'Kirikou and Karaba' Musical to Play Paris in the Fall

The French animated film hit Kirikou and the Sorceress will be turned into a stage musical, according to Variety.  With book and lyrics by the film's creator, Michel Ocelot, Kirikou and Karaba (as it has been renamed) will start performance at the Casino de Paris on October 3rd  for a 100-day run before embarking on a French tour.

The production will be directed and choreographed by Wayne McGregor, and Youssou N'Dour and Malian singer Rokia Traoure will be among the show's composing team.  New songs will be added to the animated film's score. The new stage musical is capitalized at 4.5 million Euros ($6 million) and will be produced by Victor Bosch (Notre Dame de Paris) and Didier Brunner (the latter produced the two smash Kirikou films), with co-production by France Televisions Distribution and EMI.  A short run in Lyon will precede the Parisian opening.

The Kirikou films (1998's Kirikou and the Sorceress and 2005's Kirikou and the Wild Beasts) have been greatly successful in France, where they have earned 20 million Euros ($27 million) at the box office.  The former film, on which the stage musical is based, is about a precocious young African boy who decides to defeat an evil sorceress who has been drying up the village spring and devouring the male inhabitants of the village.

The Africa-set The Lion King also opens in Paris this fall. "I think the two musicals will create buzz for one another. Africa will be in," said Bosch.