Buena Vista Theatrical Group consists of Disney Theatrical Productions, which produces all of Disney’s Broadway stage musicals, and Disney Live Family Entertainment, which is responsible for Disney On Ice and other live entertainment offerings.

During the past year, Disney Theatrical’s 17 stage productions of Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King and Aida raised the curtain on more than 5,000 performances and entertained more than nine million guests in seven countries, making Disney Theatrical one of the world’s largest producers of Broadway musicals.

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast – now in its 10th year on Broadway – became the second-longest-running show currently on Broadway and the seventh-longest-running show in history. Beauty and the Beast completed seven-and-a-half years of touring North America in August and concluded an international tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland in May. In addition to Broadway, the show can now be seen in Kyoto, Japan, with a new production opening in Seoul, Korea, in July 2004.

The Lion King – now in its seventh year at the New Amsterdam Theatre on Broadway – has productions in Sydney, London, Tokyo, Nagoya, Hamburg and two domestic tours. The Lion King completed a very successful nearly four-year run in Toronto in June 2003. A new production will open in Holland in April 2004.

Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida welcomed Toni Braxton as well as Michelle T. Williams of Destiny’s Child to the cast on Broadway in the latter half of 2003 in two separate, limited engagements. In ddition, Aida completed two-and-a-half years touring North America, and a successful two-year production in Holland completed its run in August. New productions opened in Essen, Germany, in October and Osaka, Japan, in December.

In a co-production between Disney Theatrical and veteran producer Cameron MacKintosh, the world premiere of Mary Poppins is scheduled to take place in London in December. Disney Theatrical’s new musical On the Record, featuring classic songs from the Disney catalog, is scheduled to begin touring markets in the United States in November 2004.

Disney On Ice, which is licensed by Disney Live Family Entertainment to Feld Entertainment, had its best year since its inception in 1981. Disney On Ice broke revenue, income and attendance records as seven shows traveled the globe performing for more than 10 million people. In its first year, the flagship show Princess Classics was an enormous hit. New shows include Disney/Pixar’s Monsters, Inc., which opened the doors to Monstropolis in August, and Mickey and Minnie’s Magical Journey, which made its debut in the fall of 2003.