'Tarzan' to Tour Atlanta, Dallas, San Jose & Raleigh 2009

Atlanta's Theater of the Stars, along with three co- producing partners, will mount a new stage production of Tarzan, based on the beloved Disney animated film. Originally produced on Broadway by Disney Theatrical.

Productions in 2006, Tarzan features the music and lyrics of seven-time Grammy Award winner Phil Collins. In addition to five songs from the film, including the award-winning hit, "You'll Be in My Heart," nine new songs have been composed specifically for the stage production.

Following the premiere of the production in Atlanta's Fox Theatre in January 2009, the production will then move to the other co-producing theaters: American Musical Theatre of San Jose, CA (February) at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts, North Carolina Theatre in Raleigh, NC (March) at the Progress Energy Center, and Dallas Summer Musicals in Dallas, TX (April) at the Music Hall at Fair Park.

After playing on Broadway in the 2006-2007 season, Disney's first international production of Tarzan, a continuation of a long-standing co-partnership between Disney Theatrical Productions and Stage Entertainment, opened April 15, 2007 at the Circustheatre in The Netherlands and continues a hit, record-breaking run. A second international production is scheduled to premiere in Germany at the Neue Flora Theatre in Hamburg in October 2008.

The original cast recording of Tarzan was released by Walt Disney Records and is available in music stores nationwide and at online retailers including Amazon, iTunes and Disney Shopping. Based on the 1999 Disney animated film and the famous character depicted by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the stage production of Tarzan

features music and lyrics by Oscar and seven-time Grammy Award winner Phil Collins, who has expanded his songs for Disney's film into a complete theatre score. Tony Award-winner David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly) has written the book, based on Tarzan of the Apes, by Edgar Rice Burroughs, and the film, Tarzan.

Theater of the Stars' production of Tarzan will feature an award winning creative team of Broadway professionals headed by Lynne Taylor-Corbett (Swing, Footloose) as Director / Choreographer, Kenneth Foy (High School Musical, Annie) as Scenic Designer, Paul Rubin (Wicked, Peter Pan) as Aerial Designer, and Ken Billington (Chicago, White Christmas) as Lighting Designer. Additional members of the creative team will be announced shortly.

"Tarzan tells the classic tale of a shipwreck that leaves an infant boy orphaned on the shores of West Africa. The helpless baby is adopted and raised by the mate of the leader of a tribe of gorillas who is grieving the loss of her baby. As he grows and matures, the boy yearns for acceptance from his ape father and to discover the reason for his uniqueness. Eventually he encounters his first human — Jane Porter, a curious young explorer — and all of their worlds are transformed," explain press notes.

Atlanta's Theater of the Stars is one of America's premier not-for-profit Regional Theaters. For more info, visit www.theaterofthestars.com. For 73 seasons, American Musical Theatre of San Jose, one of the nation's oldest musical theatre companies, has gained recognition for providing theatergoers with exceptional theatre. For more info, visit www.AMTSJ.org. North Carolina Theatre, a non-profit, professional Regional theatre has been producing Broadway revivals for 25 years. For more info, visit www.nctheater.com. Dallas Summer Musicals has been a major presenter and producer of theatrical productions for more than 68 years. For more info, visit www.dallassummermusicals.org

Jenn Gambatese and Josh Trickland from the original Broadway production of Disney's Tarzan (photo by Joan Marcus)