“The Lion King” roars at Cadillac Palace box office

The North American touring production of Disney’s “The Lion King,” directed by Julie Taymor, has broken the record for highest-grossing week in Chicago theatrical history.

The Tony Award-winning musical, which continues through Jan. 17 at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, has announced that for the second consecutive week, the show broke a Chicago box office record, this time for the highest-grossing nine-performance-week in Chicago theatrical history. (Take note: Most shows run for eight performances a week.)

With a gross of $2,356,724 at the Cadillac Palace Theatre for the week ending Jan. 3, 2016, “The Lion King” (now in its 19th year of life) broke the previous record set by Disney’s “Newsies,” which last year grossed $2,012,723 at the Oriental Theatre for nine performances for the week ending Jan. 4, 2015.

The North American touring productions of “The Lion King” have been seen by more than 17 million theatergoers in 70 different U.S. cities, and grossed more than $1.2 billion to date.

Here is a link to my review of the latest Chicago production:

http://live-sun-times-entertainment.gotpantheon.com/music/lion-king/