Should Disney stop producing musicals?

Yes

apart from a brand new Hunchback that is closer to the original German production

Who cares? They are going to do what they want, and if I don't want to see what they produce, I won't. Doesn't matter to me one bit.

No. People crap on Disney a lot but they have honestly done a lot of good for Broadway. Their shows might not be the best anymore but they are a fantastic gateway for many children into theatre. I mean really... how many people on this board that are in their like early 30s or their 20s can raise a hand and admit that one of if not their first Broadway show was Beauty and the Beast or Lion King? *Raises hand* Parents want to take their kids to a show, but don't know what to take them to? What's the safe bet for a small child's first Broadway musical? Something Disney, duh.

I wish they'd re-tool Hunchback as I think it's a glorious score and show, and should be seen by more people.

But I do wish they'd take some creative risks. But again, Aladdin is a terrible, terrible show, and yet it is raking it in. So whatever.

I'd love to have seen what Timbers did with Frozen though.

Gizmo6 said: "Like take Matilda and the bravery the RSC showed in cross gender casting Trunchbull, Ursula without doubt should have been cross gender casting but Disney aren't that brave."

To be fair, Rafiki is played by a woman.

Personally, I'm all for Disney continuing to produce, given the strength of their catalog... still praying for Hercules to come to the stage!... but I do wish they'd take more risks.

No - why should Disney stop producing musicals? Actors, musicians, crew, box office and theatre staff are being employed, and millions of people all over the world are going to the theatre, spending money and pumping money into the local economy.

Disney is a business - an extremely successful business.

I remember when discussing theater meant Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Rogers & Hammerstein, Leonard Bernstein .... now, it's Disney cartoons.

How patronizing and reductive. August Wilson, Edward Albee, Sam Shepard, Tony Kushner, Tom Stoppard, Sarah Ruhl, Paula Vogel, Wendy Wasserstein, David Ives, Christopher Durang, Brian Friel, John Guare, Terrance McNally, Stephen Sondheim, Kander and Ebb, Kopit and Yeston, Ahrens and Flaherty, Cy Coleman, Stephen Schwartz, Andrew Lloyd Webber, William Finn, Jonathan Larson, Elton John, Schoenberg and Boublil, Jason Robert Brown, Adam Guettel, Michael John LaChiusa, David Yazbeck, Shaiman and Wittman, Robert Lopez, David Henry Hwang, Richard Greenberg, Nora Ephron, Harvey Fierstein, John Leguizamo, John Patrick Shanley, Yasmina Reza, Michael Frayn, David Hare, Jeanine Tesori, Lin Manuel Miranda, Martin McDonagh, Alfred Uhry, Tracy Letts, Conor McPherson, Pasek and Paul, Kitt and Yorkey...AND Disney cartoons. Is it always "or"? Is it never "and"?

"Discussing theatre" means discussing theatre and "theatre" has never been about only one thing. Stepping into the wayback machine is only indicative of nostalgia. Like every other art form, theatre grows and evolves. Musical theatre adapted comic strips with Li'l Abner in 1956 and films in 1957 with Hazel Flagg (there may have been others earlier, but those are the ones I can think of at the moment). "Cartoons", as an art form, have also evolved and grown, so the notion that the adaptation of animated films as live theatrical works half a century past the peak of the Golden Age really doesn't seem so ridiculous.

Updated On: 11/20/18 at 08:52 AM

Broadway started as low to middle-brow spectacle and entertainment. It remains such.

(it's also worth noting that a lot, even most, of the plays of Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller aren't particularly good. It's not all Streetcar and Salesman).

Updated On: 11/20/18 at 09:59 AM

ghostlight2 said: "The opening announcement of FROZEN not only asks people to turn off their phones, and kindly reminds them not to sing along, but thanks and welcomes the kids attending a Broadway show for the first time and expresses the wish that it is a begining of a lifetime of attending theater.

I'm not their audience, but I'm pro-Disney all the way.

Also, what Mister Matt said."



AGREED. I sat next to a 5 year old girl in a Princess Anna costume when I saw Frozen, and I was keeping half an eye on her to make sure she didn't fall out of her booster seat (her dad was not paying attention to her, but that's besides the point). When Caissie Levy was busting out "Let It Go" her eyes were GLUED to the stage and I have NEVER seen someone so excited about theatre. That show was probably life-changing for her. Disney shows help give kids and families a gateway to theatre. I normally help the woman I babysit for help pick out shows for her kids (ages 10 and 12). They started with The Lion King, then worked through Aladdin and Frozen. And now that the kids understand how theatre "works" (the ettiequte, the style) they're starting to see Phantom, and Wicked, and they're seeing MFL next week because they learned to love theatre through those first few Disney shows.