André Djaoui

January 1994, I went for a walk in Jerusalem. The walls of the city were covered with posters announcing the 3000 year anniversary of the foundation of the city, an event of the highest importance. I was impressed and very inspired by the character of King David, who seemed to me to be a modern hero while being one of the pillars of the timeless history of the Jewish people. I was immediatly haunted by the idea of making a spectacular show, a musical, a modern opera… it seemed obvious to me since King David was musician. As the idea grew in me, between exitement and panic, I became obsessed by the fear that somebody else would accomplish it before me. This idea was rather quickly transformed into a structured plan as I started to read, study, meet rabbis and historians, and prepare a dossier intended to serve as a basis for the development of a scenario. I first wrote a version that was incomplete and clumsy, but had the advantage of giving reality to the project ! And then, after reality, dream ! I asked American friends "who are the most reputed author-composers of Broadway ?". Nothing less ! And, of course, I was told that the "dream team" of the author-composers of Broadway is Alan Menkin and Tim Rice, with to their credit "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Evita" for one and "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Little Mermaid" for the other. They hastened to tell me that I would never be able to approach them ! I know nothing that motivates me more than this type of comment. Therefore, from that moment, I got it into my head to meet them and to persuade them. Some months later, I was in New York with their agents, then with them in person, then everything accelerated… well, in a way, because the show saw the light 3 years later ! Which is short for Broadway, as I was told. And then, passion, absolute dream, a learning experience in American professionalism. And then, a phone call from Michael Eisner, the most powerful man in Hollywood at that time, asking me to be his associate ! A fairy tale ! In May 1997, King David was the first musical show produced in the New Amsterdam Theater, the biggest theater on Broadway.