TH 497
American Musical Theatre
May 2015
DISNEY ON BROADWAY
& WICKED
DISNEY THEATRICAL
PRODUCTIONS
Disney Theatrical Productions Limited,
also known as Disney on Broadway, is the
flagship stage play and musical production
company of the Disney Theatrical Group, a
self-contained division of The Walt Disney
Company.
Founded in 1993, as Walt Disney
Theatrical, the division has gained a
reputation within the industry for creating
professional and popular (both critically
and financially) performances, starting with
the acclaimed Beauty and the Beast in
1994.
At the end of the 20th century, the Disney Corporation made a
big investment on Broadway and they continue to be a major
player on Broadway to this day. The Lion King continues its
record-breaking run and Newsies, originally scheduled for a
limited run, recently closed its three-year run on Broadway and is
currently on tour. Aladdin opened on Broadway in 2014 and is
still playing in the flagship New Amsterdam Theatre.
Thomas Schumacher is the director
of Disney Theatricals. He oversees
all Disney stage properties in New
York, on tour and in other venues
throughout the world.
History
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
Beauty and the Beast is a musical with
music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard
Ashman and Tim Rice and a book by
Linda Woolverton, based on the 1991
Disney film of the same name. Seven new
songs were written for the stage musical.
Beauty ran on Broadway for 5,461
performances between 1994 and 2007, the
eighth longest-running production in
history.
King David is a musical, sometimes described
as a modern oratorio, with a book and lyrics
by Tim Rice and music by Alan Menken.
The musical is based on Biblical tales from
the Books of Samuel and 1 Chronicles, as well
as text from David's Psalms. A concert
version directed by Mike Ockrent was staged
at the New Amsterdam for a limited run in
1997 to officially re-open the remodelled
theatre.
The New Amsterdam Theatre
Located at 214 West 42nd Street
Built in 1903 (Restored in 1997)
Capacity 1,702 - now 1,793
Owners/Managers:
Erlanger & Klaw (1903-??)
The Nederlanders (1983-1993)
The Disney Corporation (1993-now)
Architects:
Herts & Tallant
Restored by Hugh Hardy (1994)
The New Amsterdam Theatre
The flagship of Klaw and Erlanger's theatrical empire,
the New Amsterdam (New York City's original Dutch
colonial name) remains one of America's most
outstanding examples of art nouveau architecture. When
the Great Depression made tenants scarce in the 1930s,
the New Amsterdam became a studio for Ed Wynn's
radio series. The main theatre served as a movie grind
house from 1937 to 1983, at which time the theatre
closed for "renovations." Delays and ownership battles
stretched over a decade, until Disney took over the
property in 1996 and invested $34 million in a sumptuous
restoration. After more than a century, The New
Amsterdam is once again Broadway's grandest theatre,
and is designated an official New York City landmark. A
693 seat rooftop theatre housed Ziegfeld's Frolics, and
served as a radio studio and rehearsal space through the
1950s -- unfortunately, it was too far gone to be part of
the restoration.
Noteworthy Musicals: Forty
Five Minutes From Broadway
(1906), The Merry Widow (1907),
Sweethearts (1913), Ziegfeld Follies
(1913-1927), Watch Your Step
(1914), Sally (1920), Sunny
(1925), Rosalie (1928), The
Bandwagon (1931), Face the
Music (1932), The Lion King
(1997), Mary Poppins (2006),
Aladdin (2014)
Auditorium of the refurbished New Amsterdam Theatre
From 2006 through early
2013, The New Amsterdam
was home to the Disney
Mackintosh production of
MARY POPPINS.
The Lion King debuted July 8, 1997, at the
Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis, Minnesota
before premiering on Broadway at the New
Amsterdam Theater on November 13, 1997. On
June 13, 2006, the show moved to the Minskoff
Theatre to make way for the musical version of
Mary Poppins, where it is still running. It is now
Broadway's seventh longest-running show. The
show uses a range of theatrical techniques, and is
not a conventional musical, yet is probably the
most popular production Disney Theatrical have
ever conceived and one of the most loved
productions in the world. The production won
the Tony Award for Best Musical at the 1998
Tony Awards.
Based on the opera by Giuseppe Verdi, Aida
tells the story of a Nubian slave who falls in
love with an Egyptian captain. It was written by
Elton John and Tim Rice and began previews
on February 25, 2000 before officially opening
at the Palace Theatre on March 23, 2000. Aida
closed on September 5, 2004 and ran for a total
of 30 previews and 1852 performances. The
Broadway production won four Tony Awards
including Best Actress (Heather Headley), Best
Scenic Design, Best Lighting Design and Best
Music. Since its run on Broadway, it has had a
U.S. national tour and productions around the
world.
Tarzan was based on the movie of the
same name and the novel Tarzan of the
Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs. It
debuted on Broadway on May 10,
2006 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre.
The show was heavily publicized with
Phil Collins and the lead actors
promoting the new musical on several
media shows including Today and
Good Morning America. After
playing for over a year the show closed
on July 8, 2007.
The musical began Broadway previews on
November 3, 2007 and opened on January
10, 2008 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre,
despite a stagehands strike (which ended on
November 28, 2007). The world premiere
took place at the Denver Center of the
Performing Arts in Denver, Colorado. The
show features all the songs in the movie and
nine new songs written by Alan Menken and
lyricist Glenn Slater. The book is by Pulitzer
Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright
Doug Wright. The musical opened to mixed
reviews and featured Sierra Boggess as Ariel,
Norm Lewis as Triton, Sherie Rene Scott as
Ursula and Tituss Burgess as Sebastian. It
closed on August 30, 2009 after 685
performances and 50 previews.
Cameron Mackintosh's stage adaptation of
Mary Poppins had its world premiere at Bristol
in 2004 before officially opening on
September 18. The production then moved to
the Prince Edward Theatre on December 15,
2004. A UK tour of Mary Poppins commenced
in June 2008 and ended in April 2009. The
Broadway production opened on November
16, 2006, following a month of previews in
the New Amsterdam Theater. The production
closed on March 3, 2013 after 2,619
performances.
Bob Crowley, one of today’s
most celebrated scene
designers was responsible for
the settings for Mary Poppins.
Disney Theatrical Productions and La Jolla Playhouse (California)
adapted Peter and the Starcatchers--a prequel to the Peter Pan story--into a
play with music. The new play is written by Rick Elice, co-directed by
Roger Rees and Alex Timbers, and is based on the novel by Dave Barry
and Ridley Pearson. It was produced as part of La Jolla Playhouse's Page
to Stage program, and ran from February 13, 2009 through March 8,
2009. An off-Broadway production opened at New York Theatre
Workshop before transferring March 28, 2012 to Broadway.
Newsies The Musical is a
Disney Theatrical Productions
stage musical based on the 1992
film Newsies, which in turn was
inspired by the real-life
Newsboys Strike of 1899 in
New York City. The show has
music by Alan Menken, lyrics
by Jack Feldman, and a book by
Harvey Fierstein. The musical
premiered at the Paper Mill
Playhouse in 2011 and made its
Broadway debut in 2012.
Aladdin Musical Blog - fansite
Stephen Schwartz
Featuring the songs of Stephen Schwartz,
whose earlier credits include:
Musicals:
Godspell
The Bakers Wife
Pippin
Children of Eden
Working
Collaborations: Bernstein’s MASS
Films:
Pocahontas
The Hunchback of Notre
Dame
The Prince of Egypt
Enchanted
“Popular”
Maguire
Wicked (2003), is based upon the best-selling
novel by Gregory Maguire that re-tells
Baum's Wizard of Oz from the Wicked
Witch's point of view -- a reminder that
history is often told (and distorted) by the socalled "winners.” The screenplay was written
by Winnie Holzman.
Marc Platt
Joe Mantello
Wayne Cilento
Produced by Universal Pictures by Marc Platt and David Stone, the Joe
Mantello–directed and Wayne Cilento–choreographed production of Wicked
premiered on Broadway at the Gershwin Theatre in October 2003, after
tryouts at San Francisco's Curran Theatre in May 2003.
Defying Gravity
Its original stars included Idina Menzel
as Elphaba, Kristin Chenoweth as
Glinda, Norbert Leo Butz as Fiyero and
Joel Grey as the Wizard. The original
Broadway production won three Tony
Awards and six Drama Desk Awards and
its cast album received a Grammy
Award. It celebrated its ninth anniversary
on October 30, 2012 making Wicked the
12th longest-running Broadway show in
history (almost 4,000 performances).
Norbert Leo Butz as Fiyero and Idina Menzel as
Elphaba in the original production.
WICKED Producer Affirms
'There Will be a Movie’
RUMORS:
Amy Adams?
Leah Michele?
Julie Stiles?
Jennifer Hudson?
A TV mini-series?