Finding Nemo – The Musical and Dory, respectively. "Avenue Q" star Stephanie D'Abruzzo also appeared on the recording, as Sheldon/Deb. "Finding Nemo" was the first non-musical animated film to which Disney added songs to produce a stage musical. In 2009, "Finding Nemo – The Musical" was honored with a Thea Award for Best Live Show from the Themed Entertainment Association. Finding Nemo – The Musical Finding Nemo – The Musical is a live action musical stage show based on Disney/Pixar's 2003 film "Finding Nemo", located at the Theater in the Wild in DinoLand U.S.A at Disney's Animal Kingdom. The stage musical Tarzan Rocks! occupied the
Finding Nemo – The Musical new songs written by Tony Award-winning "Avenue Q" composer Robert Lopez and his wife, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, would "combine puppets, dancers, acrobats and animated backdrops" and open in late 2006. Years later, Anderson-Lopez explained that she had written a compact 15-minute "a cappella" version of the story of Oedipus; someone at Disney read it and recognized her talent for condensing material, and offered her the opportunity to make a pitch for the "Finding Nemo" project. Tony Award-winning director Peter Brosius signed on to direct the show, with Michael Curry, who designed puppets for Disney's successful stage version of "The Lion King",