When the North American touring production of Disney’s The Lion King pulls into Denver’s Buell Theatre, an astonishing transformation begins.

First, 17 semitrucks transport the puppets, set pieces, costumes, and other materials from city to city. Sixteen of the trucks are 53’ in length. Once unloaded, it takes four days of on-site technical preparation and installation to be ready for opening night.

Video features Bass Performance Hall in Ft. Worth, Texas

In addition to the local stagehands, concessionaires, venue operators, and marketing and sales staff, the show travels with 134 people who are directly involved with the daily production of the show:

• 49 cast members
• 19 wardrobe staff
• 15 carpenters
• 12 musicians
• 8 electricians
• 5 hair/make-up artists
• 4 props people
• 4 stage managers
• 4 sound people
• 3 puppet craftspeople
• 2 creative associates
• 2 company managers
• 2 merchandise associates
• 2 child guardians
• 1 physical therapist

This team must assemble and prepare elements of the show such as Pride Rock, which appears five times during each performance, expanding to 18’ wide but compressing to 8’ when stored offstage. The lighting team must hang 500 lighting instruments, which are used in the 573 lighting cues that run during the show.

The wardrobe and puppet artisans are responsible for maintaining 350 costumes, 232 puppets, and 200 masks. Upkeep of the 20 Grasslands headdresses alone requires more than 3,000 stalks of grass (roughly 60 pounds) while each night the team must assist with 300 costume changes and the assembly of two giraffes, which are both 14’ high.

And that is one tour out of 10 that are currently performing around the world. In total, more than 1,100 individuals are directly employed by The Lion King. All of this effort contributes to a worldwide gross that is higher than any stage musical in theatre history. It exceeds the gross of the top three movies of all time combined, all 10 films of the J.K. Rowling Wizarding World franchise combined, all six films in the Jurassic Park franchise combined, and all ten films of The Fast and the Furious franchise combined.

And Denver’s part of this global impact? The Lion King first national tour debuted in the Buell Theatre in 2002 and has visited another five times, cementing Denver as a pick city for Disney Theatricals.

Article compiled from information provided by Disney Theatricals.

DETAILS
Disney’s The Lion King
Oct 23-Nov 16, 2025 • Buell Theatre
Tickets