Disney transforms well to the stage

Disney on Broadway has created a line of shows that has brought many people flocking to New York City in order to see these classics alive on stage. “The Lion King,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Little Mermaid” and even “Mary Poppins” have all made their Broadway debut, and the next forerunner is “Aladdin.”
“Mary Poppins” took its final bow this past Sunday leaving only memories of “Spoonfuls of Sugar” as well as their quirky “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.” Although the Broadway show was nothing like the movie the stage production did include all of the famous musical numbers seen in the film including “Chim, Chim Cher-ee” and “Feed the Birds” however with more of an emphasis on the meaning behind the song compared to the movie. Another element that the Broadway show included was bringing in an evil nanny that temporarily replaced Mary Poppins and even had a disturbing musical number on how to properly discipline kids, which was spooky.

The creators of the Broadway rendition of “Mary Poppins” created a new story line in order to incorporate new musical numbers that greatly differ from the film, and it basically told its own story. The toys came to life since they were mad at the kids; the mother plays a larger role and is no longer a strong feminist but only a meek housewife aiming to please her husband while failing to keep the family together. Also, the father is overly uptight and you discover some elements from his past. There was a lot of imagination put into it that made the show grand in the end, but it was important to remember that this show stands apart from the film. In the end, it begs the question, what kind of unique twists will they add to “Aladdin’s” story line?
“Mary Poppins” has been on Broadway for six and a half years starting back in 2006 and has raked in over $1 million in ticket sales, which made it in the top five for front-running shows according to Broadway.com. It has received nine Oliver award nominations with one win and there has been 2619 performances total. Although the show has received a lot of attention all good things must come to an end. “Mary Poppins” is taking her umbrella and flying out of Broadway in order to make way for a magic carpet ride.

“Aladdin” will be gracing the streets of Broadway some time in 2014 presenting a show that hopefully will be filled with surprises according to a statement from Thomas Schumacher the current president of the Disney theatrical group and the theatrical production arm of The Walt Disney Company. Schumacher said in a Yahoo article that he wants to see big production numbers, humor, surprises and a lot of heart.

Alan Menken originally wrote the musical scores for “Aladdin” in 1992 and has created the new musical numbers for the upcoming Broadway production. “Aladdin” will start its tour in Toronto at the Ed Mirvish Theatre this coming November for nine weeks according to the article then eventually bring it to the New Amsterdam Theatre on Broadway, according to Broadway.com.