Anne Hamburger paces and smiles restlessly as the crowd mills past her. The theater maven may have reason to be on edge.

The former artistic director of the La Jolla Playhouse in California was hired two years ago to head the creative entertainment division at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. Today, Oct. 7, she officially announces her first production: a stage adaptation of "Aladdin." She says she has scoured the world for the best talent to produce what she calls, "a new era in theme-park entertainment."

What that means and how well it will draw in these sagging economic times is not yet clear. Park attendance is down 25 percent from a year ago, and the park's parent, The Walt Disney Co., has been hurting financially.

Nonetheless, Hamburger is upbeat about her new baby: a 40-minute version of the "Aladdin" story, using the score from Disney's animated film.

It will run continuously in the brand new "Broadway-style" Hyperion theater in Disney's ailing California Adventure Park. "We've coined a new phrase," she says, "destination entertainment."

Opera director Francesca Zambello says she has always dreamed of reaching the masses. With this project, she says, Disney has presented her with the perfect vehicle. Plus, she says, "this is a chance to work on a timeless story in a great theater."

But, is it really possible to produce high-quality theater sandwiched in-between the Matterhorn roller coaster and "a bug's land?"

Ms. Zambello says absolutely and she looks forward to bringing theater to an audience that might not otherwise ever see a live performance. The short, one-act version is a bonus.

"In a funny way, the 40-minute time frame is good," she says. "It makes you cut to what the story is and clear away anything that is wasteful or excessive." The hope, clearly, is that Zambello will re-create the same sort of alchemy that director Julie Taymor used to turn Disney's animated "The Lion King," into a Tony-winning stage sensation.

In an interview earlier the same day, Ms. Taymor herself wondered about the feasibility of doing serious theater in a theme park setting. "Why would Francesca want to do that?" she asked with a laugh.

"We will have to find our own theatrical vision," answers Zambello, acknowledging that it is a process, but one about which she is hopeful. "They've absolutely given me the artistic freedom to create something as different as Julie Taymor did."

Zambello's first move is to review the source material, "The Arabian Nights." The first job, she says, "is to find a contemporary feel for Aladdin." He's a street urchin who becomes a sultan, she says. adding "Who can't relate to that dream?"

All the characters display qualities that flesh them out as human. "Jasmine has spunk, but also integrity and charm. Jafar," the villain of the piece, she says with a laugh, "has wit and sex appeal."

Her choreographer, Lynne Taylor-Corbett, (who choreographed the Tony-winning "Titanic"), researches belly dancing and other movements from the period. Zambello also immerses herself in the score and the animated film. The goal, she says, "is to find the human scale inside the large story."

In a large rehearsal room on the back lot, one of the multiple casts (there are two Aladdins) gathers to rehearse. "Pull it back a bit," says Zambello to Jafar, "give me the flirtatious version." Then she adds, "Remember, we talked about giving Iago a little look for a sense of danger?"

Today's Aladdin mutters to himself, "That last moment's not feeling right to me." Behind them, the onion domes of Moscow's Red Square drift past on a dolly, an elaborate 30-foot snake lies in pieces in a corner, multicolored shoes bristle from a prop box. It's hard to imagine the final product, but it will clearly be colorful.

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