The highly anticipated Tony Award-winning musical, slated to open in September for six weeks for its premiere Island visit, has been held over from Oct. 30 through Dec. 9.

Mayor Mufi Hannemann, joined by Jack Lucas, president of WestCoast Entertainment, which is presenting the show, jointly made the announcement this morning at City Hall.

City Enterprise Services director Sidney Quintal cautioned ticket buyers to purchase only from authorized outlets, such as the Blaisdell box office and Ticketmaster locations or the Ticketmaster Web site, because of potential counterfeit sales.

Scanners used at Blaisdell can determine fraudulent tickets. "Don't trust Web sites except for Ticketmaster if you're buying online," Quintal said.

"The Lion King" officially premieres at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 16 (preceded by two preview performances, at 8 p.m. Sept. 15 and 2 p.m. Sept. 16), with regular performances at 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sundays. However, the schedule will be adjusted Thanksgiving and during the final week — no show on Thanksgiving night (Nov. 22), a 2 p.m. matinee added on Nov. 21 and Dec. 5, and only a 1 p.m. show on Dec. 9 closing day.

Weekend performances for the original six weeks have approached near-capacity levels, but seats remain for weeknight shows.

Tickets are $30 to $85, depending on play dates, with VIP packages available for $150 for all shows, which include premium seating, a souvenir program and a show merchandise item.