Volume 3, No. 2. January 24, 2002
New Arrivals
It’s
a theatrical show!
Disney’s California Adventure in Anaheim, California, announces the arrival
of “Disney’s Aladdin—A Musical Spectacular,” January 16,
2003. Measurements: 40-minute show on a 120-foot wide by 55-foot-deep (36.5
by 17 meters) stage in a 1,899-seat theater, 50 performers in the company, 29
cast members per day singing five songs, four stage managers per show, 17 technicians
per show, 11 dressers per show, three hair stylists per show, one makeup specialist,
250 costumes, 17 computers to run the scenery for 18 scene changes using 48
pieces of scenery, two lighting computers directing 600 conventional fixtures
and 90 moving lights, and four audio computers running 44 audio tracks and 40
wireless microphones. Delivered by Disney Entertainment Productions Prop Shop,
Fischer Technical Services, Michael Curry Designs, Parsons-Meares, Scenic Technologies
and Tom Talmon Productions.
Disneyland Resort officials didn’t want your typical amusement park press
preview. They didn’t invite the travel writers, they didn’t invite
regional television feature journalists. They didn’t invite us. No oversight
on their part; it was integral to the purpose of the gala opening night for
California Adventure’s new stage show at its Hyperion Theater, which Disney
is positioning more as a theatrical experience than a theme park stage show.
And so, they invited theater critics.
This production is more Broadway-like than midway-type. It was directed by Francesca
Zambello, renowned musical theater and opera director who came to this project
after a gig at the Paris Opera. Broadway choreographer Lynne Tailor-Corbett
did the dances, and Tony Award winner Peter J. Davison designed the sets. While
using songs and music from the original Alan Menken-Howard Ashman-Tim Rice scored
film, Menken wrote a new song for the park production.
For the invitation-only gala opening night, the Walt Disney Co. CEO Michael
Eisner hosted such luminaries as Menken, Rob Schneider, Art Linkletter, Andy
Garcia and Placido Domingo in a true Hollywood-style blow-out. The company pitched
a large sultan’s tent in the parking lot behind the Hyperion Theater and
treated the invited dignitaries and critics to belly dancers, costumed palace
guards, fortune tellers and snake charmers.
And what are the critics saying? Reviews were mixed, which you would expect
from our hard-to-please colleagues. Besides, the real magic of this show is
that patrons get a full-fledged, "Lion King"-type stage show without
paying a cent. Admission to California Adventure for just 40 minutes suddenly
became—Abracadabra!—one of the best deals in the amusement business
AND in theater.
©2002, Minton Enterprises
LLC
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