It's showtime at big meeting venues these days. But the Lion City is holding the main event after bringing a hit musical version of one of Disney's best-loved creations to town.
Marina Bay Sands (MBS) in Singapore has set the stage for productions such as The Lion King, which opened at the resort's 1,680-seat Sands Theatre last month.
With 50 million people worldwide having seen the theatrical version, the animated feature has been a huge earner for Disney, with hit songs from Elton John and others giving it critical acclaim. So how can showbiz folk be certain such productions will work at MBS, the newest frontier in entertainment?
That is the job of impresarios at Base Entertainment who take performance art to the stage. However, Milan Rokic, Base's managing director for Asia, acknowledges there is an undisclosed barometer for the success of shows, whether they be at The Venetian and City of Dreams in Macau, or at MBS. Should the lion's roar turn to a whimper, or the high-flying skills at Cirque du Soleil's Zaia slip, or interest in The House of Dancing Water at the City of Dreams dry up, then the curtain gradually comes down.
'The success of all these musical events, whether they be in Macau or Singapore, is in all our best interests and great for the audiences,' Rokic says, adding that there is a cut-off point at which the plug can be pulled.
What Zaia, The House of Dancing Water, The Lion King and even the Fire, Earth and Water fountain extravaganza at Hong Kong's Ocean Park have in common is a tale - usually good overcoming wickedness - tied to high production values in terms of performance, music, stage craft and technology.