What is with people and Disney?

[theactorsociety]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 12:17am

I find it very odd that people continuously bash Disney Productions for their shows. Beauty and the Beast is continuously drawing crowds to their show. It is an amazing spectacle of a show. The music and script is well written and the visuals are practically unmatchable. The Lion King is undoubtedly the most stunning and out of the box performance I have ever been to. With the ethnic music added to the already great soundtrack and the costuming, it is the best of Disney’s thus far. Aida has great music, a little long as with B&B, but it is powerful. Tarzan is fun and exciting with a great pop soundtrack. And Mary Poppins is one of the most magical and delightful shows I’ve seen. Things happen on stage you can’t explain and it invites into Mary’s world.

I understand that the shows have their flaws: lengthy, some corny lines, but I have not seen a show yet where there is not a moment I’d rather read my Playbill than watch one of the scenes. The main point of going to the theater is to be entertained. To have fun. And I think that each of these shows do that. They are entertaining for 2-3 hours and that’s it. And many people go to a Disney show expecting a mature show, when obviously forgetting that Disney’s target audience is the family. They add some adult humor and innuendos for the mature crowd, but it made to be fun for kids first, then delightful for the adults.

Just my views though :)

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 12:20am

While I agree with you, I just think that people feel this way because some of them actually don't like the shows and feel the shows are too commercialized and that something else that is more original should be running in place of them.

[blaxx]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 12:27am

The main point of going to the theater is to be entertained.

One of them, but it's certainly not all, and doubt it is the main one.
The monkeys at the zoo entertain me, and I don't have to pay to look at them.
It really goes beyond "fun"...now back to the Disney discussion.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 12:34am

Beauty and the Beast is continuously drawing crowds to their show. It is an amazing spectacle of a show.

That's exactly why some people don't like it and not all would agree that it's well written. I enjoy the show, but I accept its flaws which not everyone can do.

The main point of going to the theater is to be entertained. To have fun.

and this is not always the case. sometimes I do go to the theatre to be entertained, but other times I go to be inspired or to be taken on a true emotional journey and some of the shows I would label as "entertaining" would not fit that category.

[defyingravity11]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 12:38am

Personally, I really enjoyed Beauty and the Beast, Aida, and Mary Poppins when I saw them (I wasn't a big fan od Tarzan and I haven't seen Lion King). I still think that Beauty is a very stong show (admitably, a little corny, but still...) I agree that the main reason behind all the Disney bashing is the extent to which their productions are comercialized (perhapse at the expense of quality in the book and score). Still, I think Disney has a legitamit place on Broadway, especially for introducing younger people to Broadway.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 12:55am

The first Broadway show that I'm taking my nephew to is going to be HAIRSPRAY. There are options for kids besides Disney. Not to mention the countless new and long running Off-Broadway productions that are geared toward families.

[raphael06]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 12:56am

I also really enjoy the Disney shows. I just returned from Disneyland and thought to myself as I left, I would love to be in a Disney show on Broadway!I think they're great but to each their own.

[ashley0139]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 1:02am

I am neither a Disney hater or advocate, but I must say that you answered your own question in the first paragraph. Disney is a spectacle and fun and poppy. On this board, people tend to prefer something with a little more substance and less commercial. And with all this commercialism comes expansion, and people don't want to see it taking over Broadway. But exactly what you said in your first paragraph is exactly the reason people don't like it.

[sondhead]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 1:17am

I think Beauty and the Beast could have been great. Too bad Howard Ashman died. Too bad a lot of the added material is terrible.

Lion King is another missed opportunity. Breathtaking, but then Circle of Life ends and it becomes a puppet spectacle that really doesn't tell the story very well. Believe me, people who see it who haven't seen the movie have no idea what the hell's going on 90% of the time.

AIDA was fine, but has some bad numbers (I'm looking at YOU, Build Another Pyramid and Like Father, Like Son)

Haven't seen the others.

Gotta give Disney props for reviving Broadway in the 90's. And ya know, someone has to keep packin the tourists in. As long as there's still space available elsewhere for other shows.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 1:19am

Beauty and the Beast is continuously drawing crowds to their show.
For 18 years, so did CATS. That didn't make it a good show. It means it had a good marketing team. Disney is better at that than they are at musicals.

[uncageg]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 1:23am

"With the ethnic music added to the already great soundtrack and the costuming."

That "Ethnic music" would be African.

I have seen "Lion King", "Beauty & The Beast" and "Aida". I really liked Aida. As far as "Beauty". After the show, I was looking for the moving sidewalk to the next attraction. "Lion King" was good. But it was that "Ethnic music" that made it good. Along with the costumes.

In my opinion, there is a Disney saturation on Broadway. Yes, people will go to see the shows because they are "safe". They already know the story.

And yes, I live in Denver and am seeing "The Little Mermaid". Was not going to see it but I got a block of seats and really should go as friends are going.

I really think they should back off for a few years (4 or 5) and wait to mount a production. In my opinion, "Beauty and the Beast" should go to one of their theme parks when it closes. Yeah, great special effects, but that's what Disney does. Not enough to carry a Broadway show. But it sold.

If I see "Tarzan" it will be a comped seat. And the same with "Mary Poppins".

JMHO

Updated On: 3/15/07 at 01:23 AM

[theactorsociety]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 1:33am

I agree that there are other reasons to see shows. I, as an actor also go for motivation and to see an emotional journey. But plot-wise, the stories are all driven by a character that has an emotional journey to walk.

Also, let's not get into Cats since that is the most disagreed about show ever. I'm not saying that Disney is full of dramatic masterpiece, but if they were'nt movies first then they would be highly applauded. The whole movies on broadway thing is odd because without them there would be a lot more actors out of work. If more new promising shows would pop up, less movie transfers would take the space.

Also the whole money thing...All producers are crazed about their show's finances because the poured their money into the project and want it back.

It's hard for any of us to speak for the masses, but the masses seem to favor the family classics brought to life. Safe-yes. Well marketed-yes, but word of moth sells 40% of tickets after the title alone and the marketing.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 1:46am

"The main point of going to the theater is to be entertained. To have fun."

I guess it depends what type of person you are. Personally, I like to go to be entertained and to have fun. Even if the show didn't have the best storyline, as long as I was entertained, I'm happy.

[FutureAladdinOnB'Way]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 2:33am

I for one love the Disney shows...they're magical and they draw your attention away from the chaotic world that we live in..and like most Broadway books will say, people don't see a show for the actors anymore, they see it for the spectacle and Disney certainly puts on a spectacle with its shows..

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 2:51am

people don't see a show for the actors anymore...

another opinion and not at all grounded in any truth.

[D2]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 8:11am

I think the reason Disney is so reviled is because, more than any other company producing on Broadway today, they have contributed to the "by the numbers", corporatized dumbing down of Broadway.

Their productions, while splashy and entertaining to a huge chunk of the market, have an ersatz, "Broadway-Like" feel that don't begin to equate the rush and adrenaline that a "real" Broadway show has. There is no doubt they produce popular entertainments which draw in the crowds like lemmings. But there is something inherently "Broadway" that is missing from each and everyone one of their productions, although they are smart enough to provide just enough so that no one who doesn't know the difference can tell.

IMHO, MARY POPPINS is the most successful of the bunch (which isn't saying much) because as a co-production with Cameron Mackintosh, they were working with a producer who (no matter what you think of some of his other productions) KNOWS how to produce a Broadway musical, not a close facsimile.

Start shooting, now.

[Sant]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 8:48am

I know I'm going to get shot for this but:

what bothers me the most about the Disney shows is that they aim to please EVERYONE. And for that you have to make a lot of compromises. And when that happens, it means that some areas of the show (plot/score/whathaveyou) suffers, you're focusing on one point to make it more "safe" at the cost of some other point. IMO, MARY POPPINS is a great example of this: a mediocre show which could have been truly great, but taking the "let's make a show which everyone will love" -road cost a lot in quality of the show. Too many crowd-pleaser numbers and tricks, and too little substance.

When you start making a show which will try and please everyone in the auditorium you will have only a mediocre show eventually. If even that.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 9:03am

What fresh "Hell" has DISNEY put Denver thru?
Please explain.

[tazber]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 9:09am

D2 - Eloquent as always.

For me personally, it's that Disney never lives up to its source material's potential. There is more to adapting a movie to the stage than just re-creating the original piece. There needs to be a re-thinking of how to present that material for a completely different medium. They got it right with the Lion King, but have failed to do so with subsequent productions, IMO.
I know they are capable, but sadly Disney always seems to choose the lazy way out.
Of course their shows rake in the dough, so on one level I suppose they have made the right choices, it is show-BUSINESS after all. But that is why they don't get critical kudos.

[Shakespearean]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 9:32am

I feel like I have to reply to this message somehow, yet I'm not sure how. Of course, that's never stopped me before. Coherence may come as I write or you can just skip ahead :)

I go to the Disney shows when I expect to be entertained. As I stated in another post, when I've had a lousy day at work, school is crushing me, I'm stressed or depressed, I hop on the rush line and visit Tarzan. For me, it's pure entertainment, no thinking involved, we know the book is awful but I can get lost listening to Shuler and Merle, laugh along with Chester, and watch Josh sweat and spit on Jen (that probably didn't come out right... I love those guys). My current 'project' is nothing more complicated than trying to figure out some of the ensemble tracks. Their energy is contagious and I always leave feeling better. That's all I wanted.

It's funny, though, I don't get that from Lion King and Beauty and the Beast was amazing when I first saw it (the first week it opened!) but the ensemble has not kept up the energy and the show seems more and more tired and detached every time... it's time to put Ol Yeller down, maw.

No doubt, Disney is a machine. Other groups like the Nederlanders have had multiple shows running at once and, while we know they're a business, it didn't have to feel like one every moment. Disney tries to control the experience, from box office to exits, and you never forget you're part of the marketing machine.

I don't have a problem with marketing, I still remember watching the Starlight Express, Pippin, and Cats commercials when I was younger, and there are a lot of folks who never would have set foot in a theatre without them; we need that. Theatres don't stay open based on the ticket sales of we dedicated few purists and, much as I wish they'd leave the kids home so I can watch Tarzan in peace, the big marketing machine keeps the theatres open so we can see the shows. If half the tourists lured in by Disney stay to catch another show, if the kids get hooked on Lion King so mom takes them to Les Mis, we win and our art survives for another generation. All that said, I still don't want to see Disney's treatment of Elephant Man: the Musical or Assassins on Ice.

[Piercemn]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 9:50am

I agree with you for the most part. I loved Beauty and the Beast when I saw it on tour, but when I saw it again on Broadway 3 years ago it had become a theme park attraction. The Lion King blew me away the first time I saw it, during its MInneapolis tryout, and it was so amazing, I can't bring myself to see it again. I don't want that to be a theme park attraction, too.

While I have no interest in Tarzan (why?) or Aida (it's a perfectly good opera with a great score by Verdi, why listen to Elton John's take on it?) I adored Mary Poppins. I saw it in London twice and it was outstanding.

I am not excited about The Little Mermaid as a stage musical, because I think Sleeping Beauty would be a far more interesting choice, and the creativity that it would take to make that into a stage musical, including the use of Tchaikovsky's score could be fantastic. Besides, next to Cruella DeVil, Malificent has always been my favorite villain because she turns into a dragon.

I have, however, said may times: If this is what Disney is doing to Broadway, do it again!

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 10:32am

I don't hate any show simply because of the corporation that produced it. I also don't automatically love a show for that reason, either.

I grew up on Disney films and television shows, as many of us did. Disney entertainment, as a whole, is a part of my psyche, and represents some of the earliest (happiest and inspiring) memories I have on this planet.

The fact that they dove into the live theatre world was exciting when I first heard about it, but I was also skeptical. Would these shows be Xeroxes of their film counterparts? Would they be kiddie shows sold at adult prices? So far, the answer has been a mixed bag... from brilliant to mundane.

When they first got their feet wet, I was underwhelmed. "Beauty and the Beast" was just like a pumped-up theme park show, albeit a good one. In fact, that's exactly what it was, when they first decided to bring it to NY. Despite them "re-envisioning" the show, it wasn't outstanding. It didn't stink either. But I kept thinking the only thing missing was an ice rink under their feet. Still, it was reliable family entertainment, and it was a big, fat hit... and so they tried again.

Lion King, when it first opened (which was when I saw it), was magnificent. I've refused to go back. Long-running shows tend to turn into a factory fairly quickly, and you might as well be sitting in little boats, as you float by cute robotic dollies singing the same pre-programmed ditty in many languages. So, I've held onto that incredible performance of The Lion King in my memory, as I've done with a few other shows.

With Mary Poppins, I was sorely disappointed. This is "children's theatre" with a $25 million budget, and a $100+ ticket price. No thank you, ever again. No acting on stage anywhere. Just posturing and posing. And grinning incessantly. And two bratty, annoying children that I would have drowned in a gunnysack, given half a chance, but certainly didn't care one wit for, while watching this show.

I've missed the other Disney shows on Broadway, because they haven't interested me enough as "properties" to invest my time and (particularly) money. I will probably never see Tarzan. The movie was only mediocre with a few genuinely fine moments. The source material didn't merit a theatrical adaptation for me. I finally saw "Aida" in Los Angeles, and it was okay. The title character is a great role, but the show written around her is so-so. And unless The Little Mermaid gets "revolutionary, visionary" reviews and word-of-mouth when it hits NY, I'll be missing that one as well.

I take each one, individually. I don't lump them together with one giant opinion or critique... anymore than I lump ALL Broadway musicals together (as some "average folks" are prone do) with an encompassing opinion of them.

[BroadwayBound86]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 10:42am

people don't see a show for the actors anymore

I think that is a false statement but I guess everyone has their opinion on that.

As far as Disney goes, I have no problem with them. The shows have moments where they amaze me, and then moments where I think what the hell were they thinking?! As long as they are able to make enough money to keep the show open, I have no problem. It keeps a lot of people working. The casts are fairly large and there are a lot of people behind the scenes. So as long as it's creating jobs. That's not to say that other productions wouldn't do the same, but Disney tends to have a lot of people working for them.

[bdwybug55]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 10:51am

I say that having Disney on Broadway is a great thing. Anything that can bring the younger generation into the theatre is a plus in my book. What is wrong with some good old fashioned family entertainment? We need to make sure that we have theatre patrons in the future and I think that Disney shows provide a wonderful first time theatrical experience. Do I necessarily run out to see the next Disney show? No...but...there are plenty of families coming into our city that need that outlet.

[eb412]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 10:53am

I love disney music and disney movies and I am very glad they are turning these shows into broadway musicals. Ashman and Menken deserve to have more shows on broadway and if this is how it happens...then fine. I understand peoples frustration that original musicals should be up there....and I agree but I want there to room for both of them because in reality most musicals are based on something and though the process of throwing a movie on stage is as un original as it gets...someone is having to be creative because there are always challenges when putting a movie on stage. It saddens me that there are so few original musicals but i don't feel that is disney's fault. I think disney made a smart choice in taking down B and B so as to put Lil Mermaid up...i think they know two cartoons and one classic are enough. To give disney credit...they are the ones who have most successfully turned movies into musicals...though it seems they are everywhere...many have failed. For every hairspray there are two high fidelitys (also a book...) and there are so many that had a modest run. I think its great that the movie business is feeding into theatre because we need both to support each other...it shouldnt be a fight between the two because theatre would be the one to fall unfortunately. I wish there was more completely original material or even slightly original material but i love to see favorite stories reimagined...and many others do. There is something very exciting about seeing the characters you love right in front of you...or wondering how they will do something and then seeing the creativity behind it. The real problem is that broadway is too small...but if it were just original productions right now...broadway might be dead...so clearly we should just make room for both.