Disney to Turn Hollywood Boulevard Into Mane Street

Nala will be there, as will Rafiki, flown in from London and New York. A chorus of 50 will sing Elton John’s “Circle of Life” on a stage in front of the Pantages Theatre, and the famed corner of Hollywood and Vine will be closed to traffic as Disney opens the box office Wednesday for the Los Angeles theatrical production of “The Lion King.”

Business as usual, perhaps, for the hyped-up world of movies or the show-biz heart of Broadway. But this is L.A. theater, not known for splash.

However, this is also Disney--master of marketing. And though “The Lion King” has been the biggest hit on Broadway since the production made its debut in 1997, and its artistry has redefined what musical theater can be, Disney isn’t taking chances when the show opens in October in its own backyard--especially since L.A. can be a hard sell for theater.

In fact, “The Lion King” may serve as a test for how long even an acclaimed hit can run in a city where driving across town can be a daylong adventure and many people are unaccustomed to shelling out big money for live performances.

And this family entertainment won’t be cheap: Although there will be a wider-than-usual price range, most tickets will sell for $70 to $75.

At an estimated cost of $15 million to $25 million, “The Lion King” opened on Broadway with a pageant of puppetry, panoramic sets and African adaptations of the score by Elton John and Tim Rice. Rave reviews were followed by six Tony Awards, including those for best musical and best director. When the curtain rises at the Pantages--which is undergoing a $5-million to $10-million renovation pegged to the show--”Lion King” will have its first full production in the United States outside New York.

Initially the Pantages run is set to last through March 30, 2001, but sources close to the production say Disney is hoping for at least a two-year stay. Some theater insiders predict that the musical will be playing in 2005, but that’s a longshot. The only large-scale production that has lasted that long in the Southland is “The Phantom of the Opera,” which closed after 4 1/2 years and 1,772 performances at the Ahmanson Theatre. The duration of most successful big shows here is a year to 18 months.

“Beauty and the Beast,” Disney’s previous effort in Los Angeles, closed after 17 months at the Shubert Theatre in Century City.

Peter Schneider, chairman of Walt Disney Studios and producer--with Disney animation chief Thomas Schumacher--for the company’s Buena Vista Theatrical Group, said “Beauty” stayed here too long. Calling Los Angeles “a limited marketplace” for theater, Schneider said a limited run is necessary--even for “The Lion King.”

“It’s a great piece of theater, and if we get eight months out of it, we’ll be thrilled,” Schneider said. “If we extend for a little bit, we’ll be thrilled. We don’t expect it to sit down here for three to five years.”

Distance a Hurdle for Theatergoers

The L.A. opening of “The Lion King” comes at a time when Broadway is generating few major shows--particularly big musicals--with popular appeal. The heyday of “Cats,” “A Chorus Line” and “Les Miserables” is over. Across the country, 2,000-seat theaters sit empty. Even L.A.’s Shubert, once known for long-running hits, has been mostly dark since a $10-million production of “Ragtime” closed two years ago, after 10 months.

“In the business, people are furious at Disney because they have not released ‘Lion King’ sooner for the touring market,” said Chris Jones, who reports on roadshows for Variety. “L.A. got the prize.”

But no show sells itself. Especially in Los Angeles, where distances tend to define what people do with their leisure time. Even those who love theater often make choices that keep them close to home.

“I go once or twice a year,” said Susan Lendroth of Sierra Madre, a single mother who works for the nonprofit Planetary Society. “For me, the geographical issue is important. And not for how far I have to drive, but how long I’ll be away from home. If I have to pay extra time for a baby-sitter, it adds up.”

Teri Redman Kahn, a teacher at Brentwood High School, said she and her husband subscribe to the Mark Taper Forum and enjoy the opportunity to get out of the Westside. But she does not believe her feelings are shared by others in her part of town. “I think people just have a psychological block about going downtown,” she said.

Historically, such attitudes have made it hard to attract large numbers to any single major production, although the picture of the aggregate local stage scene may be rosier, given that it includes many small neighborhood theaters.

Further, points out Gordon Davidson, head of both the Ahmanson and Taper theaters and a producer in Los Angeles for 35 years, New York can attract tourists to a single geographical location for theater--the small area around Times Square. The geography and mass transportation options in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and London combine to make theatergoing there simpler.

“L.A. tends to be a place where you come to go to Disneyland and Universal [Studios],” Davidson said, “Not to the theater.”

A Universal Bottom Line

Although every market has distinct challenges, there is a universal bottom line for commercial producers.

“Success is qualified by two things: the critical reviews, and you’ve got to be able to repay your investment,” said producer Joan Stein. In her 10 years in Los Angeles, Stein has successfully presented productions ranging from the two-year run of “Love Letters” at the Canon in Beverly Hills to Steve Martin’s “Picasso at the Lapin Agile,” which ran at the Westwood Playhouse (now the Geffen Playhouse) for 10 months, then went on to national fame. But last fall, Stein’s backers lost $600,000 on the three-month run in Hollywood of “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” a popular off-Broadway show.

Stein said that in New York, there’s more interest in the theater from the media. “It’s a higher-valued business,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a place in Los Angeles.”

Still, even Chicago--one of Broadway producers’ favorite cities for out-of-town productions--faces challenges, says Variety’s Jones, who is based there.

“Overall, L.A. and Chicago are comparable in terms of their historical ability to sustain runs,” he said. “What L.A. has is an advantage in getting stars.” For example, Annette Bening played the title role in “Hedda Gabler” at the Geffen last spring, and Al Pacino performed in Eugene O’Neill’s “Hughie” at the Taper last summer.

For producers of roadshows, says Davidson, a subscriber base is key. At the Ahmanson, for example, a Broadway producer knows that at least 42,604 seats will be filled in any run.

To build a base for “Lion King,” opening Oct. 19, Disney has begun group ticket sales, and it made an early offering to Ahmanson subscribers, as well as the more than 8,000 subscribers to the Broadway/L.A. series, which includes limited runs of Broadway shows.

In bringing “Lion King” to L.A., Disney could have chosen any number of theaters, but went for the Pantages, a vintage 1930 movie palace, because of its size (2,700 seats), configuration (it accommodates the opening-act parade through the audience) and a long-standing relationship with the theater’s owner, Broadway producer James M. Nederlander, whose Palace and Lunt-Fontanne theaters in New York house Disney’s “Aida” and “Beauty and the Beast,” respectively.

Presenting “The Lion King” in the heart of Hollywood strikes some observers as a surprising and risky move, since the area is undergoing a major redevelopment. But Disney’s established success with special showings of animated features at the nearby El Capitan Theatre convinced the company that the neighborhood is not a detraction for families or tourists.

Show Exhibits Broad Appeal

L.A. may be the only place to see “Lion King” any time soon. On Broadway, expect to wait until March 2001--unless you’re willing to pay $250 to a broker. London’s a tad better--tickets are available starting in October. And in Tokyo and Osaka (where the show is done in a mix of Japanese and Swahili), you’ll have to wait until the end of the year.

Director Julie Taymor’s blend of art and theater, featuring extravagant life-sized puppets--giraffes portrayed by men on stilts, an elephant and, of course, lions--has made the show a favorite with die-hard theater audiences as well as families.

Still, caution and control are Disney’s bywords when it comes to the company’s business plan. For a show that is based more on spectacle than star casting, officials are taking pains to try to staff the show here, looking for L.A. talent in open calls and even searches in the local public schools.

To further promote the show, Disney has teamed with American Express, sending flashy pop-up mailings to cardholders, offering early ticket sales. And a slick, six-page spread, carrying an American Express logo, appears in the May issue of Los Angeles magazine, whose published rate for a single-page color ad is about $17,500.

Disney is also paying close attention to ticket prices. A limited number of seats in the upper balcony will sell for $10, while VIP treatment can be bought for $125--Disney’s attempt to appeal to a wide demographic range while recognizing that L.A. is a city that thrives on valet everything.

“ ‘Lion King’ tends to cross a lot of groups because of the story itself--people’s attachment to it from the movie, people’s attachment to the music,” Schumacher said. “If you love musicals, it’s up your alley. If you don’t like musicals, you still can come.”

Financial returns obviously are key to Disney, although officials will never disclose its profitability threshold. Ensuring a return on its investment takes marketing savvy, and that’s what the Hollywood Boulevard spectacle is all about. For Disney, this is not just another event touting a movie or theme park; “Lion King” is high-risk entertainment.

“The issue of making a killing in this town is more a dream than a reality,” said theater veteran Davidson. But he looks admiringly at what Schumacher and Schneider, both of whom had theater backgrounds before working at Disney, have already accomplished with “Lion King.”

“I don’t think it could have been done without the resources of Disney. It has required, on one hand, taste, on the other, chutzpah,” Davidson said.

“And I’m sure that although we think of it as great visibility,” he said of the Hollywood event, “it’s a blip on the Disney screen and on the Disney flow chart. If it is not doing what it’s supposed to do, those stockholders--forget about [Chairman] Michael Eisner--they’ll say, ‘What are you doing that for?’ ”