www.themeparkinsider.com: Disney announced this evening that its award-winning musical show "Aladdin" will close at Disney California Adventure in January, to be replaced by a new "Frozen"-themed musical.
"Aladdin" debuted at the park's Hyperion Theater in late 2002 and won this year's Theme Park Insider Award for the world's best theme park live show. Frequently updated with topical jokes from the show's iconic genie, Aladdin has proven to be a solid crowd-pleaser for more than a decade.
10 comments:
I don’t know a whole bunch about Disney live stage shows, but I did see the Finding Nemo show when I was younger at Disney World and has blown away. I think Disney has something going for it when producing shows and I’m not quite sure what it is but it works. Something interesting about this is that the Aladdin musical on Broadway did not open all that long ago compared to when it opened at Disneyland and is still running on Broadway, but now they are closing the Disneyland version. Even more interesting is that it was recently announced that a stage production of Frozen was being developed for Broadway. It does not really make sense to me why they would create two versions of the same story. I wonder if perhaps they were trying to do research on audience reaction to the story of Frozen before it premiers on Broadway. I’ll be interested to see what happens either way.
As some one who is a die hard Disney fan, and who enjoys watching both Frozen and Aladdin I am not surprised that Disney is doing this. The Aladdin musical in the parks opened long before the Aladdin musical opened on Broadway. This was Disney’s way of being able to workshop a new musical that if successful enough could potentially move on to bigger and better things. It is almost like winning the producing lottery. You can make a profit off of people watching your workshop while at the same time developing it to be exactly what you want. Now that Aladdin has proven to be a success in New York on the “great white way” it is time to take the workshop production out of the park and replace it with something new to be workshopped, and that is Frozen. I think this is a great way of testing out shows and am intrigued to see what happens next.
Aladdin is a great show and will definitely be missed at Disney California Adventure. I think a Frozen show is a very good idea. Frozen has become extremely popular especially for younger kids. It is a great story that is a little different than the normal Disney princess and prince story. Frozen is between two sisters, which is a lot more relatable especially to young girls who have sisters. I hope that the show includes songs from the movie because they became really popular and made the movie even better. I am excited to see what kind of special theatrical effects there will be. There are a lot of cool and interesting things to do with the snow and storm sequence. The ice will be very interesting to see on stage and how the scenic department will make it look. I think Frozen will be a very good production if it is done right and I have faith in Disney to make that happen.
This is pretty exciting. I’ve been hearing rumors since Frozen came out about what? 3 years ago that they launched the movie to create the trend but they are actually planned for Frozen to be a musical. I’m always kind of interested in how Disney team works and how they planned for a thing like this. It’s like it’s all been very well laid out of course since it’s Disney but I wanted to know the entire preparation process. I wonder when is the beginning, like the starting point, or called it day 1 of Frozen project. I’m curious on how they come up with the story and how they developed the plan. This will be really interesting and a very invaluable experience for us theatre people, or in my opinion, especially managers to learn about the process of one of the most successful company in the world like this.
So, I’ll begin by stating I’m not much of a Disney fan, at all really. But in particular I have very strong feelings against Frozen. Personally, I find the movie has no plot really. It’s not riveting or exciting, it’s just about an intentionally lost princess who doesn’t want to be found. So when I hear that Disneyland is closing their Aladdin show, to include a Frozen one instead, I’m pretty upset. I think Disney is beating a dead horse. They had a successful movie, which is great, but so much of their content is geared toward Frozen that the consumer base is going to get tired really quickly. This choice is just another example of this. If they include a third Frozen show, sure, kids might want to see one or two or even all three, but soon children are going to get tired of Frozen. Then they won’t have much else to see or do in the park, and specifically they won’t have an Aladdin show to see. I hope Disney at least closes some of the other Frozen based attractions to open up some newer shows, giving the park more diversity. Or else pretty soon Disneyland is going to be a Frozen theme park.
I don't think I've ever seen a live show at Disney, but I've seen pictures from the Finding Nemo show and the costumes, set, and lights were gorgeous and had incredible attention to detail. As far as the switch from Aladdin to Frozen, I'm not convinced it's a good idea but I hesitate to get my pitchfork and torch just yet. I know this is the kind of thing, much like shutting down the Norweigan boat ride in Epcot to replace it with a Frozen-themed ride, that some fans will complain about forever. I personally liked the Frozen movie, but I understand why people would be frustrated by the fact that everything seems to be about Frozen nowadays. However, as a business choice it makes perfect sense. Aladdin has run for 14 years, and Frozen is a popular animated film that will probably do very well converted into a live musical. It's new and intriguing, and knowing Disney's attention to detail on their musicals I'm personally very excited to see the end product because even if you're not a fan of the story, it will probably be beautiful by itself.
At the risk of sounding crotchety - at my ripe old age of 20 - turnover like this really grates. I could easily leap up on my soapbox, shake my fist at the younger generations and gripe about their lack of respect for the classics. But this changeover from Aladdin to Frozen rankles with me for more reasons than that. With two other Frozen themed productions in development, is this one really necessary? It seems like market over-saturation. When this over abundance of Frozen shows is paired with the fact that the Aladdin show was still thriving, the move seems even more questionable. The Aladdin show was updatable, and able to evolve with the times. It will be very interesting to observe how this (these) new Frozen production(s) date over time, and whether this franchise will have the longevity to justify such sweeping, wholesale changes. I also must wonder what classic movie will be the next to go.
While this news is upsetting, it is not at all surprising. The Aladdin show at California Adventure obviously has many similarities to the one on a Broadway right now. Though it is clearly a lower quality production, the show at California Adventure basically gives park visitors an abridged version of the Broadway musical at no extra charge. This could keep people from seeing the Broadway show, thinking "Oh well I saw that at Disney already. I want to see something I haven't seen before." That's where Frozen comes in. Frozen is newer, more popular, and more unique to the parks. Frozen is not on Broadway (yet) and probably will not be for some time. A Frozen show will resurge the Frozen frenzy that took over the world two years ago, and may even bring people into the parks just to see it. Additionally, Aladdin's ticket sales will go up, since there is nowhere else to see it.
With all the buzz about Frozen, I can’t say I’m surprised that Disney is creating a live version for Disneyland. This change in show will give Disney an opportunity to create and implement new technology and techniques for the theater. Despite its reputation for maintaining control of everything related to a project, including the people and what they are allowed to discuss, Disney has an impressive ability to influence theater. I had a chance to tour the Hyperion Theater, where Aladdin is, when USITT was in Long Beach a few years ago. The venue is impressive, as is the show, but the fact that it has been installed for so long and that (as is the case in most theater) every show wants to be the same means the technology hasn’t changed much since the time of the installation. However, the fact that Disney invests so much in these installation pieces means that they are able to be ahead of the curve initially on technical theater. Although the excitement of Frozen may die down, though I doubt it, Disney is poised to remain a leader in the world of technical theater.
What a shocker! Disney creates another princess themed attraction. Having never seen Frozen I do not understand the obsession, however, I have heard from all ages that it is a great movie. I was just having the conversation today about how Disney is progressing and creating new works for the newer and newer generations. I think it is sad to see such "classic" stories come to an end, such as Aladdin, but I guess not everything lasts forever. It is odd to think, however, about how Disney who creates only timeless fairytales is losing its timeless touch. Is the content no longer relevant or are there just bigger and better things and technical spectacles on the horizon?I cannot imagine a day where Disney loses it magic completely. Some classics are forever, and hopefully with the changing generations, and new phenomenons, such as Frozen, Disney will remain a pioneer for new theatrical and technical works.
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