Disney on Broadway

[CaseyRae]

Posted: 11/21/04 at 3:29pm

Hey - I'm new here, but I was wondering if I could get some help with something:

I'm doing a research paper on the effect the Disney Company has had on Broadway since releasing three hit Broadway musicals. I've found some information, but not nearly enough...I was hoping someone here would be able to point me in the right direction. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much! :)

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 11/21/04 at 3:31pm

the rejuvination of 42nd street - look that up

[jacobtsf]

Posted: 11/21/04 at 3:40pm

Watch the PBS Broadway 6 hour special, they did a nice segment on Disney.

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 11/21/04 at 4:29pm

i've always wondered... why do people hate Disney on Broadway... i've never truly understood the hatred some people have... is it the shows because they aren't excrutiatingly bad then most shows... what's the deal? thanks

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 11/21/04 at 4:33pm

*smacks head*

The responses to that question should be interesting; I guess a lot of people are put off by the flashiness... some people think that the Disney shows were/are only about being big, bright and visual, and lack theatrical merit, I suppose.
*points to icon*
Flawed, but not tragically so. Could be way worse.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 11/21/04 at 5:12pm

A former director said he never wanted to see THE LION KING because he already knew the movie and liked it - and from the many clips he has seen of the show, it looks like too much of a spectacle. Special effects, outstanding costumes, great music, and great sets/lighting.

However, the acting is average. The plot becomes boring. With the plot already boring, you sort of know what happens next.

Some of the acting is bad. But I don't think its the actor's fault - I think its the direction. For instance, when Adult Simba says "I'm going back!", he just stands there, make a pose with his arms, runs in place, then leaves. VERY cheesey. This is an opportune time for a nice moment - but they corn it up.

AIDA is outstanding. The songs are exceptional (with the exception of "Like Father, Like Son," and "Another Pyramid." These two songs were just SO boring. Turning both into dialogue scenes would have been more effective. The choreography during "Another Pyramid" was especially cheesey. Unmoving. Pointless.

The sets were remarkable, the plot was OUTSTANDING, and the costumes doable. The only problem with the show (besides those two songs) were the acting. When they started bringing in those pop stars, the show wasn't worth seeing anymore because the acting turned the greatness of AIDA off. Heather Headley was supreme. You bring in MICHELLE T. WILLIAMS to replace Heather Headley? Forget about it! Might as well close!

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST had similar problems with LION KING. No real issues with acting. Sets were nice, songs were great, although some seemed to lack. I would have liked them to tone down the Disneyness even more and make it more darker. Belle's new song "Home" is a great addition, as is "If I Can't Love Her" that was added for the Beast. But these great songs are lost in a show that should be more emotionally stirring.

About Disney's impact on Broadway? Well, they restored the New Amsterdam Theatre for LION KING - and its beauty now shines again. Disney reinvented merchandising for Broadway. Instead of the average t-shirt with the logo from the show, Disney has several different shirts for each show. And there's unique items, too. They have LION KING puppets, each show has several different types of pins, etc.

And yes, you MUST watch disc 3 of the Broadway: The American Musical documentary. They have an entire segment devoted to Disney.

And just a brief schedule for Disney's upcoming projects:

2004/05: ON THE RECORD is now touring. Disney is looking into bringing this to Broadway.

2005: MARY POPPINS will make its Broadway debut after playing nearly a year in London.

2006: TARZAN

2007: THE LITTLE MERMAID

[I <3 You]

Posted: 11/21/04 at 5:19pm

Mary Poppins and Tarzan on Broadway? Or well, Mary Poppins is probably good, but ... Tarzan?!?!

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 11/21/04 at 5:20pm

Tarzan is in its very early stages right now; there have only been a handful (if that) of readings. If certain members of that cast remain (and no, I'm not just refering to my favorite singing guitar player) I think it has potential. The music is excellent.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 11/21/04 at 5:27pm

Also have been workshops for TARZAN and readings for MERMAID.

[timote316]

Posted: 11/21/04 at 5:29pm

I think a major impact of Disney on Broadway is their shows ability to bring in new fans. People go to see the familiar Disney shows (Lion King and Beauty and the Beast), and its possible that these people become Broadway fans for life.

[CaseyRae]

Posted: 11/22/04 at 12:04pm

Thanks so much for all the help, guys!! :)

[DickonDefysGravity]

Posted: 11/22/04 at 1:28pm

Down with Tarzan!!!

UP with Hunchback of Notre Dame

[B.B. Wolf]

Posted: 11/22/04 at 1:37pm

One of the reasons a lot of people in the Broadway community have animosity toward the Disney shows is the fact that they don't require the best talent to sell tickets. The product is already a packaged deal. It's guaranteed money. They surround mediocre talent (as long as they look like the characters from the films who cares what they SOUND or ACT like, right?) with huge sets and special effects and dazzle the audience into thinking they're watching something of substance. Make no mistake, I thought that Lion King wouldn't go down that road after it opened. It was something very cool and unique. Now it's just lazy and dispassionate. But, another bottom line, is that Disney on Broadway is not an artistic endeavor, it's a financial one. (Which I can't really rail against because Broadway is no longer an artistic endeavor for anyone.) But part of the lure of Broadway in the past was the new arrivals, the new productions. Now, producers will keep a show in a theatre as long as it's making money. Disney banks millions upon millions from the Lion King every year. I appreciate everything they've done for 42nd Street. Truly great work. If they want to continue that benevolence, they need to learn when to cut a show off. Even if they fill the New Amsterdam with another one of their shows, that's a good thing. Let's just get the old stale stuff off Broadway so we can get something exciting on the boards again. Something that not just tourists, but Broadway enthusiasts can get behind. Like we were when the Lion King FIRST came to Broadway.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 11/22/04 at 4:35pm

Many people didn't like the influence Disney had in the cleaning up of Times Square. They felt it turned what was a unique "New York" experience into a theme park, and after my last visit to NYC, I can somewhat see what they mean (though I didn't see it as strongly before).

As for the musicals, I see no problem with them on Broadway. It is no different than the movie-to-stage shows others produce and Beaty and the BEast and The Lion King were of exceptionally high quality, though as most long-running shows, they are becoming tired and lifeless. Aida is the one Disney show I simply did not like. To me, the different elements of the show (book, score, set, lighting, costumes) worked against each other rather than together to attempt to tell an ancient Egyptian story without the use of anything ancient or Egyptian. There was nothing new or innovative happening and other than Sherie Rene Scott, I found little to like. I did see Hunchback in Germany and though the score (including a few new songs) and book are very good (other than a poorly placed first act ending), the staging, movement and choreography were painfully dull. I still think it could work on stage, but only the set for God Save the Outcasts is worth salvaging.

[SallyBrown]

Posted: 11/22/04 at 5:23pm

im seeing Beauty and the BEast as my first Bway show in December, do they have a store with T-shirts and stuff?

[Jon]

Posted: 11/22/04 at 6:01pm

"On the Record" isd a sleazy, cheesy marketing tool. It's a concert of old Disney tunes, disguised as an actual musical by using a phony "plot" about a group of people gathering in a recording studio to make a CD of Disney tunes. Of course, you can then go out to the theatre lobby and purchase the CD you "saw them record" on stage.

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 11/22/04 at 10:37pm

My god, that IS a stupid "plot"! Could they find no other way to link up all the songs?

[clarky]

Posted: 11/23/04 at 2:24am

I have seen Lion King and Beauty and I liked both. It had magic and I think that's what Disney is all about.

But when I saw Hunchback in Berlin I was so dissapointed. They turned the family friendly movie, which was pretty good I thought, into this dramtatic heartles thing! That was the worst thing I have ever seen. It was dark, cold and heartless. And the direction of James Lapine was just bad. I liked his Into The Woods but this was just crap! The even changed the names of the gargoyles from Victor, Hugo and Laverne into Charles, Something (forgot his name)and Loni. The whole joke was gone.

I hope the TV Movie will be better. If Hunchback was your first Disney show you have seen, I can totally understand why people don't like Disney anymore. There was no Disney Magic!!!

[Chrysanthemum62001]

Posted: 11/23/04 at 2:28am

I wouldn't consider Hunchback to be a family friendly movie. Perhaps I'm too old fashioned, but the first time I saw it, I couldn't beleive it was meant for kids.

I would LOVE LOVE LOVE (one love just wasn't enough) to see this on Broadway along with any other Disney show they see fit to produce. I love Disney. Always have, and always will.

[clarky]

Posted: 11/23/04 at 2:31am

And they let Esmaralda die at the end!! That is nothing for Kids.......they love female princess type. And those characters never die in a Disney Movie!!

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 11/23/04 at 2:32am

I don't really have an issue with Disney shows being on Broadway as long as they actually deserve to be. I thought BEAUTY AND THE BEAST was magical when it first opened, and even though some of the talent as done down, I still think it's completely magical show and Disney's best. THE LION KING is completely overrated and the performers just seem tired. The costumes are obviously cool, but that only takes you so far. I think the sets are okay, but the show is just so incredibly boring. The movie is FAR better and I think it's time for the KING to step down. Thank god AIDA closed - they took a show with some potential and amazing music and made it seem so flat onstage. It was terribly directed and AWFULLY choreographed. So after having an intitial positive reaction, then 2 negative reactions to their shows, I can't help but be suspicious about what's to come.

[Chrysanthemum62001]

Posted: 11/23/04 at 2:37am

Munk, I agree with you completely about The Lion King. Like you said, the costumes are cool, but I left being SO dissapointed. I've said many times that I much prefer to see the movie.

Now Beauty and the Beast and Aida on the other hand, I adored.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 11/23/04 at 9:36am

*glares at munkustrap*

No, you know I love you... in spite of that small matter of opinion.

Updated On: 11/23/04 at 09:36 AM

[JBSinger]

Posted: 11/23/04 at 9:45am

Perhaps you could look up the gross revenues of each show. You also could compile figures of the numbers of actors who have gone into each show (and the road if possible). They've been there for 10 years now and that surely has had some major economic impact in NYC and across the country. Perhaps someone at Actors Equity could be interviewed.

I do understand why some in the Theatre community are upset by Disney's presence and in some ways, they are right. I, too am hoping they would develop more original work instead of bringing classics to the stage (even though some of them would be wonderful). With the rising costs of Broadway, Disney is among the elite "Corporate" producers willing to take a chance and put something up.

Some thoughts on structuring your report:
I. Physical impact on NYC (42nd Street)
II. Economic impact in NYC/USA
III. Artistic impact (could pull quotes from more recent books and interviews from industry leaders/actors if you can get a hold of them).
Good luck with your report.

[NYC20042]

Posted: 11/23/04 at 10:48am

Read the chapter "Disneyfication of Broadway" in the book "Making It on Broadway: Actors' Tales of CLimbing to the Top" to really learn about how Disney has changed theater.