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Huffington Post -- As Broadway's "Mary Poppins" gets ready to close, regional productions of this acclaimed Disney musical begin popping up all over As any good Mary Poppins fan will tell you, when the wind shifts from the East to the West, it's then time for that practically perfect...

As any good gardener will tell you, Fall is a great time to prune. Why For? Because once the leaves are off the tree, you can actually see what you're doing. More to the point, flowering plants that are pruned back in the autumn usually experience vigorous regrowth the following spring. Photo by...

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...

Ask any performer who ever got to see Wally Boag during their formative years. Who sat in the audience at the Golden Horseshoe Saloon and then watched as this master comedian - day in & day out - wowed the crowds at Disneyland . And they'll pretty much admit (just as Steve Martin did in his 2007...

This past Sunday was the 20 th anniversary of Jim Henson ’s passing. And if you look around the Web, you’ll find a number of articles out there that talk about all the great TV shows & movies we missed out on because this gentle genius passed away at the far-too-young age of 53 . But the part of...

When most folks think of the Muppets these days, they think of these sweet, whimsical characters doing cute & gentle things. But what a lot of people forget about Jim Henson is that he had this pretty dark sense of humor. Which is why – back in the day – in order to get a laugh, many Muppet characters...

When you think about the stage version of Disney’s “The Lion King,” what first comes to mind? For some, it might be Elton John & Sir Tim Rice ’s terrific score. While others might talk up the brilliant job that Julie Taymor did with staging this Tony Award-winner. Which Newsweek magazine called ...

SPOILER ALERT: If you haven’t seen the Broadway production of Disney & Cameron Mackintosh’s “Mary Poppins” (or – for that matter – one of the touring productions of this acclaimed stage musical), now might be a very good time to bail out of today’s JHM story. Still here? Okay, then I’m going to assume...

This past Friday night, Anthony Lyn -- the director of the North American touring company of Disney & Cameron Mackintosh ’s “ Mary Poppins ” – strode onstage at LA’s Ahmanson Theatre and said that he had a few brief announcements to make before that performance could get underway. First of all, Lyn...

The juggernaut that is Disney’s “The Lion King” just rolls on and on and on. The stage musical version of this Academy Award-winning animated feature isn’t just one of the most popular shows on Broadway. It’s now one of the most beloved pieces of entertainment in the world. Want proof? Then let’s take...

Can it really be almost twelve years since Julie Taymor ’s acclaimed stage adaptation of “The Lion King” first bowed on Broadway? Given that the London production just celebrated its 10 th anniversary at the Lyceum Theatre , I guess the answer to that question would have to be “Yes...

In a town like Las Vegas , where virtually every building screams “Look at me!” … Copyright 2009 Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. All Rights Reserved … how do you stand out from the crowd? Cut through all that visual clutter? That was the challenge that Disney Theatrical & the Mandalay...

A somewhat angry Tom B. writes in say: Enough with the stories about Comic-Con ! I think it’s pretty arrogant of you to assume that every JHM reader is interested in hearing about what’s going on in San Diego this year. You know what would be a nice change? If you posted a story about some Disneyana...

It’s the Hans Christian Andersen story that Walt Disney almost put into production back in the 1940s (as part of a live action / animated co-production with Samuel Goldwyn ). This is one of Kay Nielsen's Little Mermaid concept paintings for that aborted Hans Christian Andersen feature from the 1940s...

Given the high number of recent Broadway hits (i.e. “ Avenue Q ,” “ Hairspray ,” “ The Producers ,” “ Monty Python's Spamelot ”) that have had less than stellar runs in Las Vegas, it’s very tempting to say Disney Theatrical is taking a gamble by creating a new sit-down production of “The Lion King” for...

As you might expect, NYC's World of Disney is currently all tricked out for trick-or-treat time. Photo by Jim Hill And as you wander all three floors of this 5th Avenue store, you'll find all sorts of Halloween-related materials. From 15th anniversary " Nightmare Before Christmas " merch ... Photo by...

Do you want a true demonstration of the awesome power of Disney's "High School Musical" franchise? Well, never mind about the record-breaking advance ticket sales for " High School Musical 3 : Senior Year ." Or the fact that Salt Lake 's East High (i.e. the actual school where all three of the "HSM"...

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...

There are so many movie-based musicals turning up on Broadway these days that the theater community has actually invented a somewhat derogatory term to describe these high profile productions: movsicals. And what with the rather tepid respection that " Young Frankenstein " and " The Little Mermaid "...

For all us Disneyana fans who grew up watching & loving " Mary Poppins ," spelling "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" is pretty much a piece of cake. Hell, most of us can still probably say " ... the biggest word you ever heard" backwards (Which -- according to Julie Andrews on this Academy Award...