Little Mermaid on Broadway

[Scar Junior]

Hey all.

My source is VERY close to the director and talked with her today. Not sure yet if they will have one cast or two, I didn't ask too many questions. Francesa Zambello will director with music by Alan Menken and book Doug Wright. I don't know how much I'm allowed to talk about yet. Anyone know anything about it? Feel free to PM me if needed...

From what I hear, this should be amazing. Francesa is one of the great directors of our time.

 

[arielbabe]

wow this sounds interesting

 

[Legacy]

I hope they do better with it then they did Tarzan... the technical aspects of that show far outweighed the Story and Music aspects of it.

I've heard of a couple of casting things in regards to Ursela, with the original idea being for Emily Skinner. But since she skipped out mid-way through her contract with On The Record, I don't know how her relationship with Disney Theatrical presently is...

 

[meryll83]

I love The Little Mermaid!
Is this Broadway you're talking about? (edit - I'm the thickest person ever, I've just re-read the subject title, duh! Will be a very long time before we get it in lil' old London then I guess)

Scar Junior appears to be quite a hottie!!

 

[S.E.A.]

yeah, Alan Menken wrote a whole bunch of new songs (i think you can find some of them on the web), it debuts next year, it's already been known for a while. People are even speculating that the TLM show in MGM might close because of it.

Scar Junior, did your source tell you how they will handle the underwater scenes? or how they will handle Ariel during the second act where she's supposed to not have a voice?

anyway, can't wait for the show, the Little Mermaid seems to be coming back to the spotlight, with the new DVD coming out and all.

 

[meryll83]

I can't wait for the DVD, I think I'll go as far as to say that this is my favourite Disney movie and I've been waiting so long for the DVD!!
I need to get Robin Hood too, but I don't want to buy it just yet as I have a feeling as soon as I do they'll release a Special 2 disc edition!
Anyone know where I can find details of movies due to be SE's?

(Sorry, went totally off track there, as you were!)

 

[Scar Junior]

I talk to my source daily so I will have him talk to her (the director) about the water effects, etc. I'll let you know when I find out any more info, hopefully within a day or two. Anything else I should ask about? Keep in mind the director is quite a funny woman, thus she might give a non-answer. I'm trying to get in a position where I can talk to her personally.

Thanks meryll, you're not so bad yourself!

-Scar

 

[LilDucky]

I can't wait for the DVD, I think I'll go as far as to say that this is my favourite Disney movie and I've been waiting so long for the DVD!!
I need to get Robin Hood too, but I don't want to buy it just yet as I have a feeling as soon as I do they'll release a Special 2 disc edition!
Anyone know where I can find details of movies due to be SE's?

(Sorry, went totally off track there, as you were!)

I also cant wait for October! TLM is the platinum edition I have been waiting for! Here is a list of official platinum editions:

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showpost.php?p=1010838&postcount=2

Robin Hood isnt going to receive the platinum treatment, but who knows, maybe they'll release a double disc edition in the future? I think they just released a double disc for Dumbo ("Big Top Edition"). However, for the meanwhile, RH is going to remain as a single disc gold edition.

I *think*, the Jungle Book is going to be released next Spring, and 101 Dalmatians next Fall.

 

[nyy102]

Sounds good to be bringing the Little Mermaid to Broadway, it has to be better than Tarzan. I still don't understand why Aladdin isn't on Broadway though, it's a classic and the Aladdin show at DCA was extremely well done.

 

[Scar Junior]

yeah, Alan Menken wrote a whole bunch of new songs (i think you can find some of them on the web), it debuts next year, it's already been known for a while. People are even speculating that the TLM show in MGM might close because of it.

Scar Junior, did your source tell you how they will handle the underwater scenes? or how they will handle Ariel during the second act where she's supposed to not have a voice?

anyway, can't wait for the show, the Little Mermaid seems to be coming back to the spotlight, with the new DVD coming out and all.

They are still in the casting process. My source has been offered one of the leads. I'm trying to convince them to take it, so we'll see! I am also unsure if they are using 1-2 casts. There will be 8 shows a week I've been told.

The water effects and other production look might be done by Julie Taymor. She has not signed on yet. Chances are it will look somewhat similar to Lion King.

 

[imagineer boy]

Wait a minuite, what happened to Tarzan? Did I miss something?

 

[arielbabe]

I love The Little Mermaid!
Is this Broadway you're talking about? (edit - I'm the thickest person ever, I've just re-read the subject title, duh! Will be a very long time before we get it in lil' old London then I guess)

Scar Junior appears to be quite a hottie!!

ill will take ages to come to london

 

[meryll83]

So do we think I'm safe to go out and buy it after depriving myself for so long?!
Are these US or UK discs we're talking?
Coz I think we've just got Dumbo as a 1 disc . Needless to say I've not bought that either, I'm waiting for my super duper multi disc editions!

Ok back to TLM, I keep sidetracking!
Hey hottie (I've renamed you!), any insider knowledge how they'll do Sebastian and Flounder etc... are they gonna do it like VOTLM with like UV and black lights?
And all the ship stuff? Oooh it could be soooo cool!

 

[Legacy]

Wait a minuite, what happened to Tarzan? Did I miss something?

Tarzan is currently playing in the Richard Rogers Theater. It's not that good of a show...

 

[nyy102]

What happenned to the Tarzan Broadway show is that many critics panned it. On top of that, I recently heard on the news that Beauty and the Beast, which has been on Broadway for 12 years, is easily selling more tickets per show than this brand new Tarzan show is, which signifies that it really isn't working out financially. A lot of people around Broadway are also saying that they believe that Tarzan will be Disney's first Broadway flop, if it hasn't been already.

This causes me to question Disney's motives here. Beauty and the Beast was a successful and popular live show at MGM before going to Broadway. The Lion King had a similar short stage show in the MK (where Mickey's Philharmagic is now), which included the actors dressed as animals and everything, that was highly successful before it went to Broadway. The Little Mermaid has long had a good show at MGM that is popular, and I predict it will do well on Broadway. Tarzan had a pretty crappy show at AK, which the one time I saw it the theater was only 1/4 and the majority of the people left before it was over, myself included (for all I know, not one person stayed to the end). Why in the world would they then put this on Broadway? Were they truly banking solely on the music of Phil Collins? And how long is it going to be before Aladdin, which has a successful and popular stage show at DCA, where crowds are smaller than in other Disney parks, no less, comes to Broadway?

 

[Scar Junior]

The failure of Tarzan is the exact reason that they are going all out and going after the big production people for Mermaid. I heard they are considering 200 chorus members, though I don't know the validity of this.

All I hear is that they will go all out. It is all or nothing, mostly due to Tarzan and the director's personal style.

 

[Legacy]

The failure of Tarzan is the exact reason that they are going all out and going after the big production people for Mermaid. I heard they are considering 200 chorus members, though I don't know the validity of this.

All I hear is that they will go all out. It is all or nothing, mostly due to Tarzan and the director's personal style.

It wasn't the production values that hurt Tarzan. Visually, the show is breath-taking and extremely well presented (for the most part). What hurt it is the writing. The book just isn't that good, and the new songs, though fitting don't grab you like Broadway songs should.

If they condensed it with just the songs from the movie it would have made a great theme-park show...

 

[Legacy]

What happenned to the Tarzan Broadway show is that many critics panned it. On top of that, I recently heard on the news that Beauty and the Beast, which has been on Broadway for 12 years, is easily selling more tickets per show than this brand new Tarzan show is, which signifies that it really isn't working out financially. A lot of people around Broadway are also saying that they believe that Tarzan will be Disney's first Broadway flop, if it hasn't been already.

This causes me to question Disney's motives here. Beauty and the Beast was a successful and popular live show at MGM before going to Broadway. The Lion King had a similar short stage show in the MK (where Mickey's Philharmagic is now), which included the actors dressed as animals and everything, that was highly successful before it went to Broadway. The Little Mermaid has long had a good show at MGM that is popular, and I predict it will do well on Broadway. Tarzan had a pretty crappy show at AK, which the one time I saw it the theater was only 1/4 and the majority of the people left before it was over, myself included (for all I know, not one person stayed to the end). Why in the world would they then put this on Broadway? Were they truly banking solely on the music of Phil Collins? And how long is it going to be before Aladdin, which has a successful and popular stage show at DCA, where crowds are smaller than in other Disney parks, no less, comes to Broadway?

Honestly, Tarzan has a story that works well for Broadway, and the songs that Phil Collins wrote for the movie work extremely well on stage. It had the potential to be another Lion King. It's pulling in crowds... and advance ticket sales are high (I was lucky in getting a chance to see it), but like my previous post the book and story became to jumbled and instead of using the music to enhance the story (as it should be), the story seemed kinda shoehorned in to fit the songs. That's of no fault to the director, but to Disney Theatrical. They tried to hard and got burned.

Is it a flop for Disney? Yes. For Broadway? No.

Lestat was a flop for Broadway.