Review: WHEN YOU WISH Is A Wish Unfulfilled

Splashy high-kicking musical numbers are the trademark of Phoenix Theatre, but in the case of Dean McClure's stab at a bio-musical on Walt Disney, all the glitz and splits can't compensate for its shortcomings in the telling of one of America's great Horatio Alger stories.

It was an epiphany at Disneyland that prompted McClure, once a folk singer and song writer and now a playwright, to ask: "Why hasn't someone done a Broadway Musical on the life of Walt Disney?"

It's a good question, especially if there is enough grist in the mill of the man's life to fuel a play about his aspirations, achievements, contradictions, and tensions. Disney's life certainly had enough fodder on all counts on which to feed ~ the controversies regarding his autocratic personality, his employment practices, his biases, his politics, and of, course, the monument to his dreams, Disneyland. Notwithstanding McClure's intentions, much is left in the silo.

The result is WHEN YOU WISH: THE STORY OF WALT DISNEY, a highly idealized and superficial portrait of the mogul of animated filmdom that leaves too many stones of character and relationship development unturned. Told from the perspective of brother Roy (Andy Umberger), Walt (Joey Sorge) is dogged in his determination to revolutionize cinema but perilously naïve in his business dealings. Sorge has a great voice, but the Disney he portrays conveys little of the complexity of the Disney that history has documented and defined.

One business catastrophe after another and mounds of debt fail to divert him from his destiny. Along the way, he meets Lillian (Sydney Marie Hawes), the love of his life, and evolves into family man, workaholic, and entrepreneur. Her support and Roy's loyalty keep him afloat.

One can only hope that, by the end of the long first act, a breakthrough will occur. It does, naturally. When all hope seems lost, Walt grabs for a pad and commences to doodle, sketching a mouse with balloon-shaped ears. The audience gasps in a joyful moment of familiarity with an old friend and the knowledge that zip-a-dee-doo-dah days are in the offing.

If only enough time was given to fleshing out the salient moments of his life and the Disney of this play was as carefully etched and defined as the characters he created, there would be little hunger for more. There are gaps too that would be worth filling and moments of poignancy that would be worth revealing if a dance routine or two were sacrificed ~ most notably, the complex and tense relationship with Ub Iwerks (Matthew Malecki), to whom history assigns the credit for Disney's creations, animations, and special effects.

All told, this is not to say that the ensemble falls short in dancing their hoofs off and singing their hearts out. They do. The Act II homage to the Disney classics from 1937 to 1955 ~ Snow White, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Bambi, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp ~ replete with a finely tailored cavalcade of associated characters, is a joyful plunge into nostalgia, albeit without the benefit of their iconic scores.

For the uninitiated, there may be enough history here to satisfy ~ the young Walt, inspired by his mother to stay his sights on his dreams; the promising deals gone bad; the formation of Disney Brothers Studios in Hollywood; the intrepid innovations in film-making; the culmination of the dream with Disneyland. For a few hours of easy entertainment and some sweet ballads, McClure's answer to his question may fit the bill. For the potential that remains in delivering Disney's life on a silver platter, one can only wish upon a star.

Culminating Phoenix Theatre's Caleb Reese Festival of New Plays and Musicals, WHEN YOU WISH runs through June 12th.

Photo credit to Phoenix Theatre/Matt Chesin

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