Shannon Tavarez, who at an open child actors audition won one of the featured roles for “The Lion King” on Broadway and performed in the show for seven months before being diagnosed in April with leukemia, died at the age of 11 on Monday.

A statement was issued from the Alexandra and Steven Cohen Children Medical Center in New Hyde Park, NY to report her death.

Shannon was a sixth grader in Queens, NY at P.S. 176. She had acute myelogenous leukemia, a rapidly advancing form of cancer that is rare in children, although common among adults. The cancer develops inside the bone marrow, inhibiting production of normal, healthy blood cells.

The Lion King, the landmark musical from Disney, will celebrate its 5000 Broadway performance at Minskoff Theatre on November 5. There are only eight other musicals which have made this milestone, include Beauty and the Beast from Disney. The Lion King is Broadway’s ninth longest run for a musical and the first of American musicals to have 50 million guests from around the world. The Lion King is now in its 13th year, after opening officially November 13, 1997, following the preview starting on October 13 at New Amsterdam Theatre. It has consistently been in the top five of Broadway’s grossing shows. June 13, 2006 the show moved over to Minskoff Theatre, its current home.

The Lion King, the long running hit musical from Disney, will premiere in Singapore in September 2010 at Marina Bay Sands Theatre. BASE entertainment and Disney Theatricals are the engagement’s co-presenters. The show will replicate the Tony award winning Broadway production along with the numerous international counterparts.

Last night, The Lion King on the West End celebrated its 10th birthday in a star studded gala. However, it was business as usual behind the scene for the Pride Rock animals.

Costume pieces that were designed for The Lion King by Julie Taymor, along with a mask that is used in the hit musical co-designed by Michael Curry and Taymor, were donated to the National Museum of American History of the Smithsonian. The costume elements, which include the lion mask and headdress for Simba and the hat, custom shoes and costume designed for Rafiki, are joining with other Broadway iconic objects from musicals like The King and I, Rent and Cats, which are all part of the permanent entertainment collection of the museum.

Compared to 2008 revenues are down, and in some weeks quite sharply, causing Disney Theatrical Productions to heavily discount the tickets to their three Broadway shows. They are also preparing their new marketing plan for attracting families as well as others in this tough economy, in which three musicals from Disney are vying with each other.