Theme Park Musical question

[BigNorm]

Will we ever get anything like DCA's Aladdin - A Musical Spectacular or DL's Snow White - An Enchanting New Musical, which opens the 23rd, or would you consider Beauty and the Beast at the Studios the precusor to these shows, or even like those shows at all?

Mind you when I say will we get anything like them, I don't mean clones, but something of our own, Cinderella perhaps? With the success they've had w/ Aladdin you'd think we'd at least get some sort of Broadway type production.

P.S. I realize that there really isn't anyplace in WDW that could house such attractions, I'm just asking about someday.

 

[MGMBoy]

There's always the old "Doug Live!" Theatre. But do the Studios REALLY need another show like that? Then there's the former Millennium Village at Epcot. Wasn't there a rumor that they were going to do something like that in Tomorrowland between Buzz and Space Mountain?

 

[xfkirsten]

I'd say the Hunchback of Notre Dame over at the Studios is (was) a reasonable comparison to Snow White here. As for Aladdin, well, it would be hard to put on a show at that level without the theater to do it in, like you said.

The only thing that makes me wonder is cost. Not of setting it up, but ongoing costs, especially paying performers. When I was in WDW Entertainment, I heard constant rumors of management wanting to cut back on shows like Tarzan Rocks and Beauty and the Beast for this very reason. The problem is: those type of shows are almost all (if not all) Actor's Equity Association performers (live singers, actors, many dancers, and stunt people). They get paid muuuuuuch more than what other performers at the parks get paid, at least. I believe the Equity minimum is $500 a week - and I'm willing to bet it goes significantly higher when you start casting Broadway actors as they did for Aladdin. So to pay an entire cast (often two casts per day due to Equity regulations) of Equity is a significant cost. Now whether or not WDW really does want to cut those shows I don't know, that was just rumor. But it all comes down to whether or not WDW is willing to pay those ongoing costs, above what they'd pay other Cast Members.

Did that make any sense?

-Kirsten

 

[nicholas]

Originally posted by xfkirsten
I believe the Equity minimum is $500 a week

The equity minimum is over $1300 dollars per week for a normal contract. But then again, I'm pretty sure Disney has worked out a special contract with equity which would allow for differences. So maybe that $500 figure is correct.

 

[Atta83]

I think if a show is good then keep it . If its bad then get rid of it. But at least rotate the shows.....

Atta

 

[xfkirsten]

Originally posted by nicholas
The equity minimum is over $1300 dollars per week for a normal contract. But then again, I'm pretty sure Disney has worked out a special contract with equity which would allow for differences. So maybe that $500 figure is correct.

You may be right on the $1300. Someone awhile back told me $500, but they may have been wrong.

-Kirsten

 

[Bill]

Yes, there are plans to bring those style shows to WDW. Tomorrowland is being redone. The Rocket tower plaza stage (the little temporary one with no seats) is being removed. The Tomorrowland Stage (Between Buzz and CoP) is going to be completely rehabbed and enclosed. It's not happening for a year though.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Originally posted by Bill
The Tomorrowland Stage (Between Buzz and CoP) is going to be completely rehabbed and enclosed. It's not happening for a year though.

Its about time that area was used for a show - its about the only thing thats missing from MK. As much as I'd like to see Hunchback return, I hope a new show makes a debut there

 

[Jusjuice]

I think it's funny that MGM has had so many shows and so few rides for so long. At one point they had Fantasmic, Beauty and the Beast, Indiana Jones, Doug Live!, Bear in the Big Blue House, the Daily Parade, and Hunchback all running at the same time. If it costs so much to put on a show, why can't they invest in a few dark rides??
I wish they would put that Beauty and the Beast show out of it's misery....it's been there for what, 12 years....and it's NOT THAT GOOD. With so many outdoor theaters, it really would be neat if they built an Enclosed Broadway-style theater in either a 30's Hollywood style on Sunset Blvd., or New York Street.

 

[bdhowell]

Originally posted by Bill
Yes, there are plans to bring those style shows to WDW. Tomorrowland is being redone. The Rocket tower plaza stage (the little temporary one with no seats) is being removed. The Tomorrowland Stage (Between Buzz and CoP) is going to be completely rehabbed and enclosed. It's not happening for a year though.

I like this, but what type of show would be ok to put in Tomorrowland due to its theme. You wouldn't put Aladdin (which is my favorite) in Tomorrowland, would you?

 

[kanepresten]

Equity Minimum

Accdg. to the Actor's Equity contract, found at http://www.actorsequity.org/library/rulebooks/disney_rulebook_2000.pdf , the minimum hourly pay for an equity actor is btw 11.82 and 13.25 an hour. So a full time actor (40 hrs per week), in a lead role, gets a minimum $530 (THis number is also mentioned on the Disney Auditions website, I'm not sure where though). The $1300 number you have heard is the minumum weekly pay for actors in Disney Theatrical, the people who make Lion King, Aida, and B&B on Broadway and in touring productions. They ave a different contract from equity, and Disneyland does not ahve equity as its union, so they have diferent guidlines for paying performers.
Interestingly, the equity contract expires this september. I wonder what is planned for negotiations for the next contract.
KP

 

[xfkirsten]

Re: Equity Minimum

Originally posted by kanepresten
Accdg. to the Actor's Equity contract, found at http://www.actorsequity.org/library/rulebooks/disney_rulebook_2000.pdf , the minimum hourly pay for an equity actor is btw 11.82 and 13.25 an hour. So a full time actor (40 hrs per week), in a lead role, gets a minimum $530 (THis number is also mentioned on the Disney Auditions website, I'm not sure where though). The $1300 number you have heard is the minumum weekly pay for actors in Disney Theatrical, the people who make Lion King, Aida, and B&B on Broadway and in touring productions. They ave a different contract from equity, and Disneyland does not ahve equity as its union, so they have diferent guidlines for paying performers.
Interestingly, the equity contract expires this september. I wonder what is planned for negotiations for the next contract.
KP

Ah, thanks for the clarification on that!!!! Out of curiosity, do you happen to know often Disney and Actor's Equity generally hammer out new contracts?

-Kirsten

 

[barnum42]

Originally posted by xfkirsten
But it all comes down to whether or not WDW is willing to pay those ongoing costs

They already save a bundle by not having live music at most shows. I used to love the castle shows with the live band at the front of the stage.

 

[kanepresten]

Re: Re: Equity Minimum

Originally posted by xfkirsten
Ah, thanks for the clarification on that!!!! Out of curiosity, do you happen to know often Disney and Actor's Equity generally hammer out new contracts?

-Kirsten

The current contract went into affect like 5 years ago, and ends this september. I guess that must be the standard contract term. But i suppose it is all relative.
KP