HowlRound: The sun never sets on the Disney empire. We are told in a program note for Disney Theatrical Productions (DTP),
With 15 productions currently produced or licensed, a Disney musical is being performed professionally somewhere on the planet virtually every hour of the day. Worldwide, its eight Broadway titles have been seen by over 124 million theatergoers and have, cumulatively, run a staggering 195 years.
It is both puzzling and laughable that Disney claims a history of nearly two centuries when its first experiment, Beauty and the Beast (the first experiment) opened on Broadway only in 1994.
2 comments:
There are a couple of things that really annoy me about this article: 1) The author is completely misusing DTP's 195 years statistic. DTP's statement in no way comes across as saying that the company has 195 years of historical experience; it is a way for the company to state that it has many shows that have been running strongly, and have collectively clocked a lot of (linear) performance time! 2) I really don't like when people discount the value of theatre that is simply meant to entertain. People obviously love seeing the movies from their childhood up on stage, because they are willing to pay a lot of money for it! By this token, the general public doesn't mind that the stagings of the movies are not retelling the stories in a new and creative way. This is the only kind of theatre that many people would even be willing to spend the money on, so shouldn't we (as theatre practitioners) be happy that these shows are getting people to leave their couches and see a live show? There is a place for theatre that is fun and visually stunning; there is also a place for theatre that is more creative and intellectually stimulating, and the world is a better place for having both types of theatre in it. There are too many theatre snobs out there who need to figure that out.
I had no idea there were so many plays of Disney movies. I'm not quite sure why the article is lambasting the DTP for not doing something more original in their productions, as most people are going to see the show because they want the old comfort of movies from their childhood presented in a new medium. If they had tried to change or reframe any of the current shows, I don't think that they would have been nearly as successful, because that's not what the audience is looking for when they go to see the show.
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