Beloved Stage Musical Opens December 18th After
Successful 2005 Premiere Engagement
SEONGNAM, SOUTH KOREA – (Friday, December 17, 2010) – Elton John and Tim Rice’s AIDA continues to thrill audiences across the globe in its return engagement to Seoul. AIDA began performances on December 14 and officially opens at the Seongnam Arts Center on December 18. Joo-Hyun Oak returns to the title role she originated in the 2005 premiere for which she won Best New Actress at the Korean Musical Awards. Translated into Korean, AIDA is produced by Seensee Company Inc. and employs over 150 Koreans in the production. AIDA continues its run in Seongnam, outside of Seoul, through March 27, 2011. During its 2005 premiere engagement AIDA grossed $13 million and became the longest-running production of the 2005-2006 season.
AIDA has become a worldwide phenomenon, translated into 14 languages and capturing audiences across the globe in 20 countries including Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Japan, Mexico, The Netherlands, Peru, Philippines, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Uruguay and the United States. The four time Tony® Award-winning musical began performances on Broadway at the Palace Theatre on February 25, 2000 and officially opened on March 23, 2000 before completing its run on September 4, 2004. AIDA has been seen by more than 7.6 million people worldwide, earning $460 million since its Broadway debut.
AIDA tells the story of a love triangle between Aida, a Nubian princess forced into slavery, Amneris, an Egyptian princess, and Radames, the soldier they both love.
DISNEY THEATRICAL PRODUCTIONS, a division of The Walt Disney Studios, was formed in 1994 and operates under the direction of Thomas Schumacher. With 15 productions currently produced or licensed by DTP worldwide, a Disney musical is being performed professionally somewhere on the planet virtually every hour of the day. The company’s inaugural production, Beauty and the Beast, opened in 1994. It played a remarkable 13 year run on Broadway and has been produced in 28 countries worldwide. In November 1997, Disney opened The Lion King, which received six 1998 Tony® Awards including Best Musical and continues in its 13th smash year, having welcomed over 50 million visitors worldwide. In addition to its three North American productions, it can currently be seen in London, Hamburg and Tokyo, with Singapore to open in 2011. Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida opened on Broadway next, winning four 2000 Tony® Awards, running for four-and-a-half years and spawning productions around the world. Mary Poppins, a co-production by Disney and Cameron Mackintosh, opened in London in 2004 and has established itself as one of the biggest stage musical successes to emerge in recent years. The Tony Award®-winning Broadway production opened in 2006 at Disney’s New Amsterdam Theatre, where it continues to delight audiences. Mary Poppins can also be seen on tour across North America, in Holland and Australia with four more productions scheduled to open this year. Tarzan®, which opened on Broadway in 2006, is now an international hit with an award-winning production in Germany and a record-setting one in Holland that closed in May 2009. In January 2008, The Little Mermaid opened on Broadway and was the #1-selling new musical of that year, completing its run in August 2009. In addition to producing musicals, DTP licenses stage performance rights to more than a dozen Disney musicals around the world through Music Theatre International.
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