Chris Colby David Kort
Bang Saray, Thailand – Cartoon Network Amazone, the world’s first Cartoon Network-themed waterpark, has announced the appointment of two of the most renowned professionals in the global live entertainment industry. Chris Colby has been named Head of Creative Production, while David Kort serves as Head of Live Entertainment for the billion-baht destination, which is set to open in Bang Saray, Thailand, in the first half of 2014.
“We are thrilled to welcome Chris and David to the Cartoon Network Amazone launch team,” said Liakat Dhanji, Chief Executive Officer of Amazon Falls Co. Ltd. “Cartoon Network Amazone is going to be an immersive entertainment experience in every sense of the word. In addition to having some of the world’s most exhilarating water coasters, there will also be amazing live entertainment plus incredible social and interactive features that will bring fans even closer to their favourite Cartoon Network characters. Chris and David will prove invaluable as we develop our entertainment line up into a spectacle that has never been staged at a themed water park anywhere on earth.”
Colby and Kort directed and choreographed, respectively, Peter Pan – the Musical at Kuala Lumpur’s Sunway Lagoon during Christmas 2010, for which they won “BrandLaureate” Personality awards for their contributions in Performing Arts and Theatre. Colby is an accomplished director, producer and performer of television and theatre programmes whose credits include popular shows and musicals in London’s West End, Covent Garden and the Edinburgh Festival. In recent years he has worked exclusively in the tourism and leisure industry, directing productions on the luxury ocean liners Aurora and Oriana and writing musicals for P&O Cruise Lines.
Kort began his career as a dancer and performer, working in London’s West End and the prestigious Glyndebourne Festival Opera. Today he is an internationally renowned choreographer who most recently served as director of Aspire Star Sdn Bhd, a production company dedicated to bringing performing arts to the people of Malaysia. Other positions of note include resident choreographer at the Theatre Royal Lincoln, instructor at the prestigious Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London, and Founding Principal of the Theatre Royal School of Performing Arts. He has dozens of high-profile choreography and performing credits spanning theater and television.
Cartoon Network Amazone is being built on 35 rai (14 acres) of lush coastal plains of Bang Saray, Thailand, located in the country’s burgeoning Eastern Seaboard.
It will feature 10 entertainment zones starring Cartoon Network characters including Ben 10 and his most popular alien alter-egos, Jake and Finn from Adventure Time, Gumball and Darwin from The Amazing World of Gumball, the PowerPuff Girls, Johnny Bravo and many more.
“The potential of Cartoon Network Amazone to animate the guest experience is limitless,” said Dhanji. “To realise our vision of spectacular, thrilling immersive entertainment for everyone, we need top professionals who can help bring Cartoon Network’s animated world to life. With Chris and David now on board, we are more confident than ever that Cartoon Network Amazone will be an ultimate success.”
