Well I think they might use a muscle suit for King Triton. My second choice for Ariel is Amy Bodner. My second choice for Ursula might be Harvey Firestein.
Just a little correction: Pat Carroll was the original voice of Ursula - Pat Hingle is a male character actor who has been in about every other movie made for the last 40-odd years (ie: Commissioner Gordon in the Batman films.)
An excerpt from Ken' INSIDER column at Broadway.com......
Q: Given the Broadway success of all three Disney musicals, I think it's strange that the show based on Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame has never played this country, even though it played for several years in Germany. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.---Robert R.
A: The stage version of Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame had a run of several years in Berlin, under the title Der Glöckner von Notre Dame. It was a vast improvement over the film, which was rather too cutesy a treatment of a serious property. And the film's score was likewise greatly enhanced for the stage. In fact, the Glöckner CD is one of the most enjoyable theatre recordings of recent years, the Alan Menken-Stephen Schwartz score very impressive. (Dance of the Vampires' Michael Kunze did the German translation of Schwartz's lyrics and James Lapine's book.)
With set design by Heidi Ettinger and projections by Jerome Sirlin, Der Glöckner was an elaborate production, but one that could be scaled down. I prefer Der Glöckner to all three (four, if you count King David) of Disney's Broadway productions. There has been talk of a live-action television version of the Menken-Schwartz-Lapine show, with Avenue Q director Jason Moore most recently attached to the project. In any case, I think the stage version of Hunchback worthy of a U.S. tour that might include a Broadway stand, but I have to assume that the folks at Disney don't agree.
Of course, there was also Notre Dame de Paris, the hit French pop-opera version of the same Victor Hugo novel. That one had an extended run in London and also played Las Vegas, where it was not a success. But Glöckner's score is vastly superior.
But how about Amy Bodnar as Ariel. Did any of you see her as Laruey? And what would you think of Randy Harrison of Wicked and Queer as Folk as Terk in Tarzan?
Updated On: 7/3/04 at 07:18 PM
Oh and one more thing don't give me the silent treatment! Because I hate silence! Anybody home? Hello! Is this suddenly yesterday's News?
Updated On: 7/3/04 at 08:07 PM
I think Mary Poppins is supposed to be first; last I heard, they were shooting for Fall of '06 with Tarzan. If I'm ever able to speak normal words to Adam Pascal, I'll ask him if he knows.
Laura Bell Bundy told me she was going to be Jane in Tarzan alongside Matt Morrison. No clue if this is accurate, but those were the words straight from her mouth.