Disney -- Good or Bad for Broadway?

Posted: 5/21/05 at 1:45am

The impact of Disney Theatricals on Broadway have been felt on the Great White Way. In your estimation has Disney been good or bad for Broadway?

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 5/21/05 at 1:48am

Some GREAT! I Disney is the reason WHY I'm pursuing a career in MT, so I think it holds a special place on Bway!

EDIT: by that statement I mean I grew up watching "the little mermaid" and that movie made me want to be a singer since I was 2! so...

Updated On: 5/21/05 at 01:48 AM

[ticenewyorkcity]

Posted: 5/21/05 at 1:54am

for today's broadway it is going to serve well. audience's today would rather see,,,sadly... disney on stage then an origional peice.

i personally think that AIDA was Disney's finest peice and that Beauty should have gotten the axe before AIDA.

HOWEVER Disney's show's are nothing short of brilliantly entertaining and visually stunning....Hopefully Disney will venture into more AIDA like productions and we can all be happy

[BluCat500]

Posted: 5/21/05 at 2:25am

If they don't start closing then they're definetly gonna build up and that could be problematic...imagine a time with Beauty and the Beast, the Lion King, Tarzan, and the Little Mermaid

[ShuQ]

Posted: 5/21/05 at 2:46am

Well I'm going to have to say bad. Although they put on some good shows, they made the whole thing a corporation. It's all about "Disneyfying" everything now. Shows aren't what they used to be b/c of them.

[Up In Lost]

Posted: 5/21/05 at 6:52am

Personally, I think Disney has brought a new generation into the theatre. So, I think it's a good thing.

[One Song Glory]

Posted: 5/21/05 at 7:11am

Disney is a reason why little kids are into broadway. Thier shows are very imaginative and fun.

[rockfenris2005]

Posted: 5/21/05 at 7:33am

Well, think of it this way

Disney and Broadway are two very important landmarks in American art and entertainment

[romanov]

Posted: 5/21/05 at 7:47am

In the 70's and 80's the Prince/Sondheim shows were moving Broadway towards a more cerebral musical. For good or for bad, the Disney invasion of Broadway is a powerful statement aganist that. Disney helped to usher in shows such as The Producers and Hairspray. Before Disney those shows would not have been produced. That being said, there also seems to be a cycle to all this: mindless musicals to cerebral to Euro-pop opera to Disney to mindless musicals.

Posted: 5/21/05 at 7:50am

Excellent for Broadway! As stated before, Disney has helped to expose a whole new generation to Broadway that would perhaps not be interested in theater before.

[trpguyy]

Posted: 5/21/05 at 8:39am

Disney, with their techincally stunniong shows, caused the "competetition" to catch up, and now we have much more technology in theatre, definitely a good thing. Lighting designd can be more complex with fewer instruments, we now have very complex scenery that changes before our eyes, new pyroctechnics, etc.

Don't forget they saved the New Amsterdam, now by far the most beautiful Broadway theatre, from rotting away.

[magruder]

Posted: 5/21/05 at 8:57am

Cerebral musicals haven't exactly stopped coming to Broadway because Disney is here. Beauty and the Beast was the first Disney show to open in 1994. Shows that have opened in its wake include Rent, Bring in 'da Noise, Titanic, Ragtime, Parade, Contact, The Wild Party, Marie Christine, Urinetown, Avenue Q, Caroline or Change, and Light in the Piazza. Whatever one thinks of their quality, I wouldn't call any of them mindless. (I also wonder about Hairspray being grouped in as a trend of mindless musicals - it's probably the most subtly and hilariously subversive show to ever be co-produced by a corporation.

Disney did usher in the era of corporate producing on Broadway, with such entities as Clear Channel, Endemol, Universal and Warner Brothers jumping into the fray. But corporate producing is not a crime if the end result is as strong as The Producers or Hairspray. Disney does have a way of marketing their shows which is pretty staggering. Given the reviews that Aida received, Disney managed to get a run of more than four years out of it, and managed to turn a profit, where most other producing entities probably would have folded in the tents.

With the city's help and initiative, Disney brought back the New Amsterdam, where other Broadway producing organizations failed to get a renovation of that theatre off the ground (and the Nederlander Organization famously left that theatre in worse shape after their thwarted attempts at a restoration failed). Disney's presence on 42nd Street brought us two more Broadway theatres (the Hilton and American Airlines), and while the new 42nd Street is not the 42nd Street of my dreams, it's clearly a better place than it was prior to Disney.

Finally, it is always helpful to have family-friendly hit shows on Broadway. Any night at Beauty and the Beast or The Lion King, you'll find hundreds of kids excitedly seeing their first Broadway show. Any time a poll topic comes up on this board about what someone's first Broadway show was, you'll find a generation on this board saying "Beauty" or "Lion King". If those shows enchanted young people to grow up to appreciate and love the theatre, then I think Disney's presence is all for the good.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 5/21/05 at 9:04am

For what they did with the New Amsterdam (which turned around 42 nd St & rescued an architectural treasure from oblivion) they should be praised to the heavens

Their shows are entertaining. Lion King was not so much a musical (Ragtime should have one the Tony) than an experience. Aida was enjoyable & Beast was cute. They put fannys in the seats & while we talk about high art this is the name of the game. WAOVW is great theater but even with killer reviews it is dying at the box office.Many people want entertainment, pure & simple, & Disney delivers. They forget all the BS in their lives for a few hours. Why would a battling couple in real life go to see Wolff?

[Marlothom]

Posted: 5/21/05 at 9:10am

If you look at BWAY as a business (as I do), then any entry into the market is positive. Disney sees BWAY as another level of cross promotion (tv stars come into their show, people from their music label, films, theme parks), and for those that see BWAY as a sacred place for art, then this savvy business practice is a negative.
Unfortunately, Disney can't experiment around the world as it did with its theme parks, and simply has 12 blocks to play with...as a performer, I wish it would not saturate Bway with so much of its product, but as a business person, I think it's a brilliant money maker, however I may change my mind when I see Disney On Ice on Bway.

[magruder]

Posted: 5/21/05 at 9:12am

Yes, really, the restoration of the New Amsterdam was one of the miracles of the 1990s. That theatre was so far gone, it's really a wonder that it was able to be saved.

Just as a reminder...
Click this link

Updated On: 5/21/05 at 09:12 AM

[ProducersFan]

Posted: 5/21/05 at 9:15am

Disney isn't keeping other shows from being produced, they are merely putting their own material out there for the public to enjoy. If that's what the public wants, then maybe that says something about the theatregoer. Disney is a business who is out to entertain (and make money). They happen to be bigger than most other production companies, true, but they are still out there to do the exact same things as every body else.

I have been a Disney fan since birth and I've stuck with the company even throughout all of the stupid things they've done, but I don't think they've hurt Broadway in the slightest. They are putting a product out there, just like any of their parks or movies. They are bringing people into the theatre (myself included - my first Bway show was The Lion King) and they are providing good entertainment. They are also only occupying 2 theatres out of how many (one of which they saved and wasn't even usable before).

Disney isn't the Hitler of Broadway and other shows are free to do what they want. If the public isn't there to watch them, Disney should not be faulted.

Getting of my Mickey Mouse soapbox now...

~Jessica

[MissMommy]

Posted: 5/21/05 at 9:16am

Disney was brilliant for Broadway when they/Menken/Ashman brought the book musical back to the masses with Little Mermaid, Beauty, Aladdin, etc. Success begets success - thank you, Mickey.

[ProducersFan]

Posted: 5/21/05 at 9:17am

Oh MissMommy I love your avatar - Teacher's Pet is fantastic!

~Jessica

[Craig]

Posted: 5/21/05 at 9:27am

If they don't start closing then they're definetly gonna build up and that could be problematic...imagine a time with Beauty and the Beast, the Lion King, Tarzan, and the Little Mermaid

Imagine a bunch of shows employing thousands, entertaining millions and continuing to raise production values while also introducing the next generation of Broadway. Problematic? Not at all.

Disney isn't stopping other shows from mounting on Broadway - the fact is, their shows are widely accessible and bring in audiences.

There are plenty of seasons (not so much this one) where theaters have been dark for quite awhile. And, perhaps this is naive - if it ever came to the point where there was really a lock on theaters, I believe new theaters would be built extending the 12 blocks we currently have as Broadway.

While it's unfortunate that some shows might get eclipsed by the corporate giants producing these days - to blame them is a bit simplistic. It's a circular argument, much like movies and TV.

If you think that by removing all the "dumbed down" or "mindless" shows and replacing them with "smart" and "sophisticated" shows will keep musical theatre thriving on Broadway, I fear you might be disillusioned. It isn't just a question of people seeing shows because they are the ones open. (Warning: Cliche Approaching) You can lead a person to Broadway, but you can't make them buy a ticket.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 5/21/05 at 9:33am

I was in the New Amsterdam touring with my old theater group. I thought it was too far gone & thought there was no way this would ever be brought back. Wow was I ever wrong

You should sit upstairs & marvel @ the ceiling

[Marlothom]

Posted: 5/21/05 at 9:34am

I agree with the business only stas as long as people support it idea. Also, I think Disney is a wise enough enterprise to know that it cannot over expose its product for fear of backlash (sorta like the limited ediition DVDS)...I think when Tarzan, Mermaid are ready BATB might be shutting down to make money of the 'closing soon' period while promoting new shows.

[gavrochegirl]

Posted: 5/21/05 at 11:36am

Sort of a mix.

I absolutely hate The Lion King, whereas with Aida, I loved it! But I think Disney should come out with some better musicals like Aida, rather than taking musicals from every Disney movie they've created.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 5/21/05 at 11:38am

I think it's been, in general, a good thing. Their shows haven't been the highest of art, but they've been well done, and I think that's sort of what Broadway needs, in terms of drawing in new and younger audiences, however cliche the claim has become.

Though, I do think that like anything else, too much of a good thing is deadly. They're pure commercializations, and too much of that is going to be hurtful to theatre. It already is.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 5/21/05 at 11:46am

I love Disney's shows. While B&TB is the most memorable and important to me (my first Bway show), TLK is without a doubt the best. It's creative team worked very well to seamlessly and cautiously transfer the movie to the stage. The costumes are the best on Broadway right now and were the best I'd seen in a long time. The cast was wonderfully talented, the sets were wonderful, the orchestrations and lighting were gorgeous.....just a really, surprisingly good Broadway show. Now, AIDA. Oh, AIDA. I really did not like this show at all. The construction of it was amazingly poor, the music was unforgettable with the exception of a very few amount of songs, the book was drab and dull and nothing really stuck out for me at least besides the cast. Sherie Rene Scott, Heather Hedley, and Adam Pascal really tried their best to take the show to a new height but they didnt. It showed, though and kudos to them for that. Heather did deserve the Tony as she saved the show from totally sucking. Im sorry but any show that can take one of the most impecable, perfect operas ever written, butcher it enough, and throw a beauty pageant somewhere in there is a little bit confused.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 5/21/05 at 11:50am

Disney is commercially a huge help for Broadway. Without it, back upon the opening of LION KING and Disney's revisioning of 42nd street (see Broadway: The American Musical - PBS - for more information on it), Times Square would not be as tourist friendly. It brought in so many more tourists and opened more doors to the theater world for tourism and made for more ticket sales across the boards. Regardless of the shows' qualities, they have greatly helped the theater world on Broadway today.