By MARCUS FRANKLIN, Associated Press Writer Thu Oct 19, 10:22 AM ET
NEW YORK - If you've been looking for Nemo, that rebellious fish from the 2003 animated film "Finding Nemo," you can soon find him on stage, along with his overprotective clown fish of a father Marlin and the movie's other aquatic characters.
Disney is converting the undersea tale of Marlin's adventurous search for Nemo, who is scooped up by a diver, into what company officials are calling a "Broadway-caliber short-form" stage musical.
Preview performances of 'Finding Nemo-The Musical' are set to begin in November and the premiere is set for January 2007 in the 1,500-seat Theater in the Wild at Disney's Animal Kingdom Park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando.
The production marks the first time Disney has made a musical of a non-musical animated film, said Anne Hamburger, executive vice present of Disney Creative Entertainment, who was at Manhattan's Palace Theatre Wednesday where two animated puppets — including Nemo — were presented and composers performed two songs from the musical.
Using animated backdrops, special lighting, sound and effects, The Theater in the Wild will be transformed into a magical underwater wonderland populated with puppets and dancers and animated backdrops, Hamburger said.
There will be tap-dancing sharks, bike-riding puppets and a punk performance by the great white shark Bruce, Disney officials said.
The musical will run about 30 minutes compared to the a 1-hour-44-minute movie, which grossed hundreds of millions of dollars at the box office, Hamburger said.
To make the underwater environment come alive on stage, Disney officials enlisted some of mainstream theater's most well-known names.
Peter Brosius, the artistic director at The Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis, Minn., is directing the musical.
Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, who was co-creator and co-composer of the Tony Award-winning "Avenue Q," composed original songs for the new musical.
Michael Curry, who co-created the character puppets in Broadway's "The Lion King," is creating the puppetry for the new show.
In the musical, the main characters — Nemo, Marlin and Dory — will appear as animated puppets operated by live performers, Curry said.
New techonology and other tricks will give the stage an "underwater" feeling, Curry said.
Hamburger wouldn't say how much Disney is spending to create 'Finding Nemo-The Musical.'
Entry to 'Finding Nemo-The Musical' will be included with regular admission to Disney's Animal Kingdom.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap_travel/20061 ... he_musical
Sounds good. Except maybe for the "punk performance by the great white shark Bruce." I have my doubts about what they mean by "punk"... 
