All Things Disney Music Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[Jake Lipson]

Ugh.

That's a stronger reaction than I had to it.

I noticed it and thought "Hmm." I would like to know what motivated the change, but I don't have a strong preference for one lyric or the other, and it doesn't change the story at all. I think that because the lyric in question wasn't the original lyric anyway, I minded less than I would have if we were talking about a modification to something that wasn't already a modification.

The show itself is great, though, and the current tour cast is aces, especially Major Attaway as the Genie.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I didn't like the first change. And a 2nd change just re-emphasizes the absurdity of that first change.

If people were offended by that initial lyric, why did the film continue to show scimitar-wielding men chasing after Aladdin?

The 2nd lyric was just dumb. How is being flat, immense and hot "barbaric?"

And it would take someone with more knowledge than me to know if "there (were) people of every color and tone" in Arabia at that time. I suppose it could be so...but for some reason I'm kinda doubting it.

Sounds like more selective political correction to me...and unnecessary.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I mean, I agree that the first lyric from 1992 is the best one. 100%.

"Flat and immense" was never meant to be barbaric; "It's barbaric" was in reference to cutting off someone's ear. They just kept the line "barbaric" so that they didn't have to re-dub anything beyond "Where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face." I suppose the idea is that they're referring to the intense heat as "barbaric," but that's not a word I would use in that situation personally. And then when they adapted the movie for Broadway, they just used the lyric that everyone is familiar with from the video.

Why they changed it now is a good question.

But I bet there are people out there who don't even know that the "Flat and immense" line is a change. "Where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face" has not been used since the theatrical release in 1992. Every video release has altered the lyric. The original edition of the soundtrack is the only tangible proof that that lyric ever existed, and it has been discontinued for probably two decades or more. Disney has reissued the soundtrack multiple times, and all of their reissues have included the video lyric. So does the original Broadway cast recording.

And it would take someone with more knowledge than me to know if "there (were) people of every color and tone" in Arabia at that time. I suppose it could be so...but for some reason I'm kinda doubting it.

No, but the cast of the Broadway production is diverse and multicultural. So they're referring to the version of Agrabah that you're seeing in front of you at the time the lyric is delivered onstage.

Another piece of the puzzle here is that Pasek and Paul have stated in interviews that they have altered lyrics to some of the songs for the upcoming remake, including Arabian Nights.

But they are not credited with lyrics on the show because they were not involved with Aladdin until the live-action remake came up. The show uses lyrics by Howard Ashman, Tim Rice and Chad Beoglin. If the new "Every color" lyric came from Pasek and Paul, they would need to receive credit for contributing "additional lyrics" it in the program, and they don't. Also, we know that Chad Beoglin did not work on the new film, so none of his material which originated in the show will be in it.

That being said, I'm very interested to hear what Arabian Nights sounds like in the new movie.

 

[Joel Arndt]

I received a notification of new releases on the Intrada label today and Johnny Tremain (1957) is one of them. Don't know whether others of you have seen this or have any interest. What interests me is that Disney is licensing some material to other labels. Hope this leads to other older, more obscure titles in their catalogue being released.

http://store.intrada.com/s.nl/it.A/id.11783/.f?sc=13&category=21780

 

[Jake Lipson]

For its fifth anniversary on Broadway last night, Aladdin brought out five Genies at once for a post-show medley which, thankfully, they filmed. Here are highlights.

Included are the Tony-winning role originator James Monroe Iglehart, plus Michael James Scott (who played the role in London, Australia, on the North American tour and is now on Broadway); Major Attaway (who replaced Iglehart on Broadway and is currently playing the tour); and both of the current Genie understudies on Broadway, Juwan Crawley and Deonte L. Warren.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Here is a longer version of Aladdin's Five Genie Medley:

 

[Mike Frezon]

Here is a longer version of Aladdin's Five Genie Medley:

Very Cool.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I'm just back from a trip to WDW.

The physical media situation in the parks parallels what we see across all of America's retailers.

It's actually very, very difficult to find CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays, etc. in ANY of the parks shops--even the big shops like The Emporium on Main Street. (In fact, the Emporium had none! I even asked.).

My only purchases of CDs were the the CD of the new nighttime show at the Animal Kingdom--The River of Life and the most recent iteration of the "Official" WDW music album--a two-CD set which, quite frankly, might already be sitting on my shelf (I haven't had a chance to check yet). It has a 2013 copyright date and Randy Thornton's name as executive producer...but in the absence of likely new releases I decided I'd carry it up to the register.

I was disappointed there was no CD available of the newest Nighttime fireworks/projection show at the Magic Kingdom--Happily Ever After. A check on Amazon reveals this downloadable version of the main theme (the original duet that is played at the opening of the show)...but that's all I can find. I hope the music from the entire show will be released someday soon--and on CD. But I doubt it.

 

[Jason_V]

I was disappointed there was no CD available of the newest Nighttime fireworks/projection show at the Magic Kingdom--Happily Ever After. A check on Amazon reveals this downloadable version of the main theme (the original duet that is played at the opening of the show)...but that's all I can find. I hope the music from the entire show will be released someday soon--and on CD. But I doubt it.

I've never seen a physical copy, Mike. I'm not even sure one exists. I have been able to find pretty great copies of the single, the show and the preshow audio on YouTube and added them to my library. The video's I've taken with my Go Pro of the show and while they're not the worlds best video quality, the audio is pretty good (IMHO).

 

[Jake Lipson]

Today, April 18, is the 25th anniversary of the opening night of Beauty and the Beast, the show which launched Disney Theatrical Productions, on Broadway at the Palace Theatre.

The original cast included Susan Egan as Belle, Terrance Mann as the Beast, and the late Gary Beach as Lumiere.

Here is a blast from the past -- the original TV spot promoting the show:

 

[Jake Lipson]

Disney Easter eggs hidden on the set of Frozen on Broadway:

 

[Jake Lipson]

Thomas Schumacher (president of Disney Theatrical Productions) says a Broadway revival of Beauty and the Beast is happening:

http://www.playbill.com/article/broadway-revival-of-beauty-and-the-beast-in-the-works/

Disney Theatrical Productions President Thomas Schumacher teased the plans on ABC News, though opted not to reveal any additional details, including a theatre or production timeline. “But I’m deep in it,” he assured, “so yeah, it’s happening.”

More at the link.

I find this interesting fora couple reasons. Since the closure of the original stage production, there was of course the new remake film, which didn't use the songs that were put in for in the Broadway show (except for an instrumental version of "Home" as part of the underscore) but did add additional new ones. Disney will need to decide if they are going to use the exact same script from the original production for the revival, or if they will want to add in any of the 2017 film's songs.

The thing is that the songs from the remake largely replace songs written for the show, so keeping both would be redundant. Example: Days in the Sun from the remake and Human Again both serve the same basic function of expressing the castle staff's desire to return to their human form. If I Can't Love Her and Evermore are in different spots in the narrative, but both are big solo numbers for the Beast where he's thinking about his fate if Belle does not break the spell. You wouldn't need to have both of these because together they would be redundant, so if Disney decides to add the 2017 songs, they would have to subtract some of the songs from the original production. It will be interesting to see what they do.

Also, all three of Disney's current Broadway shows (The Lion King, Aladdin, and Frozen) are big hits and none of them are in danger of closing. So does Broadway have space for four Disney shows at the same time without cannibalizing their audience? Hopefully so,.

On another note, Courtney Reed (Jasmine from the original Broadway cast of Aladdin, whose performance is immortalized on the cast recording) has now joined the cast of the London production.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Thomas Schumacher, the president of Disney Theatrical Productions, did a really good interview with Broadway.com:

 

[Jake Lipson]

Casting for North American national tour of Frozen has started -- and Anna and Elsa are both named Caroline.

Caroline Bowman is Elsa and Caroline Innerbichler is Anna.



http://www.playbill.com/article/frozen-tour-to-star-caroline-bowman-and-caroline-innerbichler

The tour will begin this fall.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Ainsley Melham (the current title star of Aladdin on Broadway) performed Proud of Your Boy at today's free Stars in the Alley concert in New York;



Also, Aisha Jackson and Zach Hess of Frozen performed Love Is An Open Door:

 

[Jake Lipson]

Video of Lea Salonga in concert tonight singing A Whole New World.

Accompanying her as Aladdin is Vincent Rodriguez III. She played his aunt on the TV show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

Does that make the love song incestuous?

 

[joyjoy22]

Video of Lea Salonga in concert tonight singing A Whole New World.

Accompanying her as Aladdin is Vincent Rodriguez III. She played his aunt on the TV show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

Does that make the love song incestuous?

This is way better than the new version.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I saw the Broadway tour of Aladdin yesterday for the second time, and they changed a lyric in Arabian Nights.

"Where it's flat and immense and the heat is intense; it's barbaric, but hey, it's home" became "Where there are people of every color and tone; it's chaotic, but hey, it's home."

The lyric in the new movie is:

"Where you wander among every culture and tongue; it's chaotic, but hey, it's home."

I'm quoting my own post above because this is so close to what I wrote about hearing in February that I'm beginning to think that this is the lyric I heard in February, and I simply mis-remembered it slightly by the time I posted it here (which was a day after seeing the show.)

The entire song (not just this lyric) has been rewritten for the new movie with lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. I suspect that someone decided to insert it into the show after they came up with it for the new movie, only I didn't know it was for the new movie in February when I heard it the first time because obviously the movie hadn't come out yet.

I'm still not terribly bothered by the lyric itself, but I am bothered that it is connected to the new film, because I thought the new film was lousy. Hopefully this is the one and only thing from the new film that they feel the need to put into the show, because the show works as-is and doesn't need further tweaking to bring it in line with a lousy movie.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I got a couple new Disney CDs the other day at Barnes & Nobel.

The former is a 2018 release of acappella versions of various Disney songs. I'm rather mixed on the release itself. Although I'm a sucker for unique cover versions of Disney tunes (and I mean a sucker--I've got dozens upons dozens of such discs!) this one doesn't wow me. There are a couple good tunes...whereas the rest seemed like they were trying to hard for my taste. For example, there is a version of Step In Time which defies both descriptions and a second listening by me! They also did a weird thing with When She Loved Me by trading male and female voices back and forth during the lyric. A favorite song of mine (with a very special meaning for me) this particular gambit just didn't make any sense. But there are some very good tracks. Here's the complete list:

The world es mi familia
Friend like me
How far I'll go
Let it Go\Do you want to build a snowman?
I wanna be like you
You'll be in my heart
When she loved me
Trashin the camp
Part of your world\a whole new world
Step in time
Immortals
Remember me

The latter, of course, is the OST for the new live action film. Honestly (and I haven't seen the film), most of the familiar songs seem rather lifeless (and slow). And while I like "Speechless" the newly-penned solo song for the character of Jasmine, the version of Friend Like Me by Will Smith and DJ Khalid which runs over the closing titles should be avoided at all costs.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Casting has been set for the premiere of the Hercules stage musical running August 31-September 8 at the Delacorte Theatre in New York, and there are a lot of familiar faces.

Roger Bart, who sang as Hercules in the film, is now playing Hades. Jelani Alladdin, who originated the role of Kristoff in the Broadway production of Frozen, is Hercules. And James Monroe Iglehart, who won a Tony for originating the role of the Genie in Aladdin, is Phil.

https://www.broadway.com/buzz/19483...ke-on-title-role-in-hercules-in-central-park/