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Elizabeth Jane Cochran didn't exactly make headlines when she was born in Western Pennsylvania 148 years ago this Saturday. But all of that would change when -- at just 16 years of age -- Ms. Cochran took up the pen name Nellie Bly and thus became America's first female investigative reporter...

It's actually kind of fitting that a Disney Theatrical Production with the word "new" in its name would find a brand-new way to reach out to its fans. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved In a first for Broadway, cast members from the acclaimed new musical Newsies (which...

It's often been said that a story is only as good as its villain. Which is why you genuinely have to feel for Casey Nicholaw and Chad Beguelin . As the director & the librettist of " Disney's Aladdin: The New Stage Musical " (which will begin presenting performances at Seattle's...

As snow fell on New York City last Friday night, seven veterans from Disney Theatrical Productions came together to salute Sir Tim Rice . So who exactly was on hand? Ashley Brown (original title star of Mary Poppins on Broadway ), Heidi Blickenstaff (Ursula in The Little Mermaid ), Merle Dandridge (Kala...

I have been writing professionally about The Walt Disney Company for over 25 years now. Which is why I can tell you what it felt like to be in a theater on November 17, 1989. Which was the night that " The Little Mermaid " was first released to theaters. As the credits rolled, I remember turning...

You've heard "How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria," right? The song that the nuns sing in "The Sound of the Music" when they're fretting about that novice's behavior? Well, have you ever wondered what that Rodgers & Hammerstein song might sound like if Roz from "Monsters...

It is arguably the best-loved film of that trio of fairy tales that Walt Disney Animation Studios produced during its Second Golden Age. The first hand-drawn animated feature ever to be nominated for Best Picture, " Beauty and the Beast " has been discussed, dissected and written about so often...

In many ways, " Tangled " is a return-to-the-1990s for Walt Disney Animation Studios . In that this film is a feature-length fairy tale that features a score by Academy Award-winner Alan Menken as well as animation supervised by the great Glen Keane (i.e. the industry legend behind Ariel in...

Let me start out this review by admitting a somewhat embarrassing fact: Over the past 13 years, between the two of us, Nancy and I have seen the stage version of Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" 10 times. To be honest, I'm not exactly sure how this happened. We started out innocently enough by catching...

You’re familiar with the phrase “wine, women and song,” right? Well, did you know that there’s actually an element of math involved with this particular phrase? As in: If you drink a little too much wine, you might wind up owing a woman a song? According to Robert Jess Roth , the original director of...

Pavement Chaser starts things off with a rather succinct query. Which reads: Copyright 1995 Disney. All Rights Reserved Was there ever a Pocahontas ride in development? Pavement Chaser Dear Pavement Chaser – Whenever Walt Disney Animation Studios has a new project in development, you can pretty much...

Evidently that book review of Carol de Giere 's " Defying Gravity: The Creative Career of Stephen Schwartz, from Godspell to Wicked " that this site ran two week back really struck a chord with JHM readers as we've received a number of Stephen Schwartz -related questions since then. First up, Gayle B...

How many of you know the story of the blind men and the elephant ? I bring up this ancient Indian fable because ... Well ... I have to admit that I was highly amused by what happened last Wednesday. When the on-line animation community went completely bananas over those "Bolt" pre-release images . Copyright...

What with last month's wildfires , this week's writers' strike , and Britney Spears still out there somewhere behind the wheel ... Haven't the residents of Los Angeles County suffered enough? Don't the 10-million-plus people who live in California's most populous county deserve some sort of break from...

Given that " The Game Plan " was No. 1 at the box office for the second weekend in a row, I'd imagine that Oren Aviv (i.e. the president of production at Walt Disney Pictures), is feeling pretty happy right about now. Of course, that's probably because this Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson comedy was the very...

Little town It's a quiet village, Ev'ry day Like the one before Okay. So it isn't a "Little town." It's the Big Apple. And it wasn't a day "... Like the one before." This was Sunday, July 29th. The night when Broadway's "Beauty and the Beast" finally ended its 13 year run. Photo by Nancy Stadler Inside...