Aida to end four and a half year run on 5 Sep 2004
Wed 5 May 2004 Aida to end four and a half year run on 5 Sep 2004 Following a 54 month run, Elton John & Tim Rice's Aida will play its final performance on 5 Sep 2004 after playing 1,852 regular performances at the Palace Theatre Aida will have run 232 weeks and played 1,852 performances, surpassing such long running hits as La Cage Aux Folles (1,761), Hair (1,750), Evita (1,567), and Mame (1,508) when it plays its final performance. Aida is the winner of four 2000 Tony Awards and the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album. Aida received Tony Awards for Best Music (Elton John & Tim Rice), Best Actress (Heather Headley), Best Lighting Design (Natasha Katz), and Best Set Design (Bob Crowley). The Original Broadway Cast recording has sold almost 500,000 copies since its release in 2000. Aida is the only production to open during the 1999-2000 theatrical season still running on Broadway. Additionally, Aida is the sixth-longest currently running show on Broadway. The Broadway production of Aida earned back its investment in 99 weeks and to date has generated profits of $12 million. The Broadway production of Aida has been seen by over 2.5 million people and generated net box office revenues of more than $150 million. Worldwide, the show has been seen by 6 million people to date with next box office revenues in excess of $300 million. Since its Broadway opening on March 23, 2000, Aida has become a global theatrical success with a 53-city U.S. national tour as well as a two-year Dutch language production and German and Japanese language productions which are currently running. A new production of Aida will open in Seoul, South Korea in 2005 and preparations are currently under way for a new European tour to open in Madrid in 2005. Aida began performances at the Palace Theatre on 25 February 2000 and officially opened on 23 March 2000. It has music by Elton John, Lyrics by Tim Rice, Book by Linda Woolverton, Robert Fells and David Henry Hwang. It is directed by Robert Fells, designed by Bob Crowley, lighting by Natahsa Katz, choreography by Wayne Cilento, and produced by Disney Theatrical Productions. Aida currently stars Deborah A. Cox in the title role. Her co-stars include Will Chase (Radames), Lisa Brescia (Amneris) and Micky Dolenz (Zoser). The tale of Aida, made famous by Verdi's 1871 opera. Prince falls in love with Nubian slave, angering his father and his fiance, Amneris.
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