It's not an April Fool's Day joke.
Disney has posted an opening casting call for Atlanta performers for Elaborate Lives: The Legend of Aida, the new Elton John-Tim Rice musical based on the Aida story about an African princess and her doomed love for the captain of the Egyptian guard.
The call is for singers (who must perform one brief rock 'n' roll or contemporary pop song) and dancers (who should have extensive modern dance and ballet training), as well as for the role of Nehken -- an African slave, age 15-17, who is sly and mischievous.
The musical will have its world premiere in September at the 800-seat Alliance Theatre in Atlanta and a subsequent Broadway is a distinct possibility -- although Elaborate Lives is being touted by Disney execs as a much more intimate show than either Beauty and the Beast or The Lion King.
The Atlanta production is scheduled to run Sept. 11-Nov. 1, with an official opening tentatively slated for Oct. 7. Linda Woolverton, who did the screen and stage adaptations of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, is writing the libretto.
Robert Jess Roth, a Tony nominee for Beauty and the Beast, is the director. Matt West (also from Beauty and the Beast) is the choreographer.
For information, call (404)733-4622.
-- By Rebecca Paller
