The Lion King will return to Sydney in 2013 and the state government says the musical will make the city a tourist magnet.
The stage show finished in Sydney in 2005 after running for two years and playing to 1.35 million people.
It will reopen at the Capitol Theatre in December next year.
Tourism minister George Souris said a new generation of young families is ready to enjoy the musical.
“It’s the most successful musical in the world and it exceeded all expectation in 2003,” he told reporters in Sydney on Tuesday.
Mr Souris said the 2013 production was expected to attract 500,000 visitors from interstate and overseas, generating $36 million for NSW.
He said visitors who came to watch the show would also take part in other activities in the city.
“If they came right now, they’d go to the Picasso exhibition, they’d go to the Harry Potter exhibition, they would have enjoyed the Festival of Sydney,” Mr Souris said.
“They may have even enjoyed the cricket season against India.
“All of that drives tourism and the importance of having a premier run in your state cannot be overestimated.”
Thomas Schumacher, Disney’s president of theatrical productions, said although the musical had premiered in 1997, enormous demand for it continues worldwide.
“It’s still going to be new to the audience that see it for the first time,” Mr Schumacher told reporters via videolink from New York.
“Then of course there’s the people that want to come back to it.
“We get many more requests around the world for productions of The Lion King that we can’t accommodate or in fact are interested in accommodating.”
Since opening in America in 1997, there have been 19 production of the musical around the world.
It’s estimated to have been seen by 63 million people and grossed more than $4.7 billion.
The Sydney production is predicted to run for about eight months.
Lion King Stage Show to Return to Sydney
