The Lion King plays 7,000th performance tonight!

Disney Theatrical's Broadway production of The Lion King, the highest grossing and 4th longest-running Broadway show in history, has reached yet another milestone performance. Tonight the show will play its 7,000th performance!

Only three other Broadway productions ('The Phantom of the Opera', 'Cats' and 'Chicago') have managed this achievement thus far. To mark the occasion, here are some interesting facts about the success of Disney's The Lion King:

1) There are ten concurrent worldwide productions of The Lion King, five of which have been running for 10 years or longer - Broadway, US Tour, Tokyo, Japan Tour, London's West End, UK & Ireland Tour, Hamburg, Madrid, Sao Paolo, and Australia Tour.

2) Two new productions have recently been announced for Mexico City's Telcel Theatre and the new Walt Disney Grand Theatre at Shanghai Disney Resort.

3) 22 global productions have been seen by more than 75 million people in 21 countries on every continent (except Antarctica) and, cumulatively, run a staggering 112 years.

4) The Lion King has been translated into eight different languages - Japanese, German, Korean, French, Dutch, Mandarin, Spanish and Portuguese.

5) The show's director, costume designer and mask co-designer Julie Taymor was the first woman to ever win a Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical.

The Lion King opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre on 13 November 1997, following previews from 15 October. On the 13 June 2006, the musical moved to the Minskoff Theatre, where it is currently booking through to 15 March 2015.

Based on the 1994 animated Disney film of the same name, The Lion King has a book by Roger Allers and Irene Mecchi, music by Elton John, with additional music by Hans Zimmer, Lebo M, Mark Mancina, and Jay Rifkin, and lyrics by Tim Rice.

The Broadway production is directed by Julie Taymor and choreographed by Garth Fagan. The creative team also features Richard Hudson (sets), Michael Curry (costumes), Donald Holder (lighting) and Steve Canyon Kennedy (sound).

- by Tom Millward