I got to attend this event this morning as a guest of Paige O'Hara.
There were numerous honorees, including Regis Philbin and Jim Henson (whose kids performed a classic routine of his from 1955), but I assume the singing princesses are of the greatest interest here, because all come from Broadway backgrounds.
Paige, Benson, Rose and Salonga were the first third or more of the show: all gave gracious and deeply personal speeches. (The statue is pretty much indescribable, so I won't try.) Then they sang and the audience went wild!
Paige's challenge is always that Belle doesn't have a big "I want" song in the original film and the number named for Belle is mostly a chorus song about her. That's why Paige often sings the title song (particularly since Lansbury doesn't perform it much if ever). Today, Paige opened the singing with a medley of "Belle", "Beauty and the Beast" and "Be Our Guest." She's belting these days rather than singing like a teenage soubrette, which only makes the BATB songs sound richer and more mature.
Rose may be 20 years younger than the other women, but her "Almost There" was delightful--even better than in the film. I think Salonga sang something from Mulan ("Reflection" maybe?); it sounded familiar, but wasn't something I knew like "Whole New World"; I don't know what to say about her that hasn't been said in other threads here: suffice it to say she has by no means "declined". Benson sang "Part of that World" exactly as she sang it for the film 22 years ago, i.e., very, very well, indeed.
Then the four joined together on "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes."
And the crowd of 3 to 4 thousand went nuts, especially for Paige and Benson. The other two women have Tony Awards, but Belle and Ariel are the most iconic of the Disney princesses, I think. And today was a Disney day.
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In answer to the poster above, yes, Jodi Benson thanked God at the beginning of her remarks and ended by citing John 5:15; at one point she referred to her Disney work as her "ministry." But what the hell? It was her time and the references to her faith were sincere without being judgmental or condescending.
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I met all of the women at the luncheon while getting them to autograph a program for my granddaughter, Emma. They could not have been nicer or more gracious, despite all the competition for their attention.
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A big personal treat for me was getting to meet Richard Sherman of the famed "Sherman Brothers" (who wrote the score for "Mary Poppins," et al.) and a Disney Legend from years ago, of course. He was just as kind and gracious as he appeared in the recent documentary about the brothers. Example: after coming over to the table to congratulate Paige, Richard then proceeded to introduce himself one-at-a-time to each of her friends and family members.
(ETA Somebody told me at the luncheon that Robert Sherman (the brother not in attendance) had died. Thanks to Best12bars for pointing out the error, so I could fix it here. And thank God I didn't mention Robert's "death" to his brother!)
I'm not normally big on meeting celebrities, but this was a day when I genuinely enjoyed every one I met.
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So there it is. Disney clearly takes the Legends very seriously and spared no expense.
I know this would be a more interesting post if I had better gossip. But these honors aren't competitive like the Tonys, so the mood is consistently celebratory. There are no "losers" and thus no bitchiness to share here.
Updated On: 8/20/11 at 05:14 AM
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