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On the Record (musical revue)
Encyclopedia
On the Record is a jukebox musical
revue
featuring many classic songs from a variety of live action and animated
film
s and television series produced by Walt Disney Pictures
, Broadway
musical plays produced by Walt Disney Theatrical
, and even Disneyland attractions. This theatrical celebration of 75
years of Disney music tells the story of four singers recording a greatest hits album in a magical recording studio. After opening in Cleveland in 2004, the production toured for nine months, visiting 24 cities in the United States
before closing in Denver in mid-2005.
, The Lion King
, and Aida
, Walt Disney Theatrical began to brainstorm a way to showcase Disney's wide catalogue of songs without the use of a movie screen to present them. The result was When You Wish, a new revue that, though intended to ultimately to play on Broadway, failed to make it past the workshop
stage, despite having Tony Award
-winning actress Faith Prince
attached to the project.
Instead, Walt Disney Theatrical president Thomas Schumacher, along with director and choreographer Robert Longbottom
, conceived a new show meant specifically for the road: On the Record, which would tell a very simple story of four recording artists in a studio. Though the developers of the production originally planned to create more complex characters and greater tension between them in the studio, they instead eventually "watered down" the plot for more general revue entertainment, because, says Longbottom, the "songs were from so many different character points of views, [that one] couldn't begin to create a book musical that would allow them to coexist."
After the basic concept of the show had been developed, musical arranger and supervisor David Chase joined the project. Collaborating with Longbottom, Chase delved through Disney's music canon to extract songs that would showcase the personality of the characters and would be able to tell the story without spoken words. Designers Robert Brill, Gregg Barnes, and Natasha Katz took on the task of creating a classy show with modest design elements, so the production would be able to travel easily.
After technical elements of the show began to come together, casting auditions were held in June 2004 around the country, including New York City and Cleveland. Broadway veterans Emily Skinner
and Brian Sutherland were cast as the older, more experienced couple of recording artists, while newcomers Ashley Brown
and Andrew Samonsky were cast in the roles of the newer musicians. Richard Easton received the role of the Sound Engineer, a part that was ultimately cut from the show. Kaitlin Hopkins
, as the only actor to regularly replace one of the original four leads, took over Skinner's role as Diane on January 15, 2005. In its 36-week tour, On the Record was performed for over 350,000 people, opening on November 19, 2004 at Cleveland, Ohio
's Palace Theater and closing July 31, 2005 at Denver, Colorado
's Denver Center for the Performing Arts. While the production was originally planned to run through September 4, after playing to disappointing, small audiences, the production ultimately decided on an earlier closing date after only two months on the road. There are currently no plans for either Equity
or non-Equity licensing of the production.
In April 2009, the show saw new life in the form of Children's Musical Theatre of San Jose's production of When You Wish, a separate revue based on On the Record. Adapted by the theater's artistic director, Kevin Hauge, When You Wish, much unlike its basis, tells the story of three children who stumble upon a fantasy world in which they meet many beloved Disney characters. While When You Wish abandons the recording studio setting, it incorporates On the Records same catalog of 71 years of Disney music.
diva
Diane, matinee idol Julian, and the fresh faces on the music scene Kristen and Nick, recording a Disney compilation album
. Upon entering the studio, Kristen instantly develops a crush on teen heartthrob-to-be, Nick, though Nick initially denies any attraction. Meanwhile, Julian attempts to rekindle an apparent ex-relationship
with Diane but is often interrupted by his unrequited love
's flirtation with the younger talent. As the show comes to an end, though, Diane comes back to Julian, remembering how precious their time together had once been. Nick, in turn, learns to embrace love and professes that he will always be there for Kristen.
Musical numbers in On the Record are performed by the previously mentioned four principal characters, as well as a separate, unnamed quartet
, and an eight-member orchestra
. While the show is often advertised as a collection of 64
Disney songs, there are actually 71
, with three of them reprise
d. Hardly any song, however, is performed in its entirety. Under the musical adaptation and arrangement by David Chase, songs also take different twists on their original counterparts from film or stage. "Be Our Guest" especially drifts from the original film version in that it is sung in a surplus of different language
s. Julian sings a portion of the song in French
, Diane sings in German
, Kristen sings in Japanese
, Nick sings in Swedish
, and the company sings other portions in English
and other languages. "The Work Song", however, hardly drifts from the original version at all, digitally altering the characters' voices to imitate those of Cinderella
' s mice
.
The 75 years of Disney music represented in the revue dates back to "Minnie's Yoo-Hoo" from a 1929
Mickey Mouse short, with the newest selection being "Will the Sun Ever Shine Again" from the 2004
film Home on the Range. On the Record includes a total of eight Academy Award for Best Song winners: "When You Wish Upon a Star
" from Pinocchio
, "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah
" from Song of the South
, "Under the Sea
" from The Little Mermaid
, "Beauty and the Beast
" from Beauty and the Beast
, "A Whole New World
" from Aladdin, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight
" from The Lion King
, "Colors of the Wind
" from Pocahontas
, and "You'll Be in My Heart
" from Tarzan
. The catalogue of music does not only come from the screen, however, but also from such Disneyland attractions as It's a Small World and The Enchanted Tiki Room, both with songs by Disney's prolific songwriter brother duo, Richard and Robert Sherman. Also performed in the musical is composer
Alan Menken
's "A Change in Me
" — a song written for Toni Braxton
when she entered the role of Belle in the Broadway
production of Beauty and the Beast
.
The songs are grouped into 15 recording sessions, as well as a prologue
, finale, and a collection of instrumental
s played after curtain call as the audience exits the theater, with each section's songs holding a unifying theme. Some sessions contain themes such as falling in love
, while others may contain songs made up of entirely nonsense words
, or even numbers about foreign cuisine
. More often than not, songs within a session are presented in the form of a medley, leading directly into one another, without a break between them.
Released to stores on March 15, 2005, the cast recording
, featuring the entire original cast, excluding Emily Skinner and including Kaitlin Hopkins, received decent reviews. Produced by Walt Disney Records
, the two-disc set with a total of 45
tracks was mostly acclaimed for the talent of the cast and the timelessness of the Disney favorites. Because the show contains very little dialogue, the two discs are essentially a recording of the entire show.
During its nine-month run, On the Record received mixed reviews. Regional theatre reviewer Ann Miner commented in her review of the production that the gimmick
s giving new twists to the classic songs, including monkey
imitation
s in The Jungle Book
' s "I Wanna Be Like You" and glow-in-the-dark
microphone
cords in The Little Mermaid' s "Poor Unfortunate Souls", translated poorly to stage. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writer Christopher Rawson felt as though the attempt to create a storyline was too forced and that the show should have taken a general revue route by completely scrapping the plot. While Rawson described the production as "unimpressive", he, among others, felt that the eight-member cast was talent
ed.
The revue, in fact, proved to be the beginning of Ashley Brown's ever-flourishing relationship with Disney's theatrical department. After receiving positive reviews for her performance as Kristen, Brown landed the role of Belle in Beauty and the Beast on Broadway
on September 20, 2005. After completing her run as Belle on May 28, 2006, Brown opened the Broadway production of Mary Poppins
on November 16, 2006, in the title role — a performance which earned her a Drama Desk Award
nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Musical. Brown ended her Broadway run on October 5, 2008, but subsequently returned to the role, opening the North American national tour of Mary Poppins in Chicago
on March 25, 2009. Meredith Inglesby, who served as a member of the quartet and as Diane's understudy, also found success with Disney Theatrical Productions, landing the roles of Babette the feather duster
in the same production of Beauty and the Beast and later, Carlotta in the Broadway production of The Little Mermaid
. Also, Tyler Maynard
of the quartet has gone on to work with Walt Disney Theatrical
, both in Mary Poppins as Valentine and, subsequently, in The Little Mermaid as Flotsam.
Jukebox musical
A jukebox musical is a stage or film musical that uses previously released popular songs as its musical score. Usually the songs have in common a connection with a particular popular musician or group — either because they were written by, or for, the artists in question, or were at least...
revue
Revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932...
featuring many classic songs from a variety of live action and animated
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s and television series produced by Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
, Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
musical plays produced by Walt Disney Theatrical
Walt Disney Theatrical
Disney Theatrical Group, also known as Disney Theatrical Productions, is the stageplay and musical production arm of The Walt Disney Company...
, and even Disneyland attractions. This theatrical celebration of 75
75 (number)
75 is the natural number following 74 and preceding 76.-In mathematics:As the sum of the first five pentagonal numbers, seventy-five is a pentagonal pyramidal number. It is also an enneagonal number....
years of Disney music tells the story of four singers recording a greatest hits album in a magical recording studio. After opening in Cleveland in 2004, the production toured for nine months, visiting 24 cities in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
before closing in Denver in mid-2005.
Production development history
Following the successful stage productions of Beauty and the BeastBeauty and the Beast (musical)
Beauty and the Beast is a musical with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice and a book by Linda Woolverton, based on the 1991 Disney film of the same name. Seven new songs were written for the stage musical...
, The Lion King
The Lion King (musical)
The Lion King is a musical based on the 1994 Disney animated film of the same name with music by Elton John and lyrics by Tim Rice along with the musical score created by Hans Zimmer with choral arrangements by Lebo M. Directed by Julie Taymor, the musical features actors in animal costumes as well...
, and Aida
Aida (musical)
Aida is a musical with music by Elton John, lyrics by Tim Rice, and book by Linda Woolverton, Robert Falls, and David Henry Hwang, and produced by Walt Disney Theatrical....
, Walt Disney Theatrical began to brainstorm a way to showcase Disney's wide catalogue of songs without the use of a movie screen to present them. The result was When You Wish, a new revue that, though intended to ultimately to play on Broadway, failed to make it past the workshop
Workshop
A workshop is a room or building which provides both the area and tools that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods...
stage, despite having Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
-winning actress Faith Prince
Faith Prince
Faith Prince is an American actress and singer known primarily for her work on Broadway. Prince has won the Tony Award as Best Actress in a Musical and received three Tony nominations.-Life and career:...
attached to the project.
Instead, Walt Disney Theatrical president Thomas Schumacher, along with director and choreographer Robert Longbottom
Robert Longbottom
Robert Longbottom is a dancer, choreographer, and director, primarily for the stage. He has received a Tony Award nomination for his choreography....
, conceived a new show meant specifically for the road: On the Record, which would tell a very simple story of four recording artists in a studio. Though the developers of the production originally planned to create more complex characters and greater tension between them in the studio, they instead eventually "watered down" the plot for more general revue entertainment, because, says Longbottom, the "songs were from so many different character points of views, [that one] couldn't begin to create a book musical that would allow them to coexist."
After the basic concept of the show had been developed, musical arranger and supervisor David Chase joined the project. Collaborating with Longbottom, Chase delved through Disney's music canon to extract songs that would showcase the personality of the characters and would be able to tell the story without spoken words. Designers Robert Brill, Gregg Barnes, and Natasha Katz took on the task of creating a classy show with modest design elements, so the production would be able to travel easily.
After technical elements of the show began to come together, casting auditions were held in June 2004 around the country, including New York City and Cleveland. Broadway veterans Emily Skinner
Emily Skinner
Emily Skinner is an American musical theatre actress and singer. She has performed in such Broadway shows as Side Show, James Joyce's The Dead, The Full Monty, Dinner at Eight and, currently, in Billy Elliot...
and Brian Sutherland were cast as the older, more experienced couple of recording artists, while newcomers Ashley Brown
Ashley Brown
Ashley Brown is an actress who is best known for playing the title character in the United States national tour and Broadway productions of Mary Poppins.-Career:...
and Andrew Samonsky were cast in the roles of the newer musicians. Richard Easton received the role of the Sound Engineer, a part that was ultimately cut from the show. Kaitlin Hopkins
Kaitlin Hopkins
Kaitlin Hopkins is an American stage, screen, and television actress, the daughter of actress Shirley Knight and stage producer/director Gene Persson....
, as the only actor to regularly replace one of the original four leads, took over Skinner's role as Diane on January 15, 2005. In its 36-week tour, On the Record was performed for over 350,000 people, opening on November 19, 2004 at Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
's Palace Theater and closing July 31, 2005 at Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
's Denver Center for the Performing Arts. While the production was originally planned to run through September 4, after playing to disappointing, small audiences, the production ultimately decided on an earlier closing date after only two months on the road. There are currently no plans for either Equity
Actors' Equity Association
The Actors' Equity Association , commonly referred to as Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing the world of live theatrical performance, as opposed to film and television performance. However, performers appearing on live stage productions without a book or...
or non-Equity licensing of the production.
In April 2009, the show saw new life in the form of Children's Musical Theatre of San Jose's production of When You Wish, a separate revue based on On the Record. Adapted by the theater's artistic director, Kevin Hauge, When You Wish, much unlike its basis, tells the story of three children who stumble upon a fantasy world in which they meet many beloved Disney characters. While When You Wish abandons the recording studio setting, it incorporates On the Records same catalog of 71 years of Disney music.
Original touring company
| Diane | Emily Skinner Emily Skinner Emily Skinner is an American musical theatre actress and singer. She has performed in such Broadway shows as Side Show, James Joyce's The Dead, The Full Monty, Dinner at Eight and, currently, in Billy Elliot... |
| Julian | Brian Sutherland |
| Kristen | Ashley Brown Ashley Brown Ashley Brown is an actress who is best known for playing the title character in the United States national tour and Broadway productions of Mary Poppins.-Career:... |
| Nick | Andrew Samonsky |
| Quartet | Meredith Inglesby Andy Karl Andy Karl Andy Karl is an American actor and singer, best known for performing in musical theatre. He has appeared on Broadway in the original productions of Legally Blonde and 9 to 5, as well as appearing in Wicked.-Early life:... Tyler Maynard Tyler Maynard Tyler Maynard is an American stage and film actor. He is best known for playing Mark in the 2005 musical Altar Boyz, for which he won a Theatre World Award and received a nomination for a Drama Desk Award.-Biography:... Keewa Nurullah |
| Swings | Josh Franklin Leigh Ann Larkin Leigh Ann Larkin Leigh Ann Larkin is an American actress and singer, best known for her performance as June Havoc in the 2008 Broadway revival of the musical, Gypsy.- Early life and education :... Koh Mochizuki Lyn Philistine |
Synopsis
On the Record, like most revues, involves characters that express their personalities and emotions with the use of song, rather than speech. In this case, the characters tell the show's simple, hardly existent plot through selections of Disney music. The story is one of a love rectangle between four recording artists, including reigning popPop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
diva
Diva
A diva is a celebrated female singer. The term is used to describe a woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, and, by extension, in theatre, cinema and popular music. The meaning of diva is closely related to that of "prima donna"....
Diane, matinee idol Julian, and the fresh faces on the music scene Kristen and Nick, recording a Disney compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
. Upon entering the studio, Kristen instantly develops a crush on teen heartthrob-to-be, Nick, though Nick initially denies any attraction. Meanwhile, Julian attempts to rekindle an apparent ex-relationship
Ex (relationship)
In social relationships, an ex is someone with whom a person was once associated. As a prefix, ex- can refer to a variety of different relationships; for example, one might refer to a music group's ex-guitarist, or someone's ex-friend...
with Diane but is often interrupted by his unrequited love
Unrequited love
Unrequited love is love that is not openly reciprocated or understood as such, even though reciprocation is usually deeply desired. The beloved may or may not be aware of the admirer's deep affections...
's flirtation with the younger talent. As the show comes to an end, though, Diane comes back to Julian, remembering how precious their time together had once been. Nick, in turn, learns to embrace love and professes that he will always be there for Kristen.
Music
Quartet
In music, a quartet is a method of instrumentation , used to perform a musical composition, and consisting of four parts.-Western art music:...
, and an eight-member orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
. While the show is often advertised as a collection of 64
64 (number)
64 is the natural number following 63 and preceding 65.-In mathematics:Sixty-four is the square of 8, the cube of 4, and the sixth power of 2. It is the smallest number with exactly seven divisors. It is the lowest positive power of two that is adjacent to neither a Mersenne prime nor a Fermat...
Disney songs, there are actually 71
71 (number)
71 is the natural number following 70 and preceding 72.-In mathematics:71 is the algebraic degree of Conway's constant, a remarkable number arising in the study of look-and-say sequences....
, with three of them reprise
Reprise
Reprise is a fundamental device in the history of art. In literature, a reprise consists of the rewriting of another work; in music, a reprise is the repetition or reiteration of the opening material later in a composition as occurs in the recapitulation of sonata form, though—originally in the...
d. Hardly any song, however, is performed in its entirety. Under the musical adaptation and arrangement by David Chase, songs also take different twists on their original counterparts from film or stage. "Be Our Guest" especially drifts from the original film version in that it is sung in a surplus of different language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
s. Julian sings a portion of the song in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, Diane sings in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, Kristen sings in Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
, Nick sings in Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
, and the company sings other portions in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and other languages. "The Work Song", however, hardly drifts from the original version at all, digitally altering the characters' voices to imitate those of Cinderella
Cinderella (1950 film)
Cinderella is a 1950 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the fairy tale "Cendrillon" by Charles Perrault. Twelfth in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film had a limited release on February 15, 1950 by RKO Radio Pictures. Directing credits go to Clyde Geronimi,...
Mouse
A mouse is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse . It is also a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. This rodent is eaten by large birds such as hawks and eagles...
.
The 75 years of Disney music represented in the revue dates back to "Minnie's Yoo-Hoo" from a 1929
1929 in film
-Events:The days of the silent film are numbered. A mad scramble to provide synchronized sound is on.*January 20 - The movie In Old Arizona is released. The film is the first full-length talking film to be filmed outdoors....
Mickey Mouse short, with the newest selection being "Will the Sun Ever Shine Again" from the 2004
2004 in film
The year 2004 in film involved some significant events. Major releases of sequels took place. It included blockbuster films like Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Passion of the Christ, Meet the Fockers, Blade: Trinity, Spider-Man 2, Alien vs. Predator, Kill Bill Vol...
film Home on the Range. On the Record includes a total of eight Academy Award for Best Song winners: "When You Wish Upon a Star
When You Wish upon a Star
"When You Wish upon a Star" is a song written by Leigh Harline and Ned Washington for Walt Disney's 1940 adaptation of Pinocchio. The original version of the song was sung by Cliff Edwards in the character of Jiminy Cricket, and is heard over the opening credits and again in the final scene of the...
" from Pinocchio
Pinocchio (1940 film)
Pinocchio is a 1940 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the story The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. It is the second film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics, and it was made after the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and was released to theaters by...
, "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah
Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah
"Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" is a song from the Disney 1946 live action and animated movie Song of the South, sung by James Baskett. With music by Allie Wrubel and lyrics by Ray Gilbert, "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" won the Academy Award for Best Original Song...
" from Song of the South
Song of the South
Song of the South is a 1946 American musical film produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film is based on the Uncle Remus cycle of stories by Joel Chandler Harris. The live actors provide a sentimental frame story, in which Uncle Remus relates the folk tales of the...
, "Under the Sea
Under the Sea
-Parodies:In 1991, this song was parodied by musician Tom Smith with his song, "On The PC". This song was re-written in 1999 as "PC99".The song was parodied on the TV show Kappa Mikey where Mikey tries to convince a squid to live on land with him....
" from The Little Mermaid
The Little Mermaid (1989 film)
The Little Mermaid is a 1989 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale of the same name. Distributed by Walt Disney Pictures, the film was originally released to theaters on November 14, 1989 and is the twenty-eighth film in...
, "Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast (1991 song)
"Beauty and the Beast" is the Oscar winning leading single from the Academy Award Best Picture nominated animated film Beauty and the Beast film, and the first hit single from Céline Dion's eponymous album. It was performed in the movie by Angela Lansbury, and sung over the movie's closing credits...
" from Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast (1991 film)
Beauty and the Beast is a 1991 American animated fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The thirtieth film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series and the third film of the Disney Renaissance period...
, "A Whole New World
A Whole New World
"A Whole New World" is the Oscar winning featured pop single from the soundtrack to the 1992 Disney film Aladdin. It was composed by Alan Menken with lyrics by Tim Rice. The song is a ballad between the primary characters Aladdin and Jasmine about the new world they are going to discover together....
" from Aladdin, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight
Can You Feel the Love Tonight
250px|thumb|right|Simba and Nala embrace during the "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" sequence."Can You Feel the Love Tonight" is a song from Disney's 1994 animated film, The Lion King, composed by Elton John with lyrics by Tim Rice. It was described by Don Hahn , Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff as...
" from The Lion King
The Lion King
The Lion King is a 1994 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the 32nd feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series...
, "Colors of the Wind
Colors of the Wind
"Colors of the Wind" by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz, was the 1995 Oscar-winner for Best Original Song from the Disney animated feature film, Pocahontas. It also won the Golden Globe in the same category as well as the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Movie...
" from Pocahontas
Pocahontas (1995 film)
Pocahontas is the 33rd animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. It was produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and was originally released to selected theaters on June 16, 1995 by Walt Disney Pictures...
, and "You'll Be in My Heart
You'll Be in My Heart
"You'll Be in My Heart" is a song by Phil Collins, from the 1999 Disney animated feature Tarzan. It appeared on Tarzan: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack as well as various other Disney compilations...
" from Tarzan
Tarzan (1999 film)
Tarzan is a 1999 American animated feature film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures on June 18, 1999...
. The catalogue of music does not only come from the screen, however, but also from such Disneyland attractions as It's a Small World and The Enchanted Tiki Room, both with songs by Disney's prolific songwriter brother duo, Richard and Robert Sherman. Also performed in the musical is composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
Alan Menken
Alan Menken
Alan Menken is an American musical theatre and film composer and pianist.Menken is best known for his numerous scores for films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. His scores for The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Pocahontas have each won him two Academy Awards...
's "A Change in Me
A Change in Me (Beauty and the Beast)
"A Change in Me" is a solo song from the Broadway musical Beauty and the Beast, sung by the protagonist, Belle. It was written by Tim Rice and Alan Menken. The song was not included in the original Broadway production...
" — a song written for Toni Braxton
Toni Braxton
Toni Michelle Braxton is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Braxton has won six Grammy Awards, seven American Music Awards, and five Billboard Music Awards and has sold over 60 million records worldwide...
when she entered the role of Belle in the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
production of Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast (musical)
Beauty and the Beast is a musical with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice and a book by Linda Woolverton, based on the 1991 Disney film of the same name. Seven new songs were written for the stage musical...
.
The songs are grouped into 15 recording sessions, as well as a prologue
Prologue
A prologue is an opening to a story that establishes the setting and gives background details, often some earlier story that ties into the main one, and other miscellaneous information. The Greek prologos included the modern meaning of prologue, but was of wider significance...
, finale, and a collection of instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
s played after curtain call as the audience exits the theater, with each section's songs holding a unifying theme. Some sessions contain themes such as falling in love
Romantic love
Romance is the pleasurable feeling of excitement and mystery associated with love.In the context of romantic love relationships, romance usually implies an expression of one's love, or one's deep emotional desires to connect with another person....
, while others may contain songs made up of entirely nonsense words
Gibberish
Gibberish is a generic term in English for talking that sounds like speech, but carries no actual meaning. This meaning has also been extended to meaningless text or gobbledygook. The common theme in gibberish statements is a lack of literal sense, which can be described as a presence of nonsense...
, or even numbers about foreign cuisine
Cuisine
Cuisine is a characteristic style of cooking practices and traditions, often associated with a specific culture. Cuisines are often named after the geographic areas or regions that they originate from...
. More often than not, songs within a session are presented in the form of a medley, leading directly into one another, without a break between them.
Released to stores on March 15, 2005, the cast recording
Cast recording
A cast recording is a recording of a musical that is intended to document the songs as they were performed in the show and experienced by the audience. An original cast recording, as the name implies, features the voices of the show's original cast...
, featuring the entire original cast, excluding Emily Skinner and including Kaitlin Hopkins, received decent reviews. Produced by Walt Disney Records
Walt Disney Records
Walt Disney Records is a family music record label owned by the Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Records was formed in 1956 as Disneyland Records. Before that time, Disney recordings were licensed out to a variety of other labels such as . It was Walt Disney’s brother Roy O...
, the two-disc set with a total of 45
45 (number)
45 is the natural number following 44 and followed by 46.- In mathematics :Forty-five is a triangular number, a hexagonal and 16-gonal number, a Kaprekar number, and a Harshad number....
tracks was mostly acclaimed for the talent of the cast and the timelessness of the Disney favorites. Because the show contains very little dialogue, the two discs are essentially a recording of the entire show.
Response
Gimmick
In marketing language, a gimmick is a unique or quirky special feature that makes something "stand out" from its contemporaries. However, the special feature is typically thought to be of little relevance or use. Thus, a gimmick is a special feature for the sake of having a special feature...
s giving new twists to the classic songs, including monkey
Monkey
A monkey is a primate, either an Old World monkey or a New World monkey. There are about 260 known living species of monkey. Many are arboreal, although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Unlike apes, monkeys...
imitation
Imitation
Imitation is an advanced behavior whereby an individual observes and replicates another's. The word can be applied in many contexts, ranging from animal training to international politics.-Anthropology and social sciences:...
s in The Jungle Book
The Jungle Book (1967 film)
The Jungle Book is a 1967 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. Released on October 18, 1967, it is the 19th animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. It was inspired by the stories about the feral child Mowgli from the book of the same name by...
Glow-in-the-dark
Glow-in-the-dark may refer to:*Bioluminescence, the production and emission of light by a living organism*Chemiluminescence, is the emission of light without emission of heat...
microphone
Microphone
A microphone is an acoustic-to-electric transducer or sensor that converts sound into an electrical signal. In 1877, Emile Berliner invented the first microphone used as a telephone voice transmitter...
cords in The Little Mermaid
Skill
A skill is the learned capacity to carry out pre-determined results often with the minimum outlay of time, energy, or both. Skills can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific skills...
ed.
The revue, in fact, proved to be the beginning of Ashley Brown's ever-flourishing relationship with Disney's theatrical department. After receiving positive reviews for her performance as Kristen, Brown landed the role of Belle in Beauty and the Beast on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
on September 20, 2005. After completing her run as Belle on May 28, 2006, Brown opened the Broadway production of Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins (musical)
Mary Poppins is a Walt Disney Theatrical musical based on the similarly titled series of children's books by P. L. Travers and the Disney 1964 film. The West End production opened in December 2004 and received two Olivier Awards, one for Best Actress in a Musical and the other for Best Theatre...
on November 16, 2006, in the title role — a performance which earned her a Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Musical. Brown ended her Broadway run on October 5, 2008, but subsequently returned to the role, opening the North American national tour of Mary Poppins in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
on March 25, 2009. Meredith Inglesby, who served as a member of the quartet and as Diane's understudy, also found success with Disney Theatrical Productions, landing the roles of Babette the feather duster
Feather duster
A feather duster is an implement used for cleaning. It consists typically of a wooden-dowel handle and feathers from either the male or female ostrich bird that are wound onto the handle by a wrapped wire. Dusters vary in size by are most often between 14" and 32" in total length. Some dusters...
in the same production of Beauty and the Beast and later, Carlotta in the Broadway production of The Little Mermaid
The Little Mermaid (musical)
The Little Mermaid is a stage musical produced by Disney Theatrical, based on the animated 1989 Disney film of the same name and the classic story of The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen...
. Also, Tyler Maynard
Tyler Maynard
Tyler Maynard is an American stage and film actor. He is best known for playing Mark in the 2005 musical Altar Boyz, for which he won a Theatre World Award and received a nomination for a Drama Desk Award.-Biography:...
of the quartet has gone on to work with Walt Disney Theatrical
Walt Disney Theatrical
Disney Theatrical Group, also known as Disney Theatrical Productions, is the stageplay and musical production arm of The Walt Disney Company...
, both in Mary Poppins as Valentine and, subsequently, in The Little Mermaid as Flotsam.