On the Record (sometimes referred to as Disney's On the Record) is a jukebox musical revue featuring many classic songs from a variety of live action and animated films and television series produced by Walt Disney Pictures, Broadway musical plays produced by Walt Disney Theatrical, and even Disneyland attractions. This theatrical celebration of 75 years of Disney music tells the story of four singers recording a greatest hits album in a magical recording studio. After opening in Cleveland in 2004, the production toured for nine months, visiting 24 cities in the United States before closing in Denver in mid-2005. Production development history Following the successful stage productions of Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and Aida, Walt Disney Theatrical began to brainstorm a way to showcase Disney's wide catalogue of songs without the use of a movie screen to present them. The result was When You Wish, a new revue that, though intended to ultimately to play on Broadway, failed to make it past the workshop stage, despite having Tony Award-winning actress Faith Prince attached to the project. Instead, Walt Disney Theatrical president Thomas Schumacher, along with director and choreographer Robert Longbottom, conceived a new show meant specifically for the road: On the Record, which would tell a very simple story of four recording artists in a studio. Though the developers of the production originally planned to create more complex characters and greater tension between them in the studio, they instead eventually "watered down" the plot for more general revue entertainment, because, says Longbottom, the "songs were from so many different character points of views, [that one] couldn't begin to create a book musical that would allow them to coexist." After the basic concept of the show had been developed, musical arranger and supervisor David Chase joined the project. Collaborating with Longbottom, Chase delved through Disney's music canon to extract songs that would showcase the personality of the characters and would be able to tell the story without spoken words. Designers Robert Brill, Gregg Barnes, and Natasha Katz took on the task of creating a classy show with modest design elements, so the production would be able to travel easily. After technical elements of the show began to come together, casting auditions were held in June 2004 around the country, including New York City and Cleveland. Broadway veterans Emily Skinner and Brian Sutherland were cast as the older, more