Disney- Page 2

[Schmerg_The_Impaler]

Posted: 12/29/08 at 11:19am

Well, if he did another show, it wouldn't be the FIRST recent Broadway musical written by a zombie.

[ifuweregay93]

Posted: 12/29/08 at 12:31pm

^ Lol! Are there seriously others? I can' think of any.

[gypsy4]

Posted: 12/29/08 at 4:37pm

I'm still waiting for a musical adaption of the black cauldron with patti lupone playing all the parts.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 12/29/08 at 6:45pm

eww Finding Nemo into a musical? What is this world coming to? I think Jonathan Larson needs to come back here.

Finding Nemo: The Musical is a 40 minute theme-park show whose design borrows heavily from The Lion King. There are 19 songs, but most are less than two minutes long. Allison Case was the original Nemo (and quite good). It's a lovely production, and ideal for Disney's Animal Kingdom, where it currently plays. Disney has said repeatedly they have no plans to expland it, so just chill out there, buddy.

[kchenofan]

Posted: 12/29/08 at 11:56pm

It would be appreciated if we didn't bash the late great Jonathan Larson. He obviously couldn't have been that bad considering the major success "Rent" has had. I'm loving Schmerg's zombie comment, though.

[TheCharleston]

Posted: 12/30/08 at 2:49am

"He obviously couldn't have been that bad considering the major success "Rent" has had"

And that's where we disagree...

you will insist that the RENT success is based on his material (which I think is rather sloppy and weak)

I believe RENT is what it is because of his death, his choice to confront controversial issues, and his musical stylings.

That's much different than writing a "good" musical. RENT has a huge list of ugly flaws.

He's extremely mediocre

I'm not sure where you can but get your hands on his demo recording from the late 80's of one of his unpublished musicals BOHO DAYS. It's terrible.

and TICK, TICK, BOOM! is nothing great... at all.

[rockfenris2005]

Posted: 12/30/08 at 4:42am

Isn't there supposed to be an English production of "The Bell-Ringer of Notre Dame" in development for the new year?

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 12/30/08 at 4:57am

TheCharleston: I have read a number of your entries on various threads and find it disheartening that you always seem to put other people down and are, in general, negative. As a newcomer to this Board you would give more credence to your posts if you would balance your negative views with positive entries. You seem so angry so much of the time.

[Schmerg_The_Impaler]

Posted: 12/30/08 at 9:09am

Rockfenris-- They've been bandying about plans for a Notre Dame live musical for a long time (I know they did the German version several years ago), but they never seem to come to fruition, and they're never at the top of the Disney composers' lists. Which makes me really sad, because I feel like that would be the most powerful Disney musical and the one that would really work best on the stage, and it's my favourite Disney film as well.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 12/30/08 at 11:37am

"That's much different than writing a "good" musical. RENT has a huge list of ugly flaws."

Because those crappy Disney shows are so much better. I almost fell asleep four times during the Lion King; Beauty and the Beast was an overblown theme park spectacle, Tarzan suffered from poor design and a childish book; Mary Poppins is pretty much a live-version cartoon; and The Little Mermaid makes Carrie: The Musical look like a Tom Stoppard play.

[Magica]

Posted: 1/1/09 at 1:48pm

http://www.lajollaplayhouse.org/

Fosse76, what did you think of Aida? I'm in a humorous mood.


Updated On: 1/1/09 at 01:48 PM

[Weez]

Posted: 1/1/09 at 1:55pm

I don't think TheCharleston is a newcomer to the board. Only by that name. :P

[dramamama611]

Posted: 1/1/09 at 1:59pm

While personally, I am NOT a fan of Disney on bway (I prefer grown up stories for my dollar) we must give credit for creating a place where b'way could indeed be a family event. And given that, Disney has found a way to create a forthcoming generation of b'way lovers.

While I am not entertained tremendously by Disney on Bway; it is a joy to bring my children and watch THEM experience the magic of a show appropriate for them. Most importantly, it gives us a chance to talk CRITICALLY about what we see...and not just 'love it' because it was on b'way. (I cannot STAND to bring my kids to local children's theater that is both cheesey AND of terribly poor quality.) It also gives them a chance to learn about theatre etiquette in a more appropriate setting.

My biggest problem is when the show is all spectacle and has little creative or artistic merit.

[Weez]

Posted: 1/1/09 at 2:03pm

Does a show *have* to have artistic or creative merit? There's something like forty theatres on Broadway; that's surely room enough for a little fluff that has nothing more to offer than a fun evening out. No one wants forty theatres full of fluff, but just as it's nice to sit down with a tub of Ben & Jerry's every now and then, it's also nice to sit down and switch off your brain in the name of watching pretty singing and dancing every now and then.

[popular_elphie]

Posted: 1/1/09 at 2:28pm

When HUNCHBACK was written for the stage, it was written in English as well as German. The librettist, James Lapine, posted the libretto online : http://home.alphalink.com.au/~paga/hunchback/script01.html. Also, there's a video on YouTube of Drew Sarich singing a bit of the English "Made of Stone" on Chatterbox. Awesome.
I really want HUNCHBACK to come to Broadway. I think that they could do wonders with it.

I also have to share a quote from Howard Ashman that I read recently. In reference to The Little Mermaid, and animated movies:
"This is the only medium you can do that. I mean, what are you going to do? On the Broadway stage, you're going to dress people up like lobsters? 'Cats' notwithstanding, this is the only medium where you can have that particular kind of fun."