'Toy Story' Musical Launched in April on Disney Cruise Lines

Disney Cruise Line will turn one of the most beloved animated features of all time into a theatrical musical aboard the Disney Wonder cruise ship when Toy Story-The Musical makes its debut at the Walt Disney Theatre this spring.  This is the first time the popular DisneyoPixar classic has been adapted for the stage.

Toy Story-The Musical joins a number of other theatrical musicals created by Walt Disney Imagineering Creative Entertainment, with established and emerging Broadway, off-Broadway, West End, and American regional theatre talent.  Toy Story-The Musical follows Finding Nemo-The Musical at Disney's Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort, with score by Tony Award-winning Avenue Q co-composer-creator Robert Lopez and a cappella musical "Along the Way" co-creator Kristen Anderson-Lopez, as the second original theatre piece to bring a non-musical Disney and Pixar film to the musical stage.

With score by members of the New York based band GrooveLily, Toy Story-The Musical preserves the humor and heart of the original film and explores the true meaning of friendship as Buzz Lightyear and Woody transform from jealous adversaries to best friends.

Using Randy Newman's Oscar nominated hit song "You've Got a Friend in Me" as a departure point, this production has a new seven-song score that brings the story to life.  Valerie Vigoda and Brendan Milburn of GrooveLily blended together pop, rock and folk music to create contemporary songs that capture the heartfelt whimsy of the animated tale.

Toy Story-The Musical is directed by Stefan Novinski, who received rave reviews for his production of A Little Night Music starring Stephanie Zimbalist at South Coast Repertory Theatre; he has also directed for Center Theatre Group, New York Musical Theater Festival, and New Dramatists.  The book for Toy Story - The Musical is by Mindi Dickstein, who wrote the lyrics for the Broadway musical Little Women.

"Following the storyline of the original DisneyoPixar film, Toy Story-The Musical will give guests a toy's eye-view of life in Andy's room.  The musical opens with an introduction to Woody, a pull-string talking cowboy who has long been six-year-old Andy's favorite toy. But Andy's birthday brings a new arrival - Buzz Lightyear, the coolest action figure in the universe.  Woody's jealousy gets the better of him and he schemes to get rid of his new rival, but things go dreadfully awry.  Woody and Buzz find themselves outside of Andy's room and in a hostile world.  Working together and overcoming their differences, they find their way back to Andy - along the way developing an appreciation of one another and creating a friendship," describe press notes.

Taking audiences into that world was no small task. In all, Toy Story-The Musical represents one of the largest productions ever developed for a cruise ship.   Larger-than-life props help transform the 977-seat Walt Disney Theatre into a toy-sized world of fun and adventure.  A rear projection screen aids the transformation between human-sized and toy-sized scenes and takes the show from the comfort of Andy's room – to the frenzied world of Pizza Planet – to the frightening room of Andy's neighbor, Sid.

Costume designer Ann Closs-Farley created an extraordinary vision for what the characters would look like on stage.  With a combination of articulated puppets and inflatable costumes, the Toy Story characters come to life - including Mr. Potato Head, Slinky Dog, a nearly 9-foot-tall Rex the dinosaur and a 4-foot-round Hamm the piggybank.   The sets are by Sibyl Wickersheimer.

Toy Story-The Musical has a repertory cast of 21 performers, and a backstage crew of nine, and compliments an already stellar lineup of entertainment performed every voyage on the Disney Wonder, joining stage shows The Golden Mickeys directed by Diane Paulus, and the award-winning Disney Dreams.

In the last five years, stage musicals created by Walt Disney Imagineering Creative Entertainment, exclusively for Disney theme parks and cruise ships, have played more than 18,000 performances to a combined audience of over 20 million guests around the world.  These productions have become an opportunity for millions of families to introduce their children to the excitement of live musical theatre for the first time.

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