Jeff Calhoun to Direct Atlanta Premiere of High School Musical

Jeff Calhoun has signed on to direct the world professional premiere production of Disney's High School Musical with Atlanta's Theater of the Stars TOTS, according to a company spokesperson. The show will play 10 performances at the Fox Theatre January 13-21, 2007.

Disney's High School Musical tells the story of a group of high school students who are struggling with issues of popularity, first love, balancing education with extracurricular activities and the value of friends and family. The original TV movie proved to be immensely popular; the first broadcast on January 20, 2006, garnered more than 7.7 million viewers in 5 million households. Within 24 hours the show's web site received more than 500,000 hits with visitors downloading lyrics to the song "Breaking Free." The film's popularity boosted the careers of several of its stars: Leading man Zac Efron won the role of Link Larkin in the movie version of Hairspray, vixen Ashley Tisdale is featured on Disney's kids' series The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, and supporting player Monique Coleman is a contestant in the current version of Dancing with the Stars.

Calhoun's most recent Broadway credits include Grey Gardens musical staging, Brooklyn producer/director, the revival of Big River director/choreographer, Bells Are Ringing choreographer and Annie Get Your Gun choreographer. He received a 1994 Tony nomination for choreographing the revival of Grease. Calhoun began his career as a performer and moved into choreography as an associate of Tommy Tune.

Casting has not yet begun for High School Musical, according to the TOTS spokesperson.