BWW Blog: Broadway Brainstorming - Disney Edition

Welp. It's happening. Theatre kid Tiktok has officially wormed its way into the big leagues and we're getting a Ratatouille musical concert reading. If you think I didn't buy a ticket as soon as that news dropped... you'd be correct. Instead I organized a watch party, made a "ratatouille themed snacks" Pinterest board, ordered chef costumes, and then I bought a ticket. Hey, don't judge. I'm a sucker for a Disney Pixar musical.

Here's the thing, though- if Tiktok can come up with a concept musical based on a Disney movie, why can't I? Well, mostly because I can't read music. I do, however, have a Disney+ subscription and a wild imagination. So, dear readers, I've done strenuous research and rewatched all the Disney movies I could think of to determine which ones would make the best musicals. Oh, the sacrifices I make for you.

The Princess Diaries. Anne Hathaway stars in this 2001 classic about a girl who finds out she's actually a princess and then moves to the country of Genovia to study up on what that means. Julie Andrews is in this movie as utter royalty with a pretty killer sense of style, and she also plays Queen Clarisse. That was a bad joke and I am not sorry.

Finding Nemo. Okay, hear me out. I did some research and apparently Animal Kingdom at Disney World already has a Finding Nemo stage show. To that, I just say go bigger! I mean, it's not like Disney has produced any musicals on Broadway with anthropomorphic animals going on a major journey already... oh, wait. The Lion King. Okay, Disney hasn't produced any musicals with anthropomorphic FISH going on a major journey... oh, hang on. The Little Mermaid. Sigh. I'll come back to that plan.

Tangled. Where. Is. The. Tangled. Musical?! Tangled is one of my all-time favorite Disney movies and it comes pre-stacked with a bevy of Broadway voices. Donna Murphy as Mother Gothel live...That's it, that's the sentence. And Zachary Levi, voice of Flynn Rider, showed us his acting chops in She Loves Me - let's get him back to Broadway! The major reason, though, that I think we should do a musical version of Tangled is that I'm banking on the fact that we will get a fully choreographed musical number about how great frying pans work as weapons. Call me, Casey Nicolaw.

The Emperor's New Groove. For a movie that's not as well known in the Disney canon, I think this film would make a pretty spectacular production. It's got everything: Evil plots! Funny sidekicks! Major character development! Llamas! Yes, you read that right- for most of the movie protagonist Kuzco is transformed into a talking llama. Creative, right? I mean, it's not like Disney has produced any musicals on Broadway with anthropomorphic animals... DARN IT.

While these all may all be complete flights of fancy for the time being, I'd never underestimate what Disney's got up its sleeve. Personally I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the recent adaptation of Hercules at the Public makes the leap to Broadway (as long as they make

it a karaoke singalong so I can screlt "Zero to Hero" along with the cast every night). Until then, Tiktok will have to do- so bring it on, Remy, the rat of all our dreams!

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