Alton Fitzgerald White, familiar to Broadway audiences from his turn in Ragtime, will play Mufasa in the first U.S. tour of The Lion King, the actor told Playbill On-Line. The road show begins in Denver. Tickets to the engagement at the Buell Theatre, April 17-June 23, went on sale Nov. 25 and promptly broke box office records, selling 25,377 tickets for a total of $1.48 million.
White was the most high-profile successor to the Brian Stokes Mitchell role of Coalhouse Walker in Broadway's Ragtime. More recently, he played Sheridan Whiteside in a North Carolina staging of The Man Who Came to Dinner.
The Tony Award-winning musical directed by Julie Taymor, with a score by Elton John and Tim Rice, takes the hit animated feature film as its source. Five songs from the picture are featured, with John, Rice and others (South African Lebo M and Mark Mancina, with contributions from Julie Taymor and Hans Zimmer) filling in the blanks with new songs and musical sequences rich in African flavor and tradition.
The national tour in Denver will be the show's eighth production worldwide after Broadway, Tokyo, Osaka, London, Toronto, Los Angeles and Hamburg. Preview performances begin April 17 with opening night set for April 27.
To charge by phone for the Denver engagement, call (303) 893-4100 or (303) 830-TIXS. Outside Denver, call (800) 641-1222. Tickets may also be purchased at all Ticketmaster locations. Tickets are available online at www.denvercenter.org.
