The Lion King is known as “The World’s #1 Musical” for good reason.

The Lion King engagement broke two records at the Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts.

The award winning musical set the record for the highest grossing week ever, with a gross of over $1.9 million, and the highest one week attendance, with 23,040 guests.

The two-week run of The Lion King was from Feb. 23 to March 6 and grossed over $3.6 million, with nearly 46,000 theater goers during the 16 performances.

Of course, people coming to see The Lion King also spent money other than just for tickets and it is estimated that the economic benefit of the two-week run for the City of Greensboro was nearly $12 million in travel, hotel, restaurants, parking and other businesses patronized by both theater goers and the production staff.  The figure is based on a Touring Broadway League report, which found that, on average, Broadway tours contribute an economic impact of 3.27 times the gross ticket sales.

In a press release, Matt Brown, managing director of the Greensboro Coliseum Complex and the Tanger Center, said, “The spectacular success of Disney’s The Lion King has been a highlight of our extraordinary inaugural Broadway season at Tanger Center.  We have been thrilled to host two weeks of sold-out crowds that have been absolutely blown away by this amazing production.”

Vice President of Domestic Touring & Regional Engagements for Disney Theatrical Productions Jack Eldon said, “We were so pleased to bring The Lion King to the Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts and to share the experience of this groundbreaking production with audiences in Greensboro.  We are overwhelmed by the community’s response and thank our partners at The Tanger Center, Nederlander and Professional Facilities Management (PFM) for a sensational engagement.  We look forward to returning to the Piedmont Triad Region.”