Shannoninthemagic
Well-Known Member
I might get to see the first stop of the into the woods tour and I'm hyped. SJB was my Elphie when I saw the show on tour. I also like sondhiem petter then ALW
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So, You Want to be an Imagineer Season 20: The Final Frontier(Land) - An Invite Only All Stars Event!
- Thread starter TheOriginalTiki
- Start date
monkey92514
Well-Known Member
Avenue Q and Great Comet, plus Chicago and Urinetown
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PerGron
Well-Known Member
It’s cliche but I have to say The Lion King. It’s a genuine masterpiece and ups the soundtrack even more from the film
The first thing I want to say is that I think it's cool how each project so far this season the teams have approached the prompt in really different and interesting ways. We had a more naturalistic and high concept Frontierland pitted against the more classic Cowboys and Aliens sci-fi theme. We saw the clash of a more Weird Al centered project vs. one where Al is a cameo. We saw one team take on a dramatically different half-indoor format for the Pandora project. Nowhere is this more clear than in this round. I'm actually kind of blown away by just how much of a yin-yang these two shows are to each other. We've got a real Avenue Q vs. Wicked situation on our hands.
I was...less than enthused when I found out ya'll were picking Swift
I'm just not big on pop music in general. I had some major hipster energy in college that I'm still trying to break out of, but because of that phase Taylor's catalog has kind of passed me by. What I really like about this pick though is just how much financial sense it makes. Look at the TicketMaster drama. While it wasn't great from an optics standpoint, it absolutely proved that if you put Taylor in a tiny intimate black box setting I'm betting Disney could charge literal thousands of dollars per ticket and sell out every night. From a synergy point of view I thought this was a grand slam.
Not gonna lie...I was hooked by the plot I've actually very much been in August's exact position before so I really felt the human drama of the characters and loved how nobody was in the wrong at all. It was a very morally rich tale of decent if flawed people coming to terms with the people they are and the people they'll become. The story gave me a big, BIG Waitress vibe. As someone who's currently in a transitional phase in life I actually found the message of self-love to be really helpful on a personal level. @Pi on my Cake absolutely crushed it with the write up. I genuinely loved the passion coming from everyone on the team.
I do have a few nitpicks, mostly in the team-work department. While I think the Monkey/Tegan/Shannon/Pi quadrant was really killer this round (don't tempt me to coin the "Theater Geeks" alliance ) I did feel throughout the round that Brer Panther and AceAstro were being left out in the cold a bit. I feel like more could have been done to communicate what roles they could play. Once Taylor was decided on the two of them just kind of got lost in the shuffle. Now...part of this is on them. I feel like Ace and Pi were in very similar positions with not being Swift fans going in and Pi certainly took the bull by the horns. It's just something I want everyone to be aware of moving forward especially as we approach the merge. It's never a fun feeling when you're essentially on the outside looking in on your own team. There were also some last minute presentation issues that are totally understandable but I have to give you a ding for. Most notably is that I really, really wish you would have included a playlist. I realize you were under a time crunch, but these small details can make or break a project if they're not included. Overall it was a really, really strong story but I think Nu-Chapek out-paced you in presentation.
The What If musical I feel is such a weird almost polar opposite to my thoughts on Eisner's project. On a presentation level it's really well done. I very much appreciate the effort of having original compositions and concept art. I think Chapek had the upperhand in getting the minute-by-minute details of Broadway down thanks to the Tegan/Shannon/Monkey trio, but this still flowed really well. One BIG thing that I think was a major missed opportunity was addressing the Spider-Man of it all. How do you NOT include a Reeve Carney Spider-Man cameo? Generally speaking I think Turn Off the Dark was a big elephant in the room I feel the project just didn't spend enough time addressing, as is the general taboo of superhero stuff on Broadway.
Much like the Swift project, I think one of the big strengths here was the story. All of the What If scenarios were presented really well, and I loved the framing device of the Watcher. Also I think Taye Diggs as The Watcher might be my single favorite piece of casting between the two projects. I particularly loved the reninvention of Demon in a Bottle and how that showed just how prominent someone's personal burdens can be even in the face of a huge victory. That was a really poignant theme that really hit home for me. I also really loved the Daredevil story. The idea of his father's death being the catalyst to him being a great man is rich with dramatic irony. I'm not going to ding you at all for the shortened second act given the circumstances. Overall I thought the individual stories flowed into each other really well and the Watcher's intro and outro narrations worked as beautiful transitioning points between the scenes.
There's a couple pretty notable issues I need to bring up. First and foremost while i very much appreciate the effort of the compositions I think this story being a musical to begin with felt misplaced. It's really hard to shake the Spider-Man Rocks/Turn Off the Dark vibes when costumed characters just start belting out power ballads in the middle of dramatic moments. I think one of the issues here is that there's just too many songs. You have one listed for pretty much every dramatic beat and just reading through it's hard to visualize the actual flow from scene to scene. This is certainly not the first musical to have the issue of songs messing with the pace of the story, but the superhero IP really didn't help. I think in these cases the better way to go about it would be to either have less songs (like maybe just one or two showstoppers per scenario) or go the Hamilton route and go all in with it being entirely sung through. I absolutely get that this is a hard middle ground to meet, but I think song flow is one of the most important components of a musical hitting me the right way.
Overall I think it's fascinating how polar opposite these two projects are and I'm really interested in hearing other feedback as I feel like I was a bit more subjective with my personal tastes this round compared to most given the subject matter. While What If I feel was certainly a stronger pick for the casual Disney/theme park fan, I think Taylor Swift has a much stronger pull with the Broadway crowd. I stress this every time but it's especially true now. Both projects were fantastic in wildly different ways. What If was the over the top and bombastic, super theatrical "Wicked" of the two whereas Taylor Swift is the tiny black box theater Avenue Q style show that could.
I was...less than enthused when I found out ya'll were picking Swift
I'm just not big on pop music in general. I had some major hipster energy in college that I'm still trying to break out of, but because of that phase Taylor's catalog has kind of passed me by. What I really like about this pick though is just how much financial sense it makes. Look at the TicketMaster drama. While it wasn't great from an optics standpoint, it absolutely proved that if you put Taylor in a tiny intimate black box setting I'm betting Disney could charge literal thousands of dollars per ticket and sell out every night. From a synergy point of view I thought this was a grand slam. Not gonna lie...I was hooked by the plot
I've actually very much been in August's exact position before so I really felt the human drama of the characters and loved how nobody was in the wrong at all. It was a very morally rich tale of decent if flawed people coming to terms with the people they are and the people they'll become. The story gave me a big, BIG Waitress vibe. As someone who's currently in a transitional phase in life I actually found the message of self-love to be really helpful on a personal level. @Pi on my Cake absolutely crushed it with the write up. I genuinely loved the passion coming from everyone on the team. I do have a few nitpicks, mostly in the team-work department. While I think the Monkey/Tegan/Shannon/Pi quadrant was really killer this round (don't tempt me to coin the "Theater Geeks" alliance
) I did feel throughout the round that Brer Panther and AceAstro were being left out in the cold a bit. I feel like more could have been done to communicate what roles they could play. Once Taylor was decided on the two of them just kind of got lost in the shuffle. Now...part of this is on them. I feel like Ace and Pi were in very similar positions with not being Swift fans going in and Pi certainly took the bull by the horns. It's just something I want everyone to be aware of moving forward especially as we approach the merge. It's never a fun feeling when you're essentially on the outside looking in on your own team. There were also some last minute presentation issues that are totally understandable but I have to give you a ding for. Most notably is that I really, really wish you would have included a playlist. I realize you were under a time crunch, but these small details can make or break a project if they're not included. Overall it was a really, really strong story but I think Nu-Chapek out-paced you in presentation. The What If musical I feel is such a weird almost polar opposite to my thoughts on Eisner's project. On a presentation level it's really well done. I very much appreciate the effort of having original compositions and concept art. I think Chapek had the upperhand in getting the minute-by-minute details of Broadway down thanks to the Tegan/Shannon/Monkey trio, but this still flowed really well. One BIG thing that I think was a major missed opportunity was addressing the Spider-Man of it all. How do you NOT include a Reeve Carney Spider-Man cameo? Generally speaking I think Turn Off the Dark was a big elephant in the room I feel the project just didn't spend enough time addressing, as is the general taboo of superhero stuff on Broadway.
Much like the Swift project, I think one of the big strengths here was the story. All of the What If scenarios were presented really well, and I loved the framing device of the Watcher. Also I think Taye Diggs as The Watcher might be my single favorite piece of casting between the two projects. I particularly loved the reninvention of Demon in a Bottle and how that showed just how prominent someone's personal burdens can be even in the face of a huge victory. That was a really poignant theme that really hit home for me. I also really loved the Daredevil story. The idea of his father's death being the catalyst to him being a great man is rich with dramatic irony. I'm not going to ding you at all for the shortened second act given the circumstances. Overall I thought the individual stories flowed into each other really well and the Watcher's intro and outro narrations worked as beautiful transitioning points between the scenes.
There's a couple pretty notable issues I need to bring up. First and foremost while i very much appreciate the effort of the compositions I think this story being a musical to begin with felt misplaced. It's really hard to shake the Spider-Man Rocks/Turn Off the Dark vibes when costumed characters just start belting out power ballads in the middle of dramatic moments. I think one of the issues here is that there's just too many songs. You have one listed for pretty much every dramatic beat and just reading through it's hard to visualize the actual flow from scene to scene. This is certainly not the first musical to have the issue of songs messing with the pace of the story, but the superhero IP really didn't help. I think in these cases the better way to go about it would be to either have less songs (like maybe just one or two showstoppers per scenario) or go the Hamilton route and go all in with it being entirely sung through. I absolutely get that this is a hard middle ground to meet, but I think song flow is one of the most important components of a musical hitting me the right way.
Overall I think it's fascinating how polar opposite these two projects are and I'm really interested in hearing other feedback as I feel like I was a bit more subjective with my personal tastes this round compared to most given the subject matter. While What If I feel was certainly a stronger pick for the casual Disney/theme park fan, I think Taylor Swift has a much stronger pull with the Broadway crowd. I stress this every time but it's especially true now. Both projects were fantastic in wildly different ways. What If was the over the top and bombastic, super theatrical "Wicked" of the two whereas Taylor Swift is the tiny black box theater Avenue Q style show that could.
Disney Warrior
Well-Known Member
I don’t have much to say for these projects considering I’m not a big fan of either Marvel or Taylor Swift (in fact, What If and Folklore are both kinda unfamiliar to me), but I like the musical prompt, it keeps this game interesting. I don’t see What If becoming a musical in the future (of all of the Disney+ films, I think Encanto is the most likely to be turned into a musical), and as for the Swift musical, I bet security will have to be bigger since TS is involved (and TicketMaster better not be used here lol). Great job guys
monkey92514
Well-Known Member
Oddly enough, Circle In The Square is one of the Bway theaters that doesn't use Ticketmaster haha
God I could only imagine all the TicketMaster jokes if Taylor and Beetlejuice were ever on Broadway at the same time. 
Shannoninthemagic
Well-Known Member
Part of my reasoning as a bway and swift fan for suggesting swift. It's super clear to everyone that she is going for the EGOT. All the signs point that for the broadway part, she's going to do it herself. ( point supported by the fact that there's a max martin musical ( & Juliet ) on broadway right now ( he helped with Shake it off and a few others) . None of her songs are in there, and that would have been a really easy shot at a tony.
monkey92514
Well-Known Member
The return engagement of Beetlejuice was in a Ticketmaster-using house fwiwGod I could only imagine all the TicketMaster jokes if Taylor and Beetlejuice were ever on Broadway at the same time.
Shannoninthemagic
Well-Known Member
Fun fact, Reeve Carney and Patrick Page shared a stage again in Hadestown until quite recently ( Page played Green Goblin)
Winter Garden is a nice choice
Winter Garden is a nice choice
monkey92514
Well-Known Member
Btw major props to the What If? project for the Mary Poppins ad in Times Square lol
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PerGron
Well-Known Member
I have so many questions
Disney Dad 3000
Well-Known Member
Good catch! Haha
Can I get a copy of that picture I can use for the podcast thumbnail?
Nevermind, I dug through the brainstorming to find it! Alright folks, show time is 10PM Eastern tonight. The elimination will be announced, the next prompt will be revealed, and a very enticing Walt's Vault twist will be unleashed!
SYWTBAI Inside Baseball: Project Four - "Synergy: The Musical" Results Show
Tiki and Goofy reveal which team won this week's Imagineering Battle on Broadway and which Armchair Imagineer will be going home in 12th place on the All Sta...
www.youtube.com
Also for anyone interested, Monkey will be giving his thoughts on Disneyland's Runaway Railway, his first impressions on the new Toon Town, as well as some general observations on the 100th Anniversary stuff going on at the park at 9PM Eastern.
Monkey's Thoughts on Disneyland's Runaway Railway (Generic Theme Park News Show)
Monkey gives his on-field report on the impressive queue upgrade and minor ride tweaks found within Disneyland's Runaway Railway. Also included is our though...
www.youtube.com
Shannoninthemagic
Well-Known Member
I don't think i've ever been more nervous about a result here on the forums
Lizzy May Bee
Well-Known Member
A little unconventional but my favorite is probably Twisted by Starkid, not only is It really strong in the parody department, but it also has a really good soundtrack and story.
