With only a couple more weeks until Disney’s “The Lion King” musical opens at the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines, several downtown businesses are bracing for the crowds of theater-goers they expect through their doors.

The six-week production will replace “The Phantom of the Opera” as the longest run of a Broadway show in Des Moines. Ed Mattis, owner of The Trattoria and the adjacent The Pasticceria restaurants on Fourth Street, vividly remembers how his businesses were affected by “The Phantom’s” five-week run in Des Moines.

“There was concern about having enough restaurants open to serve the crowds, so we opened up on Sundays, something we had never tried before,” Mattis said. “We were so busy every day that after the show finished, I think I was in bed sick for a week.”

Although additional visitors to Des Moines can produce temporary pandemonium for some food and hospitality providers, it also provides a widespread boost to the local economy.

Jeff Chelesvig, president and CEO of the Civic Center, estimates that “The Lion King” could have a $15 million economic impact on Greater Des Moines. That’s about $2 spent in the community for every $1 in ticket sales.

“I’m guessing that well over a quarter of the people who will see the show are traveling from at least 50 miles away,” Chelesvig said. “That changes everything. If you’re coming from further away, chances are you are going to eat in a restaurant while you’re here, and possibly stay in a hotel. This could draw potentially 30,000 or 40,000 people from quite a ways away.”

ANTICIPATION BUILDS

Since “The Lion King” was announced in the Betts Broadway Series lineup last spring, it has generated a lot of interest. Before tickets went on sale to the public at the end of last October, about a quarter of the 120,000 seats were already sold to Broadway Series season ticket holders and through a variety of advance sales.

Late last summer and into early fall, the Greater Des Moines Convention and Visitors Bureau bought advertisements in several newspapers across the state to attract travelers to Des Moines for the show. The CVB also posted a link to “The Lion King and hotel packages on its Web site, www.seedesmoines.com, according to Greg Edwards, the bureau’s CEO.

“‘The Lion King’” is going to have a tremendous economic effect on our entire community,” Edwards said. “It’s one of the top shows in the country right now, and to be able to lure something as large as it to Des Moines speaks a lot about Des Moines and our Civic Center.”

Chelesvig said Des Moines is the second-smallest market in the world to host “The Lion King” up to this point, and it will play here before traveling to several larger cities. Because Minneapolis, St. Louis and Chicago have been the only Midwestern cities the show has played in so far, out-of-state ticket sales high been particularly strong.

“Through the Internet ticket sales and phone sales, we’ve sold tickets in just about every state,” Chelesvig said. “Granted, that if somebody in Washington state places an order, they’re likely buying tickets for a gift. We’ve run some reports, and we are seeing a lot of ticket sales in Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri and Illinois. Even though the show is gong to play Omaha next year, people are coming here to see it first. I guess you could say it’s making its middle-Midwest debut here.”

READY FOR THE RUSH

Downtown restaurants and hotels expect the buzz from the show to mean big business.

“We’ll be ready with bells on,” said Scott Carlson, the managing partner of Court Avenue Brewing Co. He said his business typically gets an immediate boost when the Civic Center has a big attraction, and he expects that his restaurant’s casual atmosphere will be particularly appealing to the many families expected to see “The Lion King.”

“I would definitely say that the Civic Center is one of our best economic neighbors,” he said. “When a convention comes to town, it’s a little harder for us to know what to expect, but when a show is at the Civic Center, we pretty much know that we’re going to have a big, fun crowd here.”

Carlson said he is adding a dessert thematically linked to the show so people can tie their dining experience in with the musical. He’ll also host a cast party as a thank-you to the Civic Center “for bringing us good business and for bringing good culture to Des Moines.”

The Trattoria’s Mattis said he will again open his restaurants on Sundays during “The Lion King,” but this time around, “we know what we’re in for,” he said. He plans to hire a couple more people to serve customers, and he will make some changes to the menu to help expedite food preparation. The Pasticceria, which normally serves more casual food such as pizza and sandwiches, will also have a more “upscale” menu for diners.

Normally, Mattis said, he makes about two batches of sauce a week at The Trattoria, but when shows have multiweek runs at the Civic Center, sauce is made at a rate of about a batch a day. Each batch takes about eight hours to cook. A month before “The Lion King’s” opening, he had already taken 30 reservations for the 50-seat Trattoria, well ahead of the restaurant’s normal pace.

“I have no doubt in my mind that I’ll be working every day, but that’s what we’re here to do,” he said. “We’ve been in the business long enough that we’re used to it by now.”

The manager of another restaurant located near the Civic Center, Splash Seafood Bar and Grill, has also decided to open his doors on Sundays, a day it is traditionally closed, during “The Lion King.” Like Mattis, Mark Murphy, Splash’s general manager, plans to add a couple of employees to help out during the busy period.

“Most likely we really only need two more people right now – one full time and one part time – just enough to save my staff from having to work every day for a month and a half,” Murphy said.

Murphy said he has already taken several reservations for March, and some Saturday evenings are starting to fill up. For previous Civic Center shows, he has been fully booked two weeks in advance, and he expects the same this time.

One challenge Murphy faces is keeping his regular patrons happy while trying to meet the needs of the additional customers he expects to serve during the show’s run. He said a lot of pharmaceutical representatives regularly rent rooms at Splash to meet with doctors and nurses, and he has had to change his policies a little bit on room rentals when “The Lion King” comes to town.

“I’m kind of facing a dilemma right now where renting (the pharmaceutical reps) the room at my normal rate would be money out of my pocket,” Murphy said. “I’m having to raise the rate I charge to guarantee a little higher amount of food sales from them.”

OVERNIGHT GETAWAYS

Several area hotels that are offering room and ticket packages for “The Lion King” reported brisk sales, with little promotion required. Embassy Suites on the River sold all 100 of its packages in less than two weeks after it began offering them in September, according to Tracy Swibold, the hotel’s director of sales. And five months later, people are still inquiring about special offers.

“We’ve done packages in the past, but they’ve never been as successful as this one was,” Swibold said.

Swibold said the hotel is completely booked for some dates during “The Lion King,” and several rooms are reserved for cast and crew members, who will be staying there on a long-term basis while the show is in town.

The Hotel Fort Des Moines also easily sold the 160 tickets it bought for show-and-room packages, according to Jeff Hunter, the hotel’s owner. He’s had success with such packages in the past, but nothing on this scale. He was surprised that these packages sold out in a matter of weeks after they went on sale in September. Several hotel rooms have also been booked by people who bought their own tickets, and a handful of cast and crew members will be staying in four of the hotel’s extended-stay apartments during the course of the show.

“We’ve booked more than $30,000 in sales associated with this particular event, to date,” Hunter said. “It’s very nice to have this performance, especially for such a long time, and I think everyone is going to enjoy the fruits of it being here.”

THE COST OF ENTERTAINMENT

Chelesvig said the Civic Center is fortunate that Disney Musical Theatre has taken on much of the financial risk associated with booking “The Lion King” in Des Moines. But Chelesvig expects to spend an additional $125,000 on infrastructure improvements and other expenses related to hosting the show. That includes costs associated with meeting a few of Disney’s requests, such as installing wireless Internet in the building, adding extra phone lines and removing seats to make room for the animal parade at the beginning of the show.

“We’ve had to do some of these little things, because that’s what the show wants,” Chelesvig said. “But we will also benefit from the investment in wireless Internet and increased phone capabilities later on.”

The Civic Center’s expenses will also increase during the six-week show due to heavier traffic in the building. During a normal month, Chelesvig said about 20,000 to 30,000 people come through the doors, compared with about 100,000 expected in March. That means “more of everything,” such as restroom supplies. Also, because “The Lion King” is playing in the winter, Chelesvig plans to spend more on utility costs.

“We have no doubt that we’ll be able to recoup our losses, given the scope of the ticket sales,” Chelesvig said.

Last month, the Civic Center launched Civic Centerpiece, a $7 million capital and endowment fund-raising campaign. Organizers of the campaign hope to raise $6 million for renovations and upgrades to the physical plant and $1 million for the Civic Center’s Education Endowment. Chelesvig said the 27-year-old building needs to update aging equipment such as the rigging above the stage and spotlights to continue to attract high-quality shows such as “The Lion King.”

“We haven’t been turned down yet for shows because of the condition of our building, but we want to plan ahead to make sure this venue is capable of handling these types of shows in the future,” Chelesvig said. “There are quite a few venues that vie for these shows, so we want to make sure that ours is current so we continue to have no roadblocks.”