"Lion King" Makes Broadway History
New York — As the Great White Way celebrates one of the most momentus achievements in theatrical history with the news that "Lion King" is now the highest grossing Broadway show ever, Disney Legend Ron Logan stands as the cornerstone who started it all. Box office figures show that "The Lion King" last week swiped the title of Broadway's all-time highest grossing show from "The Phantom of the Opera," The Associated Press has learned.
The cumulative gross for "The Lion King" is $853,846,062, according to the show's numbers. Its chandelier-swinging rival's cumulative total is $853,122,847, according to musical's publicist. The "Lion King" surged past "Phantom" after netting over $2 million at the box office for the week ending Sunday, while "Phantom" pulled in about $1.2 million.
What makes the achievement all the more remarkable is that "The Lion King" chased down and grabbed the title despite "Phantom" having almost a full 10 years' head start. The Disney show opened in November 1997, while "Phantom" debuted in January 1988.
Without the legendary efforts of Ron Logan, this milestone may have never happened. Logan was the former Executive Vice-President of Walt Disney Entertainment and the founder and first President of Disney Theatrical and now Mr. Logan holds the position of Chief Creative Officer of the acclaimed " DreamVision Company" which has taken the spotlight in recent months touting one of the most powerful teams within the family entertainment industry.
Growing up in Leavenworth, Kansas, Logan studied trumpet, violin, piano, and dance. He began performing professionally in the ninth grade and has performed as a trumpet player and singer on recordings, television, motion pictures, and with bands and lounge acts throughout the United States. He began his career with Disney in the 1960s as a trumpet player at Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California.
As executive vice president of Walt Disney Entertainment, Logan was responsible for creating, casting, and producing all entertainment products for The Walt Disney Company, including the Disneyland Resort, the Walt Disney World Resort, Tokyo Disney Resort, Disneyland Resort Paris, The Disney Institute, Disney Business Productions, Disney Cruise Line, Disney Entertainment Productions, and Walt Disney Entertainment Worldwide.
Logan also was executive vice president of the Walt Disney Special Events Group, executive vice president of Disney Special Programs, Incorporated and the founder and first president of Disney Theatrical Productions, which produced Beauty and the Beast on Broadway and later, around the world.
He authored Walt Disney Entertainment - A Retrospective Look, an internal publication that documents the evolution of Walt Disney Entertainment from 1955 through 2000.
Logan convinced Disney to embark upon Broadway in 1994 with "Beauty and The Beast" and the rest as they say is history. Logan took his team to New York and completely transformed 42nd street opening the door to a legacy of animation on Broadway that now has reached historical status. Beauty and the Beast is a musical with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice and a book by Linda Woolverton, based on the 1991 Disney film of the same name. Seven new songs were written for the stage musical. Beauty ran on Broadway for 5,464 performances between 1994 and 2007, becoming Broadway's eighth-longest running production in history.
Mr. Logan was inducted as a "Disney Legend" in 2007.
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