TORONTO, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Disney's popular musical "The Lion King" has ended its successful four-year run in Toronto after more than 1,500 performances.
The show, based on Disney's animated film of the same name, entertained more than 2.9 million people during its 195 weeks at the Princess of Wales Theatre, the CBC News reported Monday.
David and Ed Mirvish, producers of the musical, had previously announced they would close the show in September.
That announcement, made last spring, was an effort by the producers to generate added interest in the show at a time when tourism was down due to Ontario's SARS outbreak.
"Toronto needs a compelling and urgent reason to motivate visitors to visit our city this summer," the Mirvishes had said in a statement.
After the SARS crisis passed, the producers changed the closing date to November "due to popular demand," and then rescheduled the final show to Sunday.
