stronger local identities and a greater value for the local economy.”
Over at 312, it means extra permanent staff, not just a bit of overtime.
Family crowd
Secondly, ticket demand for “The Lion King” is such that most performances will be near sellouts, with capacity crowds likely on weekends (bookings are heavy for shows that have been on sale since last fall, but some tickets remain). And unlike, say, “The Producers,” this one attracts the family crowd. Hip urbanites tend to go to the show and head straight home. Families, city planners say, are far more likely to come in from the ‘burbs (or even further afield), take in the museums — or, better yet, head over to Michigan Avenue and drop some cash.
“Families have a lot more economic impact,” says Pete Scales, spokesman for Chicago’s Department of Planning and Development. “Particularly when it comes to shopping.”
Thanks to the initial critical acclaim afforded Taymor’s production — which wisely avoided sticking a cartoon onstage in the fashion of “Beauty and the Beast” — the show arrives here with the imprimatur both of cultural legitimacy and popular appeal.
At a matinee performance of the same show at the Lyceum Theatre in London two weeks ago, the sold-out theater, filled mainly with family groups, was abuzz with excitement and the kind of lovable noise that flows from a house full of kids. And it got the kind of ovation the more restrained London audiences rarely deliver.
“We have been very careful to ensure the show has a consistent quality,” says Thomas Schumacher, the lead producer and the man who dreamed up the idea of asking Taymor to turn the hit animated movie into a Broadway show. So in Chicago, the latest version of “Lion King” will not need favorable reviews to score a hit.
“The Lion King” is a politically correct affair — the story has a firm environmental peg and features a variety of international performers and global cultural iconography.
When she was asked during a recent visit to Chicago whether the show had a serious message, Taymor says she felt that many of today’s global problems arise because Americans “do not know the face of the people they think are their enemies.” Ergo, she ensured that her production showcased global cultures and an international cast. And she still firmly believes that her show is unlike anything else on Broadway. “It is not,” she says, eyes flashing, “all about the spectacle.”
Issues and glorious visuals aside, the show still is based on an accessible cartoon, replete with cute talking animals and droll one-liners. Many of the lines from the movie are in the show — yet attention has been paid to keeping adults under the show’s spell. Still, this is also a squeaky-clean event without any content to worry parents — Disney, after all, long has strived to develop animated features and live shows that offend no one.
Stick all that together, and it’s no wonder that Chicago has been begging for “The Lion King” for years.
The main reason it took so long to arrive was a deal Disney struck in 1999 with Mirvish Productions of Toronto (which housed a sit-down production), promising them exclusive rights to a territory that included Chicago. That meant Disney’s post-Broadway sit-down productions went to Canada — and also to Los Angeles — but not here. It caused some local chagrin — and Disney officials later admitted privately that the now-expired deal probably was a mistake. Few Chicagoans, after all, go to Toronto for theater.
`At the right pace’
Still, Schumacher argues that the delay in getting to the Loop mainly was a matter of taking the time to roll out the show “at the right pace” and not rush things. He also says that the show is “very expensive to produce” and, therefore, risky. And, indeed, the first touring production did not come here, either — because Disney decided it could satisfy more demand by getting to numerous smaller markets more quickly.
Off the record, some of the big players in the local theater industry point out that if “The Lion King” had come here sooner — and been conceived as a Chicago sit-down, not the first stop on a tour headed for a firm 2004 date in San Francisco and subsequent gigs in Seattle and Portland — it would have played far longer than nine months. Given the enthusiasm now for this show, it is believed, an appearance a couple of years back might have meant a two-year Chicago run or more — with all the attendant economic benefits.
After all, the recently shuttered L.A. production lasted 2 1/2 years, before Disney shipped the costumes and props to Chicago over the last few weeks. And history suggests that the demand in Chicago for family musicals is greater than in Southern California.
But that’s all likely to be forgiven when the Illinois incarnation of Pride Rock finally rolls into view a week from Tuesday, filling a grand old Chicago theater renovated with the help of public funds and sitting waiting for a big, fat, brand-name hit.
“Back in 1998,” said Gerald Alessandrini, the creator of “Forbidden Broadway,” “we considered calling our parody `The Circle of Hype,’ but we were using that word elsewhere. Anyway, `The Circle of Mice” went very nicely with the line, `You Pay the Price.'”
Stay out of Chicago for nine months, Mr. Alessandrini.
Long-running Chicago premieres of Broadway shows
1966
`Hello Dolly!’
Shubert Theatre
12 months
1978
`A Chorus Line’
Shubert Theatre
12 months
1980-81
`Evita’
Shubert Theatre
11 months
1985-86
`Cats’
Shubert Theatre
14 months
1988
`Les Misrables’
Auditorium Theatre
6 months
1990-91
`The Phantom of the Opera’
Auditorium Theatre
9 months
1992-93
`Miss Saigon’
Auditorium Theatre
9 months
1993-95
`Joseph’
Chicago Theatre
18 months
1996-97
`Show Boat’
Auditorium Theatre
12 months
1998
`Ragtime’
Ford Center for the Arts, Oriental Theatre
8 months
