THE LION KING North American Tour Opens Tonight in Greenville

The Greenville premiere of Disney's THE LION KING opens tonight, Thursday, June 14 at 7:30pm at the Peace Center for a limited engagement of four weeks through Sunday, July 8. In Greenville, THE LION KING plays Tuesday through Thursday evenings at 7:30pm, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00pm, Sunday evenings at 6:30pm, Saturday matinees at 2:00pm and Sunday matinees at 1:00pm. There will be a 7:30pm performance on Monday, July 2 and a 2:00pm matinee performance on Thursday, July 5. There will not be a performance on Wednesday, July 4.

A special performance benefitting The Actors Fund, a national human services organization that helps all professionals in performing arts and entertainment, has been added for Thursday, June 21 at 2:00pm. The producer, cast and management of Disney's THE LION KING will donate their time and talent for this performance that will directly benefit The Actors Fund.

"Thus far sales have exceeded our expectations, but there are still great seats available," said
Megan Riegel, President of the Peace Center. "Anyone who is interested in seeing this remarkable show should take advantage of any remaining seats and buy their tickets as soon as possible."

Tickets to THE LION KING are available at The Peace Center Box Office, and online at the official ticketing site: www.peacecenter.org. To charge tickets, call 864-467-3000. Ticket prices for the engagement start at $65.00. Premium Ticket Packages, which include prime seat locations, a commemorative souvenir program and an exclusive merchandise item, are also available.

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." Ben Lipitz 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.

The North American touring production of THE LION KING has been seen by more than 14 million theatergoers and grossed over $928 million to date. Having already played more than 70 cities across North America, THE LION KING now proudly makes its Greenville premiere at The Peace Center. The current schedule is listed below.