Buyi Zama, the cast performed Circle of Life. When this production closed, on December 30, 2011, it turned into the second longest run the show had in a same American city (only coming after Broadway), running longer than the 2000–2003 Los Angeles Production. A Los Angeles production began performances at the Pantages Theatre on September 29, 2000, with an official opening on October 19, 2000. The show closed on January 12, 2003, after 952 performances. The cast of this production performed a set of the show's songs in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on October 2, 2001. The cast was led by Walker. Canada A Canadian production was staged in Toronto and ran for nearly four years at the Princess of Wales Theatre. The show was directed by the original director Julie Taymor and premiered on April 25, 2000. The Lion King ran until January 2004 when it had its final performance. This first Canadian staging comprised 1,560 performances and was seen by 2.9 million people according to David Mirvish, whose Mirvish Productions theater and management company owns and operates the theater. The Degrassi star Raymond Ablack starred as Young Simba In 2001. The show returned for a five-week engagement that began in April 2011, as part of the North American tour Mexico The musical had a Mexican limited run (in English) between January 3 and January 27, 2008, in Mexico City, as part of the U.S. national tour. In May 2014, it was confirmed a new production of the musical, this time in Spanish. The production ran from May 7, 2015, to January 14, 2018, at the Teatro Telcel in Mexico City for 930 performances. Carlos Rivera returned to the role of Simba, which he also took in Spain four years earlier. The lyrics of the songs of this production differed from the European Spanish one. South-African actress Shirley Hlahatse was chosen as Rafiki, marking the first time in years a completely new actress was elected for that role. South America A Brazilian production was confirmed to debut in São Paulo on March 28, 2013. Auditions took place in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Salvador. The cast contained mainly Brazilian actors and seven South African actors. The Portuguese lyrics were translated by Brazilian singer Gilberto Gil. Actress Phindile Mkhize, who had previously performed in many of the show's productions, was selected as Rafiki for this production, leaving