DISNEY THEATRICAL PRODUCTIONS CELEBRATES 25 YEARS AT BROADWAYCON 2019

Last night (Friday, January 11, 2019) Disney Theatrical Productions hosted “Disney Theatrical at 25: The Stars Align” at BroadwayCon in Manhattan. The lively panel was made up of some of the stars who created these indelible shows and characters in their original productions. Moderated by Disney Theatrical Productions head Thomas Schumacher, the panel was a fascinating and hilarious discussion filled with behind-the-scenes stories. Panelists included Christian Borle (Tony®-winning Black Stache in Peter and the Starcatcher), Ashley Brown (title role in Mary Poppins), Merle Dandridge (Kala in Tarzan), Susan Egan (Belle in Beauty and the Beast), James Monroe Iglehart (Tony-winning Genie in Aladdin), and Patti Murin (Anna in Frozen). 

About Disney Theatrical Productions

DISNEY THEATRICAL PRODUCTIONS, a division of The Walt Disney Studios, was formed in 1994 and operates under the direction of Thomas Schumacher.  Worldwide, its 10 Broadway titles have been seen by over 160 million theatergoers and have been nominated for 62 Tony®Awards, winning Broadway’s highest honor 20 times.  With more than 20 productions currently produced or licensed, a Disney musical is being performed professionally somewhere on the planet virtually every hour of the day. 

The company’s inaugural production, Beauty and the Beast, opened in 1994. It played a remarkable 13 year run on Broadway and has been produced in 37 countries worldwide.

In November 1997, Disney opened The Lion King, which received six 1998 Tony Awards including Best Musical. After 21 landmark years on Broadway, it has welcomed more than 95 million visitors worldwide to date, and can currently be seen in nine productions worldwide.  Having played 20 countries on every continent except Antarctica, The Lion King’s worldwide gross exceeds that of any film, Broadway show or other entertainment title in box office history.

Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida opened on Broadway next, winning four 2000 Tony Awards.  It was followed by Mary Poppins, a co-production with Cameron Mackintosh, which opened in London in 2004 and went on to enjoy a six year Tony-winning Broadway run.  

Tarzan®, which opened on Broadway in 2006, went on to become an international hit with an award-winning production enjoying a 10-year run in Germany.  In January 2008, The Little Mermaid opened on Broadway and was the #1-selling new musical of that year.

Disney Theatrical Productions opened two critically acclaimed productions on Broadway in 2012, receiving seven Tony Awards between them:Peter and the Starcatcher and Newsies, each of which enjoyed a two-year run with the latter launching a two-year North American tour and a record-breaking Fathom Events’ in-cinema release.

Aladdin, Disney Theatrical’s 2014 hit, continues selling out on Broadway and has launched five additional productions around the globe.  Its newest hit, the 2018 Tony-nominated Best Musical Frozen, continues setting records in its Broadway run.

Other successful stage ventures have included the Olivier-nominated London hit Shakespeare in Love, stage productions of Disney’s High School Musical, Der Glöckner Von Notre Dame in Berlin, and King David in concert.  DTP has collaborated with the country’s leading regional theatres to develop new stage musicals including The Jungle Book, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Freaky Friday.

About BroadwayCon

BroadwayCon is theatre’s answer to comic-con, tailor made for fans. From January 11-13, 2019, join some of Broadway’s biggest fans, performers, and creators from classic and current shows as we gather at the Hilton Midtown to perform, discuss, debate, and celebrate theatre. BroadwayCon 2019 will feature panels, performances, interviews, workshops, singalongs, and more, all packed into an epic three-day weekend. Past panels have included previews from upcoming Broadway shows, conversations with the casts and creatives of this season’s hits, and discussions featuring the industry’s top producers and designers, not to mention the giant Opening Celebration and nighttime fun and games. BroadwayCon is produced by Mischief Management.

"FOLLOW YOUR HEART", ADVICE FROM TONY AWARD WINNER — Daveed Diggs

On Sunday, June 19, Fathers’ Day, hearts will be especially heavy as the world reflects on the 49 victims who lost their lives in Orlando, Florida, as victims of the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

It was just a week ago Sunday when the theatrical community, poised to celebrate the 2016 Tony Awards in NYC, felt the impact of the tragedy. In quick response, nominees and presenters wore silver ribbons — designed by veteran Broadway costume designer and six-time Tony winner William Ivey Long — to honor the victims.

As difficult for the heart to absorb so many deaths, it’s further exacerbated because many of those who died there, were Hispanic and African-American young people, many at the beginning of their lives. A particularly poignant fact to ponder in Broadway history, is that 2016 will be seen, as a historic and important year for the African and African-American artistic community given that all four awards for Performances in Musicals went to African-American actors. 

“Hamilton,” the hip-hop musical about America’s first Treasury secretary, won 11 Tony Awards including picking up Broadway’s highest honor — the Tony for Best Musical.  Proving that the art form of hip-hop is successful not only artistically, but commercially — it was earning about $6000,00 in profit weekly on Broadway — and is poised to expand its reach with productions opening in Chicago in September, followed by two North American tours and a London staging as well.  

The lingering weight of the tragedy made many reflect on the value of time and the importance of family. Among those pondering such matters was Daveed Diggs, who plays both Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson in “Hamilton.” He was one of those cast members who took a Tony home — in his case, for Best Featured Actor in a Musical.

In Act I, of “Hamilton,” Diggs brings the thunder, commanding the stage first as Lafayette.  According to the website FiveThirtyEight, which uses statistical analysis — hard numbers — to tell compelling stories about elections, politics, sports, science, economics, etc., he drops the fastest rap in Broadway history, with the song “Guns and Ships” clocking in at a dizzying 19 words in three seconds.  

Then in Act 2, he shakes out his mane of hair, undoing his man-bun and turns into the complex Jefferson, who he paints with big strokes of braggadocio as well as ladening on a dash of entitled-dandy charm. A cool, confident ghost of history and a master adversary to Miranda’s Hamilton.  The result is a hyped cabinet rap battle that brings audiences to their feet.

 

For Diggs, becoming a part of “Hamilton” — which marked his Broadway debut — was a stroke of pure “luck.”

 Born and raised in Oakland, California, the son of a white, Jewish mother and an African-American father, Diggs honed his musical skills with the experimental Cali-based hip hop group CLIPPING.

A family focused artist, Diggs shared words of wisdom on the importance of following your dreams. “It’s important, and always has been, to my parents that I do something that I love. [I} watched his father report to a job he hated, as bus driver in San Franscico,, [and it] helped frame his hearts’ ambition.” 

Diggs added that the success of “Hamilton” and his Tony win is dedicated to his parents.

Here is what the Tony winner had to say about his father on Tony night. 

[On getting Tony win in contrast to the Orlando tragedy]

In the middle of all this thing, for me, it makes perfect sense in the mist of this performance [that] I get represent my actual self while telling this story, and I think that’s why Hamilton is so inclusive. We get to see our actual selves in this story about the founding of the country we all live and participate in. 

[On sharing the news of his win with his family]

I tell me my dad and my grandfather too, I call him [grandfather] on the phone, too, he says some real slick stuff. They are supportive.

I’ve always aspired to be my father. I always have, and I am not… We are sort of fundamentally different, in a lot of ways, but I try him on from time to time.  

I made this outfit [that I am wearing]. I feel great in this, because this is some stuff my dad would have worn when he was younger, and he looks so much better than me tonight — it’s ridiculous.  

And it’s not just his style, but that’s the way that I get to play it. But it’s really the kind of man he is, and the kind of person he is who exudes the love that he does; and so getting to play a role where I get to take these things that I learned, from just trying to walk around, like my dad walks around — it’s great!  

[Playing this historical role] of Thomas Jefferson — come on, there is no way that this should be ‘real’ — reading lines written for Thomas Jefferson — [and] I am like, “Yes, that’s my father,” except, maybe, that’s way too real.

It’s been so great. It’s been so much fun.  It’s one of the great things about this process is how much of ourselves we were asked to bring to it and how much sense it kept making to do that. 

My family is through all of this work and that’s great because I am so far away from them, right now. So iIt’s nice to carry them with me, all of them, it’s nice to feel that.