The well-known Broadway theatre is famous for its dazzling plays that people from all over the world are eager to watch. This is a fact and there is no question about it. For three Egyptians to present a musical, based on an Egyptian Pharaonic epic, which they have written, composed and directed, is a first in Broadway history. Anjy Essam introduces us to this unique experience. ''Akhenaten the Musical'' the new Broadway epic musical play is about how the pharaoh Akhenaten and his wife Nefertiti challenged the all-powerful priests by imposing for the first time, a single God above their many gods. However, the struggle for power shattered many lives. More than 3000 years ago, Amenhotep IV was the pharaoh ruling Egypt. He loved his wife Nefertiti more than anything in the world and even defied his own mother, the jealous Queen Ti, to be with her. As a pharaoh, he had to fight against the overwhelming power of the priests who were worshipping hundreds of Gods, with Amon as the paramount one. Supported by the unconditional love of Nefertiti, Amenhotep decided to replace all the gods with one God: Aten. He changed his name from Amenhotep IV to Akhenaten, and directed all the resources of the country into the building of the city of Akhetaten, the new capital of Egypt, dedicated to Aten. All the workers and farmers in the new city were busy making offerings and building monuments in the name of Aten and members of the population who did not agree, rioted against them. The Hittites were about to seize the opportunity to invade Egypt. Maha warned Akhenaten that the priests of Amon were conspiring against him but the Pharaoh's idealism blinded him to the reality of the situation. Worried about Egypt's safety, Army General Hur-Moheb formed an alliance with Maya, the High Priest of Amon, to restore the old gods, depose Akhenaten and put Tutankhamon, the pharaoh's son on the throne. The names of Aten and Akhenaten were erased from every single stone in Egypt, to discourage the establishment of the worship of a single God from threatening the power of the priests, ever again and to wipe out Akhenaten's legacy. Both Hesham Abdel Khalek and Mohamed Metwally wrote the story of this epic musical. Abdel Khalek is the creator, co-writer and director of the play. He is an Egyptian film producer, director and scriptwriter who lives in Paris, France. He has produced and directed films, theatre dramas and opera performances. In 2002, he was involved in the production of the opera "Aida" in Doha, Qatar and he was the artistic director of "Aida" at the pyramids in Giza (Egypt). He has produced a series of operas and classic music concerts in Egypt, Syria, Dubai, France, The Netherlands and other countries. His operatic repertoire includes 20 operas including Aida, Tosca, Carmen, Rigoletto, La Traviata, La Boheme and Turandot. In 2008, he co-founded with Olivier Delesse, the French production and distribution company "So Freakantastik". Abdel Khalek was the European distributor and PR responsible for Al Arabia Cinema the biggest cinema group in Egypt. In 2014, he co-founded with Olivier Delesse their New York production company "H & O Productions". Abdel Khalek said that he has been wanting for a long time: "Not just a play, my dream was to make a unique epic musical tailor-made for Broadway, a story out of our dazzling pharaonic history, this charming ancient era with which the whole world is mesmerised," said Abdel Khalek. He said that he always dreamt of putting Egypt's great history on the Broadway stage, so he decided to ask for the help of his friend Mohamed Metwally, because he believed in his talent. He believed he was the only person with whom he could share his big dream. Metwally studied Pharmacy and English Literature at Cairo University. He is a talented Egyptian published writer, who focuses on women's issues and feminism. Metwally has written two collections of short stories in Arabic "Al-Rehla" (the Journey) published in 2008, "Period" published in 2013, and both are classified as Feminist writing. He has also written a collection of short stories in English including "Requiem" published in 2010. Metwally has produced a number of articles and poems in Arabic and in English. "We both did a lot of research for about a year, in our rich pharaonic history Both of us searched a lot for about one year in our rich Egyptian pharaonic history and we chose the great king Akhenaten's story to convert it into an epic musical for the Broadway theatre,'' said Metwally. He added that, because of his long experience in the field, Abdel Khalek knew what part of our pharaonic history would be interesting to a Broadway audience. ''What attracted me and Metwally to king Akhenaten's story was its richness. It is full of love, betrayal, conspiracy and political and religious elements; it is a completely fascinating drama,'' said Abdel Khalek who contacted Broadway's producers and told them about the idea of the play. He briefed them on his perception of it as co-writer and director and outlined how the idea would be implemented from his point of view. The Broadway producers were very excited and gave Abdel Khalek the green light to start work on the project. Metwally explained that he had spent about a year watching famous musical plays and reading drama books and poems before starting to write. Ten per cent of the Akhenaten musical play is dialogue and 90 per cent lyrics. Both Metwally and Abdel Khalek wrote the 10 per cent that is dialogue while Metwally wrote the 90 per cent which makes up the lyrics for the 23 songs contained in the play. The famous Egyptian musical composer, Hesham Nazih, composed the songs. Nazih has won several awards and is one of the most talented and famous composers in the Middle East. He has composed music for Egyptian and Arabic blockbusters and TV series. His repertoire includes works such as: Ibrahim Labyad, Tito, Sleepless Nights, El Abwab el Moghlaka ( The Closed Doors), X Large, Hysteria, El Saher (The Magician), El Game3a (The University), El Saba3 Wasaya ( The Seven Commandments), Neran Sadeka (Friendly Fire) and El Feel el Azra2 ( The Blue Elephant). Metwally explained that he and Abdel Khalek had stuck to the historical facts related to Akhenaten's life, as they had not wanted to falsify history. ''We did not change the historical facts, but we fictionalised what history had left out: the people's emotions and feelings and their personal relations, for example Akhenaten's relationship with his wife, and his mother, the way they talked to each other and the details of their daily life." said Metwally. Abdel Khalek said that he had started choosing the cast of the play. "The famous Broadway actress Christina Decicco will perform Nefertiti's role and N'kenge will play the role of Queen Ti." He added that Charles Czarnecki would be the music supervisor. Abdel Khalek said he would finish choosing the rest of the cast by the start of 2015. He admitted that the only Egyptians in the musical were Metwally, Nazih and himself. "I can't choose Egyptians actors because three Egyptians are the creators and according to Broadway rules, the cast should be made up of Broadway actors." Abdel Khalek added that once the rest of the cast was chosen, rehearsals would begin and would probably last a few months. The premiere was due to open on Broadway at the beginning of 2016. ''We are very honored that Akhenaten the Musical has been selected by the Queens Library Central Branch in New York for a special presentation and performance at their auditorium early in 2015. "It will be the first time ever that songs from the musical will be performed live,'' said Metwally.
