'KING' OF THE WORLD? DISNEY MAY BE JUST THAT MUCH CLOSER WITH ITS NEW MUSICAL.

Byline: Evan Henerson Staff Writer

Once upon a time, in a magical kingdom known as Burbank, a lowly page approached great King Eisner, bowed low and suggested the kingdom put on a giant musical celebration for the entertainment of the entire realm and for the lands beyond.

``Impossible!'' said the King. ``We must spend the kingdom's coin on that which we produce: animated movies and Mickey Mouse wrist watches.''

``But your majesty,'' replied the persistent page, ``our musical celebration will have singing cats.''

``Singing cats?'' roared King Eisner. ``Why didn't you say so in the first place! Everyone loves singing cats! Where do I sign?''

OK, so maybe that's not the way the phenomenon known as ``The Lion King'' was unleashed upon the world. Truth is less colorful than fairy tales, but sometimes more ironic.

In fact, it was Disney chairman Michael Eisner who approached Thomas Schumacher and Peter Schneider, the co-heads of the studio's newly created theatrical division. ``Beauty and the Beast,'' the stage adaptation of a hugely successful Disney animated movie, was a Broadway hit. Eisner decided said the next live theater project should be a version of the 1994 animated smash, ``The Lion King.''

Schumacher - who guided the 1994 animated movie - and Schneider thought this was ``the worst idea in the world.'' Dancing candelabras and teapots were one thing, but musicalizing Simba, Mufasa, Scar and all the denizens of the Savannah was quite another.

And for obvious reasons - singing cats being chief among their worries.

``How would you possibly do a Disney-style Broadway show based on a movie that was exclusively about animals?'' Schumacher said, introducing the L.A. cast of ``The Lion King'' in September.

Turns out, the answer to that billion-dollar question was buried in the brain of avant-garde stage and opera director Julie Taymor, with whom Schumacher had almost worked while putting on the Olympic Arts Festival in 1984. We could describe the inventive puppets, masks and costumes created by Taymor, but by now you've seen the pictures, and a great many of you reading this will pay as much as $127 per ticket to see them in ... er ... person. Designed to suggest the dual nature of human beings and creatures (Taymor has said this is a tale of human beings as well as animals), her creations have shown exactly how an agile performer gets in touch with his inner wildebeest.

Making the jump from the movie were familiar songs by Tim Rice and Elton John; new music by Mark Mancina and Lebo M. adds the African rhythms. And - voila! - Disney honchos found themselves in possession of the next cultural phenomenon: the butt of New Yorker magazine jokes and ``Forbidden Broadway'' spoofs.

They also had gold. Opening Thursday at the Pantages for a guaranteed eight-month run, ``The Lion King'' figures to be L.A.'s must-see event for residents and tourists alike - a kind of ``Star Wars'' on stage. Advance sales are estimated - Disney doesn't give out figures - at $20 million, and it seems highly unlikely that the show will leave town anytime near its current June 30, 2001, closing date.

Meanwhile, Eisner, who never figured to have ``stage impresario'' added to his business card, will receive the James A. Doolittle Award for Outstanding Leadership in Theatre Oct. 30 at the 11th annual Ovation Awards. Forget the Shuberts, David Merricks and Cameron Mackintoshes of the world. The next great Broadway force, say theater executives, will be Disney and the rival Hollywood studios who copy the Mouse's example.

``It's kind of obvious,'' says Kevin Kaufman, executive producer of the recent ``Broadway on Sunset,'' a conference on the state of musical theater. ``The media companies compete in television, film, music and animation. Why not musicals? Clearly, Disney is making a lot of money, and everybody wants a piece of it.''

``I think Disney, if they're not the world's largest theatrical company, they're certainly among the top two,'' agrees Lars Hansen, president of the Theatre League Alliance (Theatre LA) of Los Angeles, which sponsors the Ovation Awards. ``The producers of 'The Lion King' have their offices in the animation building in Burbank, not in New York City. I think that's pretty significant.''

Disney's ability to revamp Broadway is no longer in question. It's already got three giant hits in ``Beauty and the Beast,'' ``The Lion King'' and ``Aida.'' The company is also largely credited with the revival of the 42nd Street/Times Square area through the renovation of the New Amsterdam Theatre - ``The Lion King's'' New York home.

But that's New York, where people are supposed to go to the theater. Whether the arrival of ``The Lion King'' in Hollywood will generate a similar stage frenzy is subject to debate. Optimistic theater administrators at some of the city's larger regional venues hope the presence of a hit juggernaut like ``The Lion King'' can only help draw audiences. An event musical like this, they argue, brings people into the theater, many for the first time.

And if these audience members enjoy themselves once, they'll be inclined to sample the merchandise at other theaters.

``For me, anyone who goes to see 'The Lion King' is a potential customer of the Geffen Playhouse,'' says that theater's producing director, Gil Cates. ``If they enjoy the experience, they'll come back many times.''

Maybe. Or perhaps those people will simply start stashing money away to see ``The Lion King'' a second time. Regardless, you'll have to count pretty high to tally the number of plays that open and close in this city between now and when ``The Lion King'' roars out of town.

If ``The Lion King'' is destined to be a long-term tenant - and, you don't need to be a Wall Street wizard to make that kind of prediction - the credit belongs in several corners. Eisner may pick up the Ovation Award, but ``The Lion King'' wouldn't be ``THE LION KING'' without ...

--Julie Taymor. Her creative team was an essential part, but what you see on stage is her vision. Not many directors - of musicals or straight plays - are this heavily involved in the look of their production. Direction, costumes and puppetry: It all came from Taymor, former Genius Grant recipient and director of the movie ``Titus.''

Of course, Taymor's vision would have been seriously curtailed without access to ...

--Ka-ching. Again, Disney lips clam up when you ask about how much this spectacle costs, but theater administrators estimate that ``The Lion King'' is a $15 million to $20 million show. That kind of coin buys you zilch in cinema, but is a ``Titanic'' budget for a live stage production.

A lot of it is on stage. Pennies were not pinched on securing talent, stage construction, technical gadgetry or, especially, marketing. ``The Lion King'' is a multimillion-dollar show that will make millions in product tie-ins alone.

For this reason, mentioning ``The Lion King'' in the same breath as practically any other musical you can name is like comparing apples to watermelons, says Corey Madden, associate artistic director at the Mark Taper Forum. Unless you're Disney or Mackintosh, whose Really Useful Theatre Co. produced ``The Phantom of the Opera'' (among others), you can't afford to put on stage what's currently on display at the Pantages.

``It's hard to use their model effectively. You'd have to make a cartoon first,'' says Madden, who added that she loved ``The Lion King.'' ``They can also hire Elton John. There is no way to recompense him in the live stage world at the level he's recompensed for making the animated movie.

``Disney can bring all their experience in theme park and product marketing,'' she says. ``That's why this is going to be an incredibly successful event.''

Oh, and speaking of plush toys, lunch boxes and cast albums, how about a roaring huzzah to ...

--``TLK,'' the 1994 animated movie, the seventh-largest-grossing film of all time. Nothing sells like name recognition, and the stage production is the same story as the movie, which took in $312 million in North America. Is there a child between the ages of 5 and 15 alive today who, after seeing the TV ads and billboards, won't be begging Mom and Dad for a chance to see his favorite hyenas, warthogs and meerkats up close and personal?

Don't bet on it. This is the same company who paid Elton John and Tim Rice to write a little song called ``Hakuna Matata,'' which, as Timon the meerkat explains, ``means no worries for the rest of your days.''

Disney may still have worries. The tenant at the Pantages Theatre doesn't figure to be among them.

``THE LION KING''

Where: Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood.

When: 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday; through June 30, 2001.

Tickets: $12 to $127. Call [phone].

CAPTION(S):

5 photos

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) Disney's spectacular new musical, now in L.A., looks like a roaringly big moneymaker here, too

(2 -- color) Adrian Diamond is one of two actors playing the Young Simba in the Los Angeles production of Disney's ``The Lion King,'' now on stage at the Pantages Theatre.

(3 -- color) Two members of the chorus simulate a herd of gazelle in a scene form the play's New York production.

(4 -- color) Ensemble members Keisha Clarke, Adrian Young and Tabbatha Mays perform intricate dance moves during one scene.

(5 -- color) John Vickery, right, as Scar and KaRonn A. Henderson, the other actor playing Young Simba, in a scene from ``The Lion King,''