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When Lion King first played in Brisbane in 2014, it broke the record for the most tickets sold in a single day.
QPAC Executive Director Rachel Healy has heard stories from longtime employees.
Aphiwe Nyezi plays Simba in The Lion King. The musical returns to Brisbane for an extended run in November.
Daniel Boud
“They said there was nothing like this in the history of QPAC, such absolute bedlam,” she said.
“The phones were going crazy and there were queues all the way up to the stairs outside the box office. The 19-week season was completely sold out.
“Having him back here is incredibly exciting.”
The Disney Theater Group announced Lion King will return to Brisbane and open at QPAC’s Lyric Theater in November for a 17-week run.
The Lion King won six Tony Awards in 1998 and was recognized for its creative use of masks.Daniel Boud
Selling tickets online isn’t the only difference between Simba and his 2026 co-stars, however.
The live performance industry is reeling from the cancellation of major music tours across the country.
Beetlejuice ended the season in Brisbane on 5 July instead of continuing until August as planned, and planned tours to Sydney, Perth and Adelaide were cancelled.
Beetlejuice Producers Michael Cassel Group noted a “more cautious consumer environment” coupled with increased touring costs.
Melbourne production Waitress canceled the Sydney show a week later.
National tours of Back to the Future: The Musical And Dear Evan Hansen were canceled in 2025.
Lion King is currently playing to sold-out crowds at Sydney’s Capitol Theatre, and Healy said she wasn’t worried about the success of the Brisbane show.
“There’s a saying among commercial promoters in Australia: ‘Thank God for Brisbane’ and that’s testament to the strength of the local ticketing market,” she said.
Eric Lassen, CEO of Live Performance Australia, said that while the show’s Brisbane touring was “amazing”, it was a proven box office titan.
QPAC’s Rachel Healy said Beetlejuice in Brisbane sold out quickly after the season was curtailed.Eugene Hyland
“Lion King it is a beloved show with widespread popularity that will attract families and tourists, as well as people from regional and state areas. But as we see, other shows are struggling.”
He said producers are feeling pressure on both sides of the ledger.
“Costs have increased exponentially since COVID and we know household budgets are under strain,” he said.
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The tendency of audiences to delay purchasing tickets rather than snapping them up in advance also increased the risk for producers.
In June, representatives of the LPA, including performer Tim Minchin, founded a parliamentary group of Friends of Live Performance in Canberra.
The group is calling for an incentive for live-action productions to provide a 40 percent tax offset on pre-production and development costs.
A similar model in the UK produced a 400 percent return on investment.
Lion King debuted on Broadway in 1997 with songs by Elton John and Tim Rice and music by Hans Zimmer used in the 1994 Disney film, as well as additional songs by other composers.
There are currently eight productions running around the world and the show has been seen by more than 127 million people.
Tickets for Lion King in Brisbane go on sale Thursday 23 July at 9am.
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Nick Dent is a culture reporter at the Brisbane Times, covering arts, entertainment and entertainment in the city.Connect via email.