World Premiere of Disney's Musical Hercules in Hamburg Draws Closer

(eap) Disney’s latest musical “Hercules” will celebrate its world premiere at the Stage Theater Neue Flora in the city of Hamburg on March 24. The cast, crew and a Disney creative team have started rehearsals and are working intensively on the play and on transforming the set into the world of the Greek gods. Hercules is one of the most popular and most-watched animated films in Germany. With 150 million streams of the film song “Go the Distance” on Spotify and 600 million views of the German version of the song, the music from Disney’s Hercules has long been anchored in people’s minds. The well-known film music was composed by Oscar, Golden Globe and Grammy winner Alan Menken and David Zippel, is brought to life in the show and complemented by new songs. The musical is written by Kwame Kwei-Armah and Robert Horn.

In addition to the music, Disney’s Hercules will thrill audiences with fast-paced choreography, imaginative costumes and state-of-the-art video technology. The set and video design will be created by Dane Laffrey; designers Greg Barnes and Sky Switser are responsible for the costumes. Tony Award winner Casey Nicholaw, who also directed Disney’s “Aladdin”, and co-choreographer Tanisha Scott, who has won awards for her work with global artists such as Beyoncé, Rihanna, Alicia Keys and Sean Paul, are responsible for direction and choreography. Among various well-known musical stars, Benét Monteiro takes on the role of Hercules. Mae Ann Jorolan, known from “Hamilton” and “Aladdin”, plays “Meg”, with whom Hercules falls in love. ■