Music Theatre, Stage, & Performance Art

Jonathan Freeman returns as Jafar in new stage musical version of Disney’s “Aladdin”

Published

13 years ago

June 13, 2011

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 5^th Avenue
Theatre on July 7^th) realized, Casey & Chad faced an awful
challenge when it came to casting the role of Jafar. After all, no matter who
they chose for this part, that poor actor was then going to have their
performance compared to Jonathan Freeman. Who did such a brilliant job of voicing
this villainous character in the 1992 animated feature.

Which is when Nicholaw & Beguelin came up with an
ingenuous idea. Rather than hire someone to do a Jonathan Freeman
impersonation, they should just go after the genuine article. Cast Jonathan
himself to play Jafar.

Which may sound like a somewhat crazy notion if you aren’t entirely
familiar with Freeman’s resume. I mean, sure. Disneyana fans know Jonathan for
voicing Jafar in the original “Aladdin” as well as its direct-to-video sequel,
1994’s “The Return of Jafar.” Not to mention once again vocalizing for the
Grand Vizier when this character appeared in the “Kingdom Hearts” games &
the “Mickey’s House of Villains” TV special. And let’s not forget all those times
over the past two decades where Freeman stepped behind a mike so that Jafar
could then make a surprise appearance in a “Disney on Ice” show, a Disney theme
park parade or fireworks display.

But for theater fans … Jafar is just one of the roles that
Jonathan was known for. This Tony-nominated (for his hilarious turn as the head
waiter in the 1994 revival of “She Loves Me“) actor has appeared in some of
Broadway’s biggest shows (among them “The Producers,” “42nd Street“
and “How to Succeed in Business WIthout Really Trying“). More importantly, over
the 5 years, Freeman has worked almost exclusively for Disney Theatrical.
Originating the role of Grimsby in the Broadway production of “The Little Mermaid,” as well as playing Cogworth in “Beauty and the Beast” and Admiral
Boom & the Bank Chairman in “Mary Poppins.”

Jonathan Freeman as Grimsby in the Broadway production of Disney’s
“The Little Mermaid.” Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc.
All rights reserved

In fact, Jonathan was still performing in “Mary Poppins”
when Casey & Chad approached him earlier this year about possibly taking a
leave of absence from that Broadway production. So that Freeman could then be
available to appear in this pilot production of “Disney’s Aladdin: The New
Stage Musical.”

Just to clarify here: the musical version of “Aladdin” that
the 5^th Avenue Theatre is right in the middle of mounting is NOT
headed to Broadway. At least not anytime soon. Disney Theatrical Group okayed
this pilot production because it’s looking to include a two-act stage version
of this Academy Award-winning animated feature in DTG’s professional and regional
theater licensing catalog.

Anyway … Jonathan was intrigued by the idea of physically
embodying a character that – up until now – he had only voiced. More to the
point, his bosses at Disney Theatrical Group were willing to let Freeman step
away from the Broadway production of “Mary Poppins” starting on May 22^nd.
With the understanding that – once production of “Disney’s Aladdin: The New
Stage Musical” wraps on July 31^st – that Jonathan will then resuming
playing Admiral Boom & the Bank Chairman in their show starting on August 14th.

And once Freeman said yes … Well, the folks at 5^th
Avenue went nuts. As David Armstrong – the executive producer & artistic
director of this Seattle-based said in a statement to the press:

“I am so thrilled that
Jonathan will make his 5th Avenue debut in this production. He is one of the
greatest character actors in Broadway history, and I think audiences will be
fascinated to see him play live on-stage the role that he created in the
animated film.”

Now it’s kind of appropriate that Freeman was the first cast
member announced for “Disney’s Aladdin: The New Stage Musical.” Given that –
back in the late 1980s – Jonathan was the first voice actor that the late
Howard Ashman hired for the animated version of “Aladdin.”

Lee Wilkof as Seymour in the original off-Broadway production of “Little Shop of Horrors”

“I actually auditioned for the original off-Broadway
production of ‘Little Shop of Horrors,’ ” Freeman recalled when we spoke on the
phone last year. “I didn’t get thate part. But Howard and Alan Menken must have
liked what they saw. Because once they got their deal at Disney, Howard and
Alan – through Albert Tavares, a casting director that the three of us all knew
— kept inviting me to audition for their animated features.”

Unfortunately, there wasn’t really a part that fit Jonathan’s vocal stylings in
“The Little Mermaid” & “Beauty and the Beast” (which you have to admit is
somewhat ironic. Given that – a decade or so later – Freeman was then cast to play
roles in the Broadway versions of both of these Disney animated features). But
all that changed with “Aladdin.”

“I took part in the preliminary voice auditions for Jafar. I read the
script. I sang the song. But it wasn’t ’til my second audition that I actually
got to see Andreas Deja‘s concept drawings for this character,” Jonathan
remembered. “And once I saw those heavy lidded eyes, that long narrow face,
I knew that Jafar was going to be something really special. A classic Disney
Villain. So I threw myself into that second audition and eventually won that
part.”

But the downside of being the first voice actor cast on
Disney’s “Aladdin” was that – for months at a time – Freeman worked alone. To
the point that, when Jonathan recorded a version of “Humiliate the Boy” (one of
the many songs that Ashman & Menken tried to write for this film’s
villain), he sang both Jafar and Iago’s parts in this duet.

“And then – after Howard died in March of 1991 – they
kind of got stuck. They couldn’t quite figure out how to make ‘Aladdin’ work.
Which is why I spent a year and nine months recording dialogue on that movie,”
Freeman continued. “This was before the days of good phone patching. So I’d
have to fly into LA from wherever I was performing – Houston, La Jolla – and
then record whatever new dialogue Ron & John had just written.”

Mind you, it wasn’t ’til Gilbert Gottfried, Scott Weinger
and Linda Larkin were hired to voice the roles of Iago, Aladdin and Princess
Jasmine respectively that Jonathan feels that he was finally able to get a
handle on the way to properly play Jafar.

Scott Weinger & Linda Larkin reunite at a 2004 press
event for the DVD release of Disney’s “Aladdin.
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc.
All rights reserved

“Scott and Linda brought a sense of sincerity, reality to their
roles. And when I heard their recordings … Well, I knew that Jafar had to be
seen as a real threat to Aladdin and Jasmine. So I adjusted my own vocal
performance accordingly,” Freeman said.

But even so, there were weeks and weeks that Jonathan spent recording songs
& pieces of dialogue that ultimately didn’t end up in the finished film.

“For quite a while, Ron & John couldn’t decide which
stone exactly allowed Jafar to seek out the diamond in the rough. So I recorded
all of these lines where the Grand Vizier was scheming to get his hands on the
dragon’s eye ruby or the tiger’s eye topaz,” Freeman laughed. “But that’s just
the way things are where you’re trying to create a new piece of entertainment.
You try a lot of different ideas and ultimately go with the one that works
best.”

Jonathan Freeman mugs with a Jafar maquette at
one of the original recording sessions for Disney’s
“Aladdin.” Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc.
All rights reserved

And I’m sure that – as Casey, Chad and Jonathan continue
with the rehearsal period for “Disney’s Aladdin: The New Stage Musical” –
they’ll be doing just that right now. As these three try and come up with the best
possible way for Freeman to take a character that, up until now, he’s only done
the voice for and then build on that. Turn Jonathan’s vocal version of Jafar into a full-fledged
physical performance for the stage.

Speaking of which … Performances of this new two-act musical
officially get underway on Thursday, June 7^th. Casey Nicolaw (fresh
off of winning a Tony last night’s win for “Best Direction of a Musical” for
“The Book of Mormon“) will undoubtedly continue to tweak things right up until this show officially opens at the 5th Avenue Theatre on June 21^st.

And after that … Well, a lot depends on the sorts of reviews
& audience reaction that the pilot production of this new two-act musical receives
during its stint in Seattle. But why fret about that now? As Howard Ashman put
it in a lyric that’s supposedly being reinserted in “Disney’s Aladdin: The New Stage
Musical” ‘s score:

Jonathan Freeman at the opening night party for the
Broadway production of Disney’s “The Little
Mermaid.” Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc. All rights reserved

Happy end to the tale
And tomorrow’s a sale
So I’d better go home and rest

Here’s a kiss and a hug

Sure you don’t need a rug?
I assure you, the price is right

Well, salaam, worthy friend

Come back soon, that’s the end
‘Til another Arabian Night !

Adam Jacobs as the title character in “Disney’s Aladdin: The New Stage
Musical.” Photo by Mark Kitaoka. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc.
/ The 5th Avenue Theatre. All rights reserved

Your thoughts?

Music Theatre, Stage, & Performance Art

Hercules: The Muse-ical

Published

2 years ago

August 1, 2022

Jim Hill

Quick trivia question: What were the names of the three stage shows that were presented on the Disney Magic on that vessel’s maiden voyage back in July of 1998?

“Disney Dreams”
“Voyage of the Ghost Ship”
And “Hercules: The Muse-ical”

It’s that last show – which is based on the hand drawn animated feature that Walt Disney Pictures released back in June of 1997 – that occupies an interesting spot in Mouse House history. Largely because Disney’s “Hercules” (the movie, not the stage show) arrived in theaters at a time when the folks who ran the animation side of the operation at Disney Studios were getting a wee bit nervous about the Company’s supposed supremacy over feature animation.

Disney Animation Success: Aladdin & The Lion King

Some three years previous (June of 1994, to be exact), no one in Hollywood had any doubts at all about who was the top dog when it came to feature animation. And that was because “The Lion King” had just arrived in theaters and was such a huge hit at the world-wide box office. $312 million in ticket sales in North America alone.

To put that in perspective: Disney’s previous biggest hit, at least when it came to hand-drawn animated features, had been “Aladdin.” Which arrived in theaters some 20 months earlier in November of 1992 and had sold $217 million worth of movie tickets domestically. So what with “The Lion King” earning basically one-and-a-half times what “Aladdin” had (Mind you, that’s just the domestic release of this movie that we’re talking about here. Overseas, “The Lion King” made $545 million. Which – compared to the $286 million that “Aladdin” made overseas back in 1992 – that’s nearly double the business) … We’re talking some very serious moola.

DreamWorks SKG

But then – in August of 1994 – Jeffrey Katzenberg is forced out as the Chairman of Walt Disney Studios. He – in turn – joins forces with Steven Spielberg & David Geffen. And – just two months later (October of 1994) – launches DreamWorks SKG. And one of the key components of this brand-new entertainment conglomerate is an animation studio. Which is then supposed to go head-to-head to the Mouse House.

Cold Streak for Disney Animated Films

Compounding this situation is that Walt Disney Feature Animation suddenly starts to have a cold streak. Where “The Lion King” sold $312 million worth of tickets when it was released to North American theaters in the Summer of 1994, Disney’s “Pocahontas” (which is released to theaters just one year later in June of 1995) does less than half that business. $141 million in domestic ticket sales to be exact.

And then – when Disney’s “Hunchback of Notre Dame” arrives in theaters just one year after that in June of 1996 – it does 2/3rds of the business that Disney’s “Pocahontas” had done the previous year. It sells $100 million, $100 thousand worth of tickets in North America. Which – given that Disney’s animated “Hunchback” costs a reported $100 million to make … That’s a problem.

Hercules is Coming: Disney Goes All-Out to Promote New Film

So as the Summer of 1997 looms, Disney is now looking to reverse this box office trend. The Studio needs another “Lion King” -sized hit to show those guys at DreamWorks SKG who’s really the boss in Hollywood when it comes to feature animation. And the Mouse is going to use every tool that it has in its promotional tool kit to make sure that every would-be movie-goer knows that “Hercules” is on its way and it’s a big, bright, colorful, really funny animated feature just like Disney’s “Aladdin.”

Side note: Figuring that Robin Williams’ star power was one of the reasons that Disney’s “Aladdin” had zoomed to the top of the box office back in November of 1992, the Studio initially wanted to use the same sort of stunt casting to make Disney’s “Hercules” a must-see movie-going event. Which is why they originally wanted Jack Nicolson to be the voice of Hades and then hire the Spice Girls to served as the voices of the Muses.

Sadly, in both of these cases, though the Company had meetings with Nicholson and the Spice Girls’ representatives, the cost of hiring these performers to voice characters in Disney’s “Hercules” proved to be prohibitive. So that stunt casting idea was ultimately abandoned.

Hercules Mega Mall Tour

Anyway … Back to promoting “Hercules” as only Disney could … This meant – starting in February of 1997 – the Company sent out the “Hercules” Mega Mall Tour. Which – to raise awareness of the June debut of this new full-length animated feature from Walt Disney Studios – involved stops in 20 different cities around North America over five months time. Over the course of this tour, 4 million cassettes of “Zero to Hero” (The song that Alan Menken & David Zippel had written for this animated feature that – it was felt at the time – had the best chance of being the break-out single from the “Hercules” soundtrack) were handed out to mall patrons.

Hercules New York Movie Premiere

And speaking of June … To make sure that as many people as possible were made aware that Disney’s “Hercules” was opening in theaters, the Company decided to stage the world premiere of this new Ron Clements & John Musker movie in New York City. Not only that, but to present a week-long series of screening of Disney’s “Hercules” in the just-renovated New Amsterdam Theater (which would – just 5 months later, in November of 1997 – would then become home of the Company’s long-running smash hit Broadway musical version of “The Lion King”).

Hercules Electrical Parade

And – to make sure that everyone in NYC knew this was happening – Disney got special permission from then-New York City mayor Rudi Guiliani to roll the Main Street Electric Parade (which, for this one-time promotion event, was renamed the “Hercules Electrical Parade”) down 42^nd Street and then up 5^th Avenue.

Speaking of parades … To make sure that theme park goers knew that Disney’s “Hercules” was now in theaters, a “Hercules” – themed parade rolled through four different theme parks that Summer.

Disneyland Park in Anaheim
Disney-MGM in Florida
Disneyland Paris in France
and also at Tokyo Disneyland in Japan

It was an unprecedented promotional effort on the Company’s part. More to the point, because they were absolutely certain that “Hercules” was going to turn out to be another “Aladdin” or a “Little Mermaid” (The two animated features that Ron Clements & John Musker had previously made for the Mouse House. Which had then turned into these hugely lucrative franchises for The Walt Disney Company which had gone on to have surprisingly long shelf lives) … Well, that’s Disney – even before “Hercules” had actually arrived in theaters – began making plans as to how it could then extend the shelf life of this particular IP.

Disney’s Hercules: The Animated Series

One way was “Disney’s Hercules: The Animated Series.” Which was basically a prequel to that theatrically released animated feature. 65 episodes of “Disney’s Hercules: The Animated Series” were produced and then began airing on ABC in September of 1998.

Hercules: The Muse-ical on the Disney Magic

But six weeks prior to that (in late July of that same year), the Disney Magic had its maiden voyage. And Guests who sailed on this 984-foot-long, 84,000-ton vessel were treated to performances of “Hercules: The Muse-ical.” I’ve also seen this stage show referred to as “Hercules: The Muse-ical Comedy.”

There’s only one problem with this plan. This new stage show was debuting onboard the Magic some 13 months after Disney’s “Hercules” had originally arrived in theaters.

Hercules the Box-Office Disappointment

By now, everyone knew that this Ron Clements & John Musker movie had been a box office disappointment.

Only selling $99 million worth of tickets in North America – making “Hercules” the first Disney animated feature to not blow through the $100-million-at-the-domestic-box-office barrier since “The Rescuers Down Under” back in November of 1990.

Disney Cruise Musical Success: Hercules: The Muse-ical & Villains Tonight

Which – you’d think – would have doomed “Hercules: The Muse-ical” to a very short run on the Disney Cruise Line. But here’s the thing: people who voyaged on the Disney Magic (and – later – the Disney Wonder. Which got its own clone of this stage show) just loved “Hercules: The Muse-ical.” They just loved how this stage show was one part stand-up comedy act and another part well-put together musical review.

Which is when – when “Hercules: The Muse-ical” came to the end of its run (in 2005 on the Magic & then in 2008 on the Wonder) – Disney’s Entertainment Department did a very unusual thing. They crafted a sequel show of sorts, “Villains Tonight.” Which brought back the three most popular characters from “Hercules: The Muse-ical” (i.e., Hades, Lord of the Dead and his hapless minions, Pain & Panic) and then had this trio interact with some of Disney’s most famous fiends. Among them Maleficent from “Sleeping Beauty,” the Evil Queen from “Snow White,” Ursula from “The Little Mermaid” … you get the idea.

“Villains Tonight” debut on the Disney Magic in 2010 and quickly proved to be so popular that this stage show was then replicated for the Disney Dream the following year (2011). “Villains Tonight” had a healthy run on both boats, with the Disney Magic version of this show closing up shop in November of 2015 and the Disney Dream version shuttering in August of 2017.

Stage Adaptation of Hercules

But here’s the weird part: These long-running “Hercules” -inspired stage shows proved that there was actually an audience out there for a full-scale Broadway musical version of this Ron Clements & John Musker movie. Which is why – back in September of 2019 – the Public Theater (for one week only) staged … Well, kind of a trial production for a stage adaptation of Disney’s “Hercules.” It was presented outdoors at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park with a cast of 200.

This stage version of Disney’s “Hercules” got such great reviews (in large part thanks to Roger Bart’s performance as Hades, Lord of the Dead.

Fun fact: Mr. Bart was the singing voice of young Hercules in the original animated feature. So when you hear teenaged Herc belting out “I can go the distance,” that’s actually Roger who singing. Bart’s spent the past 25 years being closely associated with this IP)

Heeere’s Hades .. #bluehair #hercules #publicworkshercules #herotohades #disneyvillans #delacortetheater #centralpark #wigtastic #wildhairdontcare #hairandmakeup #bts #dressingroomselfie #behindthescenes #backstage #hades #devilmademedoit #herotonerotoh… https://t.co/ECyA4cmCcj pic.twitter.com/JehCewDqZN
— Roger Bart (@rogerbartoffic) September 2, 2019

This world premiere of a stage version of Disney’s “Hercules” was so well received that a follow-up production was immediately put in the works.

Of course, then the pandemic happened. Which then slowed down the momentum for this stage version of Disney’s “Hercules” a little bit. But that follow-up production now has a venue – the Papermill Playhouse in New Jersey (which is where the stage version of Disney’s “Newsies” started off life back in September 2011 and then went on to great success of Broadway). We’ve also got some production dates for that show: February 9 – March 12, 2023.

Disney’s Live-Action Hercules

What’s kind of weird about the timing of all this is – while Disney Theatrical is readying a stage version of “Hercules” – (June 2022), it was revealed that Walt Disney Studios has a live-action version of its animated “Hercules” in the works. This big budget project will be directed by Guy Ritchie (who directed that live-action version of Disney’s “Aladdin” which debuted in theaters back in May of 2019 and then went on to sell over a billion dollars worth of ticket at the worldwide box office) and produced by Joe & Anthony Russo.

That’s significant. Given that Joe & Anthony Russo are the guys who directed “Avengers: Infinity War,” “Avengers: Endgame,” “Captain America: Civil War” and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.” Which tells us that the action scenes in this upcoming live-action musical comedy are going to feature Marvel-level FX work. Which will make this “Hercules” remake / reboot a must-see for Marvel fans.

More Hercules Musicals on Cruise Ships?

So – long story short – “Hercules: The Muse-ical” & “Villains Tonight” proved that there was an audience out there for a stage version of this Ron Clements / John Musker movie. Which then led to the world premiere of the stage adaptation of Disney’s “Hercules” at NYC’s Public Theater in September of 2019. Which eventually led to a second production of this stage, which will bow at NJ’s Papermill Playhouse in just six months time.

But is it possible that Disney’s “Hercules” could eventually make its way back onto the Company’s cruise ships? It is worth noting here that – following the success of the live-action reboot of its animated “Beauty & the Beast” (That Bill Condon film was released to theaters back in March of 2017 and then went on to sell $1.2 billion worth of tickets worldwide), the Disney Cruise Line then mounted an all-new stage version of “Beauty and the Beast” that was then based on that live-action remake.

This production debuted on the Disney Dream back in November of 2017 (some eight months after the live-action “Beauty & the Beast” reboot originally debuted in theaters). So it stands to reason that – if Disney Studios’ upcoming live-action reboot of its animated “Hercules” is equally successful – this film too could eventually become fodder for a future stage show that could then be presented onboard the Disney Cruise Line.

Hades – The Lord of the Dead

One final note: Given that Hades was the break-out character in both of those Disney Cruise Line productions (i.e., “Hercules: The Muse-ical” & “Villains Tonight.” FYI: Both of these DCL shows are currently available for viewing on YouTube), it’s worth noting here is that how Hades is reportedly based on is actually one of the notorious in-jokes in Hollywood history.

You see, given that the Lord of the Dead in Disney’s “Hercules” is portrayed as this slick show business grifter (“We dance, we kiss, we schmooze, we carry on, we go home happy. What do you say?”), it’s worth noting here that James Woods – who voiced Hades in the original animated feature – reportedly based his performance on ousted Disney Chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg.

Going forward here, it’ll be interesting to see how this character is portrayed in Guy Ritchie’s upcoming live-action version of Disney’s “Hercules.”

This article is based on research for The Disney Dish Podcast “Episode 385”, published on August 1, 2022. The Disney Dish Podcast is part of the Jim Hill Media Podcast Network.

Music Theatre, Stage, & Performance Art

“The Lion King: Twenty Years on Broadway and Around the World” reveals how close this hit show came to not happening

Published

7 years ago

December 20, 2017

Jim Hill

“We can’t do this. This doesn’t work.”

This is what Michael Eisner – the then-Chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company – told Thomas Schumacher, Peter Schneider and Julie Taymor back in August of 1996. That the stage version of Disney’s acclaimed animated feature, “The Lion King,” which this trio had been developing at that time wasn’t even remotely ready for Broadway.

Which is why – as Michael Lassell recounts in his terrific new behind-the-scenes book, “The Lion King: Twenty Years on Broadway and Around the World” (Disney Editions, November 2017) — Eisner then reportedly turned to Schneider and said ” … You better get moving on ‘Aida,’ because you’re going to have to put something into the New Amsterdam Theatre next fall.’ “

Just one year later, Disney’s stage version of “The Lion King” was at Minneapolis’ Orpheum Theatre getting ready for its very first preview. There was only one tiny problem: Taymor’s artistic vision for this stage show was so innovative & ambitious that – even though the cast had been rehearsing this piece for weeks at that point – they had never actually gotten through an entire performance before, from beginning to end, without stopping.

Which is why – prior to the start of “The Lion King” ‘s first preview – Thomas & Peter had to get up onstage at the Orpheum and basically warn that audience there’d be some hiccups along the way. Ironically enough, because the creative team had yet to prepare this show’s staged-in-front-of-a-curtain scene which was supposed to immediately follow “Be Prepared.”

That’s half the fun of paging through this 224-page hardcover. Even though the stage version of “The Lion King” is now considered to be one of The Walt Disney Company’s all-time greatest success stories (Just yesterday, Forbes posted a piece which revealed that – over the course of this show’s now-more-than-20 year-long run on Broadway – the Mouse has made $8.1 billion off of this musical), Lassell points out how problematic this project’s birthing process was.

And that goes for the animated version of “The Lion King” as well. Schumacher (who was the vice president in charge of development at Walt Disney Animation Studios prior to taking up the reins at Disney Theatrical Productions) remembers the initial iteration of this film (which – at that time, anyway – was called “King of the Beasts” being ” … kind of an animated National Geographic special about a war between lions and baboons, all set in this brown, dirty, earthy environment. Rafiki was a cheetah, and Scar was the leader of the baboons. And nobody had much interest in it. The A-list animators all chose to work on Pocohantas.”

With the hope that the addition of some music might then make this movie’s subject matter seem that much more palatable to Disney’s animators, Schumacher reached out to Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber’s longtime collaborator Tim Rice in the fall of 1990. As Thomas recalled, ” … I asked him if our war between lions and baboons could be turned into a musical. And Tim said ‘I made a musical out of the obscure dead wife of an Argentinian dictator. Anything can be a musical. ‘ “

Mind you, Rice was only looking to write the lyrics as well as help out with the story for “King of the Beasts / The Lion King.” Who Tim had in mind to handle the actual music on this movie was Sir Elton John. The only problem was that Elton’s management team – knowing how strict Disney’s attorneys would be when it came to copyright / who had ultimate ownership of any material that was created for this new animated feature – refused to even make John aware of this employment opportunity.

Paul McCartney did eventually wind up working for Disney. He recently cameo-ed in “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” as Captain Jack Sparrow’s long lost uncle. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

Which is why – at Rice’s suggestion – Schumacher & Schneider then reached out to Paul McCartney. But that former Beatle quickly said “No” when it came to working on “King of the Beasts / The Lion King.” So Disney then made a second run at Elton John. Only to have his management team again refuse to make this legendary rock star aware of this opportunity because they didn’t like the terms of the deal that Disney’s lawyers were offering.

As Lassell reveals in this profusely illustrated / exceedingly well-researched coffee table book, it was about this time (October of 1991, to be exact) that then-Disney Studio head Jeffrey Katzenberg got involved. Realizing that it was the terms of the deal that Mouse House managers were offering which was preventing Elton John’s management team from passing this offer along, Katzenberg got on the phone with Disney’s attorneys and then asked them to sweeten the deal. Make some changes to the standard deal memo that the Studio offered when it came to recruiting talent. All with the hope that – with a few small concessions – this pop star’s management team might then finally be willing to make Elton aware of this opportunity to work with Walt Disney Animation Studios.

As it turns out, the third time was the charm. Once the terms of this proposed deal were tweaked, Elton’s management team immediately agreed to make him aware of the project. And …

… John accepted readily as he had no idea (that his management team) had already turned aside the proposition twice before.

“(Schumacher and Rice) really didn’t have to sell it to me,” remembers Sir Elton, who is himself a huge fan of (Disney’s) The Jungle Book. “I mean, I was in from the word go. I loved the story and I loved that it was an original story, and it came at a time in my career where I wanted to do something different.”

And speaking of something different: As part of the hundreds of interviews Lassell did while he was pulling together “The Lion King: Twenty Years on Broadway and Around the World,” Michael got Julie Taymor to talk about her original vision for the second act of this stage show. Which would have sent Simba off on a decidedly different coming-of-age journey.

The first act of the stage version of “The Lion King” was to have hued closely to the story of the film. With Simba – blaming himself for Mufasa’s death – basically abandoning his pride and banishing himself to the desert. But as Taymor’s original vision for “The Lion King”‘s second act began, Simba – as he struggled through the sand – was to have seen some lights on the horizon. He goes to investigate and discover this place that Julie describes as being ” … a cross between Vegas, Disneyland, and a futuristic city.”

The denizens of this setting would have been half human & half animal with characters like Papa Croc, a paraplegic crocodile in a wheelchair who runs a nightspot filled with lounge lizards in snappy suits. In addition, there was a character named Natasha Leopard, who drove a Jaguar.

Papa Croc, the new father figure Simba found after Mufasa died, is also a fight promoter and wants Simba to become a boxer. Nala, meanwhile, arrives in this selfsame city and goes underground as a dancer at the Pussycat Lounge.

Schneider & Schumacher (who had initially tapped Taymor for this project because they hoped she’d do something genuinely unique with this material) weren’t exactly enthusiastic when Julie showed them her Las Vegas-inspired vision for Act Two of the proposed stage version of “The Lion King.”

“It was clear that they actually wanted to stay closer to the original story. They didn’t want me to introduce new characters. But I learned a lot from the exercise. I never would have solved the human / animal thing (for this stage show) if I hadn’t gone through the process,” Taymor said in retrospect.

And speaking of learning a lot: Even if you’re already a big-time fan of the “Lion King” film or stage show, you’re sure to learn a lot about this Academy Award & Tony Award-winning entertainment by reading “The Lion King: Twenty Years on Broadway and Around the World.” There are so many previously untold stories that Lassell shares in this Disney Theatrical souvenir publication. Things like real estate deals that The Walt Disney Company didn’t follow up on back in the early 1990s:

“(When Schumacher was talking with Taymor about the many different ways “The Lion King” could possibly be staged, he) said, ‘Look, Disney is in a conversation about buying Rockefeller Center. So we could do it at Radio City Musical Hall. Or we could do it at Chelsea Pier, or buy a pier and mount it on the water – pretty much anything an avant-garde theater director might want to fantasize. Or we could do it as a Broadway show; you tell me.’ That’s how loose an idea we had at the time, because, remember, there was a real sense that we might not be able to pull (the proposed stage adaptation of this animated film) off at all.”

And speaking of which: Because the stage version of “The Lion King” seemed like such a long shot in the early 1990s, Disney Theatrical – in addition to “Aida” – had another stage show in active development at that time:

“We actually started seriously developing ‘Pocahontas’ for the stage,” remembers Schumacher, “and ‘Mary Poppins,’ which we did eventually produce. But (that was because) none of us thought ‘The Lion King’ would work onstage.”

Which brings us back to Michael Eisner. Who – as I mentioned at the very top of this article — pulled the plug on this proposed stage production at least once. So was Eisner ultimately the one who got the ball rolling on Broadway’s “The Lion King” ? Not according to Lassell. He credits …

… Ward Morehouse, a columnist for the New York Post, (who) wrote in his column that Disney’s next stage venture would be “The Lion King.” “He picked up on a joke someone told,” says Schumacher, “and thought it was real. But people believed (what Morehouse wrote) and his column set kind of a pulse among the press, who kept asking “When are we going to see ‘The Lion King?’ “(And) someone who was asking the same question was Michael Eisner.

So just to be clear here: The third longest running show in Broadway history (Only “The Phantom of the Opera” and the 1996 revival of “Chicago” have racked up more performances to date) only came into being because a New York Post columnist didn’t get that someone was just joking with him when they said ” … Disney is going to produce a stage version of ‘The Lion King.’ “

You just can’t make this stuff up. Because then you’d be … lion.

This article was originally published by the Huffington Post on Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Music Theatre, Stage, & Performance Art

Broadway vet Eden Espinosa is living out her Disney dream by voicing Cassandra on “Tangled: The Series”

Published

8 years ago

April 28, 2017

Jim Hill

As Eden Espinosa recalls, it was early 2015 when Disney Television Animation initially reached out. Asking this Broadway star if she’d be interested in voicing a character for a new series that the Mouse was maybe going to produce. A show that – at that time, anyway – had a deliberately vague title: “Project T.”

“So they sent me the audition material,” this 39 year-old performer recalled during a recent phone interview. “And as I read the breakdown on the character they wanted me to voice, it said that she was 19 years-old or something like that. So I went into my little home studio to record the audition material that they’d sent me. And to make my voice sound younger, I deliberately pitched it up a little.”

So Espinosa sends in her audition tape. And Disney Television Animation must have liked what they heard. For a few weeks later, Eden found herself in a recording studio in New York City doing a callback.

“Now the producers of ‘Project T’ were still out in California. So we were talking via Skype. And before we formally got with this callback audition started, they gave me some notes. With the chief note being ‘We don’t want you sounding too much like our lead actress,’ ” Eden continued. “And to make sure that I knew what to steer clear of, they then played me a little of this lead actress’ voice. Which I immediately recognized as Mandy Moore.”

But even then Espinosa didn’t put 2 + 2 together. She just assumed that Disney Television Animation was planning on using Moore – who’d previously voiced Mara for Disney XD‘s “TRON: Uprising” as well as the title character on Disney Junior‘s “Sheriff Callie’s Wild West” – for some other project. It never occurred to Eden that Mickey might be looking to have Mandy reprise the role of Rapunzel for a brand-new animated series that would then continue the tale which Walt Disney Animation Studios had begun with their November 2010 release, “Tangled.”

“I just thought ‘Maybe they’re doing something new and Mandy’s doing voicework for that too,” Espinosa said.

But “Project T” – AKA “Tangled: The Series” — was definitely something that Mouse House management wanted to pursue. Not only that, but the series creator for Disney Channel wanted to Eden to voice Rapunzel’s daring handmaiden and confidante, Cassandra.

Which would obviously be a nice gig for any working actress to land, right? But you’d think that – for someone like Espinosa (who’s been acclaimed for her portrayal of Elphaba in the Broadway, Los Angeles and San Francisco productions of “Wicked.” Not to mention playing Maureen in the closing company of “Rent”) – voicing a character for a new animated series wouldn’t be all that big a deal. Especially since Eden has already done this sort of work, what with originating the voice of Sasha Caylo on Adult Swim‘s “Titan Maximum” back in 2009.

That said, you have to understand that Espinosa grew up in Orange County, California in the shadow of a certain theme park. Not only that, but her uncle was a Kid of the Kingdom who – after he finished performing at Disneyland Park – would then take the very young Eden backstage.

“Growing up, Disney was a very big deal to myself and my family. In fact, my very first job – which I landed when I was 17 – was performing as a Christmas caroler in Disneyland ‘Christmas Fantasy’ parade back in 1995. I was so proud when I got that gig,” Espinosa remembered.

And Disneyland’s Entertainment Department obviously saw a lot of potential in this Southern Californian. Which is why – just three years later – Eden was one of the featured performers in “Animazement.” Which was this live stage show that was presented 5 – 6 times daily in the Fantasyland Theater where Espinosa then got to sing ‘Just Around the River Bend’ from Disney’s “Pocahontas.”

Eden Espinosa plays Pocahontas in “Animazement” at Disneyland Park

“The experience I got while performing at Disneyland was invaluable. Doing five or six half-hour-long stage shows — sometimes outdoors in cold, rainy weather … That was like vocal boot camp for me. It made me into the performer that I am today,” Eden enthused.

And Walt Disney Creative Entertainment (i.e., the arm of The Walt Disney Company that produces shows for its Parks & Resorts) obviously takes great pride in having played a part in the launch of Espinosa’s career. Which is why – when the Happiest Place on Earth was looking for a vocalist for “Magical: Disney’s New Nighttime Spectacular of Magical Celebrations” – they immediately reached out to Eden.

“Which was like a dream come true for me, because – when I was growing up with family working at Disneyland – all I ever wanted to be was the voice in the sky for the park’s fireworks show,” Espinosa continued. “And now to be asked to originate a voice for a new character on a Disney cartoon … Well, that’s really another dream come true for me.”

So what’s it been like voicing Cassandra for Disney’s “Tangled: The Series” ? Eden says that she’s been enjoying the collaborative nature of the process.

“What’s especially cool about working on a brand-new character like this is that you then play a really big role in determining the way that they speak, what their sense of humor is like and everything,” Espinosa said. “And what’s been particularly great is that – when I’ve made a face in the booth while recording a certain line of dialogue – having the directors then say ‘Oh my God. That expression. I’m making a note to the animators that that face has to be included in the show.’ “

So now that “Tangled: The Series” has been airing on the Disney Channel for a few weeks (This new Disney Television Animation production officially premiered on March 10^th. But Disney Channel execs had such confidence in this show that – actually prior to its premiere – it was renewed for a second season) … What aspect of “Project T” is Eden most looking forward to now? Watching Cassandra, the character that she helped create, take on a life of her own outside of the show.

“I just hope that people have been enjoying this character on ‘Tangled: The Series.’ Because I’ve been having an absolute blast voicing Cassandra,” Espinosa concluded.

And just so you know: Eden Espinosa isn’t the only Broadway veteran that Disney Television Animation had tapped to do voicework on “Tangled: The Series.” Because on “The Return of Strongbow” (i.e., the episode that airs tonight on the Disney Channel at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT) who voices the character that tries to lure Eugene back into his thieving ways but James Monroe Iglehart? The talented performer who won a Tony Award for playing the Genie in the Broadway production of Disney “Aladdin: The Hit Broadway Musical.”

This article was originally published by the Huffington Post on Friday, April 28, 2017