What happens here … changes

Back in May, I wrote in this column, "Shows haven't had much luck attracting the nightclub crowd. So as times get tougher, it could be producers are focusing more on families, which still are taking vacations and buying show tickets."

That column came after resident casino deals for family-friendly acts such as ventriloquist Terry Fator, and Donny and Marie Osmond. But no one knew how far that trend would go, just as few realized in March the Bear Stearns rescue was only the harbinger of a more stunning economic crisis in September.

The seismic shocker came last week with the leak that Disney's "The Lion King" will follow "Mamma Mia!" at Mandalay Bay.

I must be quick to say that at this writing, the news still was unofficial; MGM Mirage would not comment. But talk is widespread in the backstage community that it's all but a done deal, even if there is no formal contract.

If Simba does roar on the Strip, it will be amazing on several levels.

Let's dispense with the most obvious first: the collective "what happens here" marketing of Vegas as the place where you come to act up without the kids. But image is not reality, and you still see families on the sidewalk even if you don't frequent all-ages titles such as "Mystere" or "Stomp Out Loud."

Besides, "The Lion King," as staged by avant-garde director Julie Taymor, is a sophisticated cross-generational title. It won't draw near the number of Jay Leno jokes Disney's Broadway heroines "Mary Poppins" or "The Little Mermaid" would if their names appeared on a Las Vegas marquee.

It could be argued those newer titles aren't as shopworn. Previous musicals such as "The Producers" and "Hairspray" underwhelmed Las Vegas, in part because they had toured to death elsewhere. My only guess here is that Disney figures "The Lion King" will pull in new waves of youngsters who weren't born when it opened on Broadway nearly 11 years ago.

A bigger shock: "The Lion King" would beat out a proposal by Cirque du Soleil, a signal that MGM Mirage must feel Cirque has reached a saturation point on the Strip, even if the Canadian guys refuse to.

And the biggest shocker of all? There was talk of putting "The Lion King" into the same theater in 2000. Glenn Medas, in charge of entertainment back then, says talks reached "midstream." But, he says, "Disney at that time didn't want to be associated with Las Vegas."

Of course, Disney was fairly new to Broadway then, and different people run the theater division now. Still, I can't help but think that it's the search for security in hard times that's causing these two lions -- Simba and one on the MGM Mirage logo -- to form a pride.

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.