<P> The musical debuted on July 8 , 1997 in Minneapolis , Minnesota at the Orpheum Theatre and was an instant success before premiering on Broadway at the New Amsterdam Theater on October 15 , 1997 in many previews with the official opening on November 13 , 1997 . On June 13 , 2006 , the Broadway production moved to the Minskoff Theatre to make way for the musical version of Mary Poppins , where it is still running after more than 6,700 performances . It is Broadway 's third longest - running show in history and the highest grossing Broadway production of all time , having grossed more than $1 billion . </P>
when did the lion king start on broadway
November 13 , 1997