Disney's The Lion King at Hollywood Pantages

The touring company of Disney's The Lion King is back at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre, with a performance on Saturday, December 19, 2026. Ticketmaster also lists a Friday, December 18 date, so there's more than one night to work with. If you're hunting for things to do in Los Angeles during the week before Christmas, a big-stage musical in a 1930 movie palace is hard to beat.

The show

This is the stage version, not the film. Julie Taymor directed the original Broadway production, which opened in 1997 and won six Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Taymor also designed the costumes and co-designed the masks and puppets, and that's the part people talk about afterward. Actors wear the animal heads above their own faces, so you see the giraffe and the performer walking inside it at the same time.

The score starts with the Elton John and Tim Rice songs from the 1994 film, "Circle of Life" and "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" among them. Lebo M, Mark Mancina and Hans Zimmer added new material for the stage, and much of the choral writing draws on South African music. The opening number sends a parade of animals down the theater aisles, so aisle seats get a close look.

Why the Pantages works for it

The Pantages opened in 1930 as a movie house, and the Art Deco lobby and ceiling are worth arriving early for. It's one of the main houses for touring Broadway in LA, and a production built on spectacle fits the room. Balcony seats give you a better view of the full-stage choreography. Orchestra seats put you close to the puppetry detail.

What to expect

• Length: plan on roughly two and a half hours with an intermission. Check your ticket for the exact curtain time.
• Audience: it's family-friendly, but it's a long evening for very small kids. The stampede scene and Mufasa's death land harder live than on a TV screen.
• Price: Ticketmaster hadn't published a price we could read when we checked, so compare seat maps on the listing before you buy.

Getting there

The theater sits on Hollywood Boulevard just east of Vine Street. The Metro B Line's Hollywood/Vine station is a short walk away, which beats circling for parking on a Saturday night in December. There are paid lots on the surrounding blocks if you drive. Leave extra time, since Hollywood traffic around the holidays gets slow.

If musicals aren't your thing, our concerts listings cover the rest of the concerts in Los Angeles this season, from arena tours to small-club shows. For more ideas around the city, browse everything we've tagged for Los Angeles. And if you're planning a December night out in Hollywood, a walk down the Walk of Fame to the Pantages marquee makes a good start before the curtain goes up.