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All the DISNEY theatre news from D23 | Hercules West End, Frozen proshot and The Greatest Showman
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Mickey Jo
Okay, I'm gonna do this without laughing this time. Oh, my. Oh my God. Hey. He's such a big hand. Oh, my God. Hey, welcome back to my theatre themed YouTube channel for a very impromptu episode all to do with the latest Disney theatrical news. I can't wear this for the entire video. This is ridiculous. I kind of, you know, at least if I had two, it would feel less like Disney's version of Michael Jackson. But there's something a little too like mouse in the mirror about this going on. I'm going to put that down. Oh, my God. Hey, welcome back to my theatre themed YouTube channel for an impromptu video all about the breaking news coming out of D23. If you don't know what that is, I'm going to explain, don't worry. But first of all, let me introduce myself. If you're meeting me for the first time, my name is Mickey Jo. I am obsessed with all things theatre and I am a content creator, theatre critic, pundit, here on social media. And this is my theatre themed YouTube channel where I talk about all things theatrical happening worldwide, whether it's in the West End or on Broadway or beyond. And right now I am in the middle of a two week trip to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where I am seeing and reviewing upwards of 60 different shows. But in the middle of that, I'm celebrating my stagey fiance, Aaron James birthday. So we are here for a couple of days at his family home while D23 is going on. And so I hadn't planned to be making this video, but I was kind of aware of the the possibility. Thankfully, he is not only a lifelong Disney fan, but also a former cast member. Hence why we've got stuff like this hanging around. This is his stitch T shirt I'm wearing right now. And I woke up to very exciting news this morning. Not only all of the stuff I was seeing across social media from D23's entertainment panel, but also a press release that I had been sent by Disney, which I'll be candid enough to tell you, is not something I anticipated happening. It's only something that has been happening quite recently. And so I thought I would read from that and tell you about all of the breaking Broadway West End global theatrical news that came out of D23. If you don't know, D23 is the ultimate Disney fan event. And it's this huge sort of conference style convention. They have panels announcing major news about upcoming film projects, they've announced some huge things, they released a lot of trailers, a lot of new footage from upcoming films. But this year, and I don't believe this happens very often, they also talked about Disney theatrical and Disney on stage, and they addressed some things that we already knew about. And they also sort of formally announced a couple of things that had been rumoured. But I will say much of this is stuff I've talked about before here on my channel because I do try and have my mouse ears to the ground, as it were. So let's talk about the news that came out of D23. We are talking Hercules. We are talking a greater showman stage musical, we are talking a Frozen pro shot and more. And if you enjoyed today's video and you would like to stay up to date on all things theatre and all things Disney on stage, make sure you are subscribed here on YouTube. Turn on those notifications because I have teased the announcement of all of these projects except for the Greatest Showman, although I did know about it before they were officially announced. For now, though, let's talk about all of the exciting theater news from D23. Make sure to comment down below with all of your thoughts and feelings. Let's go. So this press release is huge and it tells me about everything that happened at the entertainment panel, which was not only Disney theatrical and on stage, but also upcoming film releases like Moana 2 and Zootopia 2. And a little tease at the concept art for Frozen 3 coming to movie theaters in 2027. But we're going to scroll ahead just to talk about the theatre stuff. There will be other Disney content creators here on the Internet who will catch you up on all of the exciting film news. And I am excited about some of these films, but I'm a theatre boy at heart. We know this. So Disney on Broadway celebrated its 30th anniversary with a thrilling medley of performances and exclusive announcements from its hit stage musical. Highlights included the Lion King, which continues to be just about one of the most successful musicals globally. It's still running on Broadway after decades. It's still running in the West End. It's running just about everywhere else you can imagine around the world, honestly. We've recently started looking into more European theater trips and every time we think of going to a new country, we're like, what shows are playing there? And it's always the Lion King, always the Lion King and something else. But it's always the Lion King. And good for them, you know, it was brought to the stage and realized with such artistry and creativity. I can't be mad at that. Ongoing success also included Aladdin and Hercules, which will open in London's west end in summer 2025. So this was the first big piece of news, Hercules officially coming to the West End. And this had already been announced, but we did get some new artwork to go with that announcement. And I will put that in the video somewhere here because before we just had this nice sort of like blue and a little bit gold thing and now we have this nice lightning bolt effect. We've got this little Theatre Royal Drury Lane graphic there with the muses giving it a little bit of leg. I like this artwork. I like the aesthetic direction that this suggests. The show is moving in. If you don't know, I'll catch you up a little bit. Hercules was first brought to the stage in an open air production in New York. It was then restaged at Papermore Playhouse in New Jersey. That was the first time I saw the production and it had big, big problems. One of those was designed, the design improved when it then went to Hamburg in a slightly changed production with the new creative team with director Casey Nicolor. Now, that production was in German, so I cannot speak to any issues with the book or the lyrics because my German is okay, but it's not that good. I will say that the design was largely improved, some of the storytelling was largely improved, but it still doesn't really befit the space it's going to in the West End. So I think this production still needs to be heightened, improved, worked on a little bit more before it comes to Theatre Royal Drury Lane in the West End, because this is a huge majestic theatre where Frozen is currently playing. And that will insist on a certain scale of production and a certain wow factor that the production as it currently stands at Theater Neue Flora in Hamburg is not offering audiences. Now, this news does not come with any casting announcements. However, they did show a little bit of a performance and they utilized Bradley Gibson. Now, Bradley played the role at Paper Mill in New Jersey. Didn't play the role in Hamburg. They used a German actor, actually a Brazilian actor, who is about to be the lead in Hamburg's production of mj. Good for him. And they have meanwhile announced a new Hercules for Hamburg, if you're intrigued. But Bradley also performed at the Royal Variety Performance in London where Hercules performed a few months ago. This was prior to it being announced for the West End and this was one of the first indicators that maybe a West End announcement was on the horizon. So Bradley still very much seems attached to the project and I would not be surprised one bit if he ended up playing the role in London. In fact, I am willing to bet this is what is going to happen, that Bradley Gibson will be the West End Hercules alongside a London cast. And we have more than enough performers who could fill out that cast as especially those muses. Now, next, it talks about the greatest shown, but I'm going to save that for last. We're going to skip ahead a little bit and talk about Frozen. So this was the confirmation that Frozen has been filmed on stage at Theatre Royal Drury Lane and will premiere on Disney in 2025. Interesting. And I'll explain why Samantha Barks, who will star as Elsa, dazzled the audience with a powerful rendition of Let It Go. Thrilled for Samantha Barks, thrilled for her getting this opportunity and being platformed as the Elsa in Frozen the musical on Disney. But you may be wondering, why did they film the London production? Why did they not film the Broadway production? And for all intents and purposes, it seems as though, I mean, we know that it is far cheaper to film theatre live on stage in London than it is in the us. It's for that same reason that spongebob the Musical flew its entire cast over to Plymouth in the UK to film it for Nickelodeon, inexplicably in Plymouth. Like it was cheaper to upheave the whole thing, rather bring it over here and film it over here. Also, this production of Frozen at Theatre Royal Drury Lane is the most expansive and large scale of any of them worldwide. We have set pieces in the West End production that were made specifically for that production and for that massive grand stage. It's far bigger than the version that I saw again in Hamburg. But it isn't the original West End cast that has been captured on film. It is the current West End cast, Samantha Barks, open to the show as Elsa. So she still plays the role, but it's Laura Dawks who will be playing the role of Anna. And this was filmed back in early February of this year, right when Samantha Parks was coming back from maternity leave. In fact, I saw her first performance back in the show, but they had clearly been filming the pro shot in the week before this. There were a bunch of performances taken off sale. I know some people who were at some of the film's performances when they were basically just there for audience reaction shots. And I was hearing rumblings at the time that it could be released as early as summer this year. And I thought that was a little bit surprising because for something like Frozen, you expect it to tie in with a Christmas release, right? And so when it didn't happen in the summer. I thought they're going to announce that 2023 and it's going to be coming out this Christmas. Perfect timing. Christmas holidays, wintry vibes. Except this press release is telling us release in 2025. Are they at this point, is it going to come earlier? Is it going to come in April, sort of an Easter or a spring moment? Is it going to be summer 2025? Is it just going to drop at a random inconsequential time of the year? I wouldn't have thought so because these releases are very precisely planned and coordinated. There is always a big, you know, team effort going into making sure these are as successful as possible. Christmas and December would still make the most sense, but I hope we don't have to wait until December 2025. It stands to reason that they would delay the release until after the West End production had closed. The North American tour has, I believe recently finished or will soon be finishing. And so making it available on Disney plus isn't going to prevent any in person ticket sales for those major English language productions. But whereas the Hercules announcement confirmed summer 2025, this one just gives us 2025. So we are going to have to watch this space to find out anything more specific. But I'm pleased about this news and you should be as well. Even if Frozen is not your favourite Disney musical in the world, having that available on Disney is going to bring it to such a wider audience and it's going to encourage people going to the theatre because they're going to see the spectacle of that. They're going to see, wow, look at this amazing show. They're going to get excited about it. They're going to see that it's already closed in the West End, it closed years ago on Broadway. If they're just discovering it for the first time and they're going to say, right, next time there's a Disney show in the West End on Broadway, we're going to New York, we're going to London and we're going to go and see it. Pro shots. We already know this. They are good for all sorts of areas of the industry. They are great for the performers, they're great for audiences who don't have immediate access to New York or London. Those who may want to go there but don't have the ability or the financial resources to do so, thrilled about this news. It's great news. And then finally, the Greatest Showman. So the Greatest Showman was this hit movie musical a few years ago starring Hugh Jackman and Zac Efron and Zendaya and Michelle Williams. Not that One, the Other One, and Keala Settle. It was based on the life of P.T. barnum, who is also musicalized in another stage musical called Barnum. And it featured a score by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, which is one of the components that really launched it to huge success. The Greatest Showman was huge, and at the time it was thought that this kind of saved the movie musical, because in the years leading up to this, there were several that were unsuccessful and we've seen some really great ones since. We've also seen Hollywood kind of losing a little bit of faith in the movie musical post the Greatest Showman. But we also know that when it comes to the stage, producers need only have the slightest inclination something's going to be successful to jump on it. And when something is big in Hollywood, they immediately start talking about it for Broadway. So you just knew when they had a huge hit movie musical with the Greatest Showman, there was going to be immediate conversation to take it to the stage. And this has been talked about for a long time. It's taken a surprisingly long time. Like, I'm all for them developing this and of course we had a global pandemic right in the middle of this, and I certainly don't want anything to be rushed to the stage. Yay for things being workshopped. Yay for them taking their time in this journey. But in the intervening years, we haven't heard anything official, official about the development of the Greatest Showman. It's been rumoured, it's been talked about. And they recently had a workshop presentation in London, of all places. Would you believe the cast for which was stacked. There's not really any point me telling you this cast because there's no confirmation that they will be attached to any future version of the show. But the voices, my God, just about every great voice of the West End was somehow involved in this workshop presentation. Those were not the same performers, however, who performed at D23. This was only a small handful of performers who I don't believe have been officially named in this press release. But Ryan Vasquez was definitely there. He is currently starring as Middle Noah in the Notebook on Broadway. From what I can tell, he has no previous relationship with Disney, at least on Broadway. Someone who does, however, is Aisha Jackson. She was in the lineup as well. Also, Michael Kilgore. If you're looking for great voices, you're going to ask Michael Kilgore. Also Josh Strickland, who definitely has a previous relationship with Disney on Broadway with Tarzan. But other than this performance of the Greatest show and the confirmation that it is coming to the stage, we know nothing about this. Like I said, it is not public knowledge that this workshop happened in London. This is me giving you exclusive gossip here right now. But what it says in the press release is that the Greatest Showman is currently in development for a stage musical adaptation that is not necessarily confirming Broadway. There were rumours of the West End. There were rumours of the West End for Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. We're getting a Greatest Showman style immersive circus show happening in London that's separate to this. And if you'd asked me last year, I would have told you it was definitely going to go to Broadway first because, you know, when have Disney ever brought new musicals to London prior to New York? But we're seeing that happen next year with Hercules. So there's every possibility they might launch this in London instead, where it's cheaper to do so. We're seeing a lot of shows finding success that way by starting in London first. We're also seeing a lot of shows that were not successful on Broadway having more success in London. Frozen, it's enjoying a healthier run, ticket sales wise and in terms of its longevity in London compared with the one that it had in New York. Likewise for other film to stage adaptations like Mrs. Doubtfire, like Pretty Woman, they are doing better in London. The audience appetite seems to be stronger for them. London. Whereas there seems to be a little bit more of a backlash in New York around the idea of these films just being thrown onto the stage, which we know is not the case here because they've taken a really long time to bring it. It also says the stage adaptation of the Greatest Showman featuring the Academy Award nominated songs of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. If there was any doubt, they're going to be using the music from the film. Not necessarily all of it, but you would assume most of it. Possibly with a couple of new songs as well. I think it's safe to say we're going to get the big ones. We're going to get a this is Me moment. We are going to get the Greatest Show. We are probably going to get to come live. I would. I would go as far as to say we're probably going to get all of the songs from the film. You'll get the Zac Efron Zendaya rewrite, the stars duet moment. I hope we get Tightrope, because that's a beautiful song. From now on obviously, never enough, of course, but as with most movie musicals, not quite enough to fill out a full stage musical. So I dare say there will be some new songs to go with that as well. And the last thing they say is that it will announce production timetable, creative team and cast at a later date. We have no idea when this is going to be, where this is going to be, who is going to be in it. But watch this space because as soon as we get any rumblings, you know I'm going to be talking about it on here. That for now, however, is all of the news that we have out of D23. I found this very exciting. I would love for there to be more big annual events where things get announced. You know, we have MusicalCon in London, we have BroadwayCon in New York, but neither of those are really utilized by the industry to make these big buzzy announcements. And how great is it to wake up this morning with all of these fun musical announcements all across social media. Also, huge thank you to Disney for sending me this press release. I have no idea how that happened, but I am incredibly grateful and very lucky to have the opportunity to share it with all of you and I hope you have enjoyed me covering this news in this video. Which of these announcements are you the most excited about now? I am excited. Also nervous anticipating Hercules because I've seen these two stages of its development from New Jersey to Hamburg and I know this is a show that still needs work. I like the direction, the artwork is moving in. I loved Bradley Gibson in the show. So with those two things in mind, it seems like he's going to be doing London. That gives me a lot of reason to be excited. I am willing this to be good. There is a great Hercules musical somewhere in there. I just want them to find it frozen on Disney. We knew that this was coming, but I'm really grateful that so many people are going to have the opportunity to see this production and that these performances are going to be immortalized. This is going to do great things for Samantha Barks, who is already becoming something of a huge musical theatre star. And then finally, the Greatest Showman. I know some people are rolling their eyes at this. Some people are going to be saying, why do we need this when we already have Barnum? But just talking through the list of songs, then I was getting really excited about seeing these realized on stage. These are some great parts for some fantastic singers and they could do such exciting things in terms of using all of the circus elements. If you haven't seen water for elephants on Broadway. One of the most thrilling things about that production is all of the circus and acrobatic choreography in the show. I think this could be incredibly exciting, so I'm excited about all of these, but I would love to know your thoughts in the comments section down below. Feel free to like this video. Feel free to subscribe to my theatre themed YouTube channel if you want to stay up to date with all of the theatrical news. Feel free to send this to a Disney and theatre loving friend so that they can find out about it as well. In the meantime, I hope that everyone is staying safe and that you have a stagey day. For 10 more seconds, I'm Mickey Jo Theatre. Oh my God. Hey, thanks for watching. Have a stagey day. Subscribe.