When The Little Mermaid debut in 1989, the film set off a tidal wave of musical theatre storytelling through animation—the studio’s saving grace and a form that would become synonymous with the Disney name. Songwriting team Alan Menken and Howard Ashman masterminded that original musical, which now celebrates its 30th anniversary and 30 years since its two Academy Award wins for Best Original Score and Best Original Song “Under the Sea” in 1989. Sebastian’s boisterous showstopper may have won the hearts of the Academy, but Jodi Benson as the voice of Ariel personifies the Disney philosophy.
To hear Benson sing “Part of Your World” is to be transported back to the beginning, to the moment where she and the Mermaid team set the precedent for stories led by strong princesses and unbeatable leading women—as well as the demand for the best in vocal talent.
Benson was the first Broadway talent tapped to lend her voice, having made her Main Stem debut in Smile. From 1989 to 2010, composer Menken continued casting theatre talent to sing his Disney scores, including Paige O’Hara for Beauty and the Beast’s Belle, Judy Kuhn for Pocahontas’ titular savior, Lillias White for Hercules’ lead muse Calliope, and Donna Murphy for Tangled’s Mother Gothel.
In celebration of The Little Mermaid’s 30th, Disney gathered Menken and these five leading ladies to talk about their characters, singing Menken music, and more for a bonus feature available only on the upcoming re-release of The Little Mermaid as part of the Walt Disney Signature Collection.
Available on digital, 4k Ultra HD, and Movies Anywhere February 12 and on 4k Ultra HD and Blu-ray February 26, The Little Mermaid also includes new bonus features inside the original recording sessions; a new installment of Stories From Walt’s Office, featuring “Gadgets & Gizmos” Disney kept in his office; a “#TreasuresUntold” special, revealing secrets about the original movie; DCappella’s fresh music video of “Part of Your World”; sing-along mode; and classic bonus features like deleted scenes, audio commentary from directors Ron Clements, John Musker, and Menken. Plus, only available on digital, three additional hours of bonus features and “Part of Your World” – A 30-Year Retrospective where Menken and Benson talk about finding Ariel’s voice, the peak of Disney “I Want” songs, and more.
Playbill got the exclusive peek inside “Alan Menken and His Leading Ladies,” filmed in New York City. Take a look at these two clips (above and below) as Menken, Benson, O’Hara, Kuhn, White, and Murphy gather around the piano to discuss the creation of their movies and sing from the songs they put their stamp on.
Watch Murphy re-create her performance as Mother Gothel below!
Celebrated French composer Michel Legrand, who wrote the scores for Jacques Demy’s movie musicals The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and The Young Girls of Rochefort as well as the 2002 Broadway musical Amour, has died. He was 86.
Legrand first came to prominence with his sweepingly romantic score to 1964’s The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, in which Catherine Deneuve and Nino Castelnuovo found and lost love. He went on to compose the scores for movies as varied as The Thomas Crown Affair (which earned him an Academy Award for the song “Windmills of Your Mind) and Yentl, which brought him another Oscar. He ultimately won three Oscars, out of 13 nominations.
Though Cherbourg was adapted for the stage in 1979, Legrand didn’t write an original score for a Broadway musical until 2002’s Amour, starring Malcolm Gets and Melissa Errico. Though short-lived, Amour brought Legrand a Tony nomination and led to an album with Errico, Legrand Affair. With Herbert Kretzmer, he also wrote the score for 2008’s Margeurite, an adaptation of La Dame aux Camélias set in 1940s occupied Paris.
Beginning his career as an arranger and conductor for legendary French performers ranging from Edith Piaf to Maurice Chevalier and eventually working with everyone from Frank Sinatra to Barbra Streisand and Sting, Legrand was born February 24, 1932. He is survived by his wife.
PBS airs the Minnesota Opera production of Doubt January 25 at 9 PM as part of its Great Performances series. The contemporary opera is based on John Patrick Shanley’s Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name, which later became an Academy Award-nominated film.
Composed by Douglas J. Cuomo (Atomic Opera, Anna Christie, Hamlet) and directed by Kevin Newbury (Kansas City Choir, Fellow Travelers), the production stars Grammy award winner Christine Bewer, Adriana Zabala, Matthew Worth, and Denyce Graves. Christopher Franklin will conduct.
In Doubt, tensions surface when the principal of a Bronx Catholic school, Sister Aloysius Beauvier, comes to suspect that Father Flynn is abusing the school’s only African-American child.
Chick Flick the Musical, the new musical with book, music, and lyrics by Suzy Conn (Suffra-Jets, The Mercer Girls), is set to begin performances Off-Broadway at the Westside Theatre February 21 ahead of a March 7 opening. The musical is directed by David Ruttura with choreography by Sarah O’Gleby.
In Chick Flick, Sharon Catherine Brown, Lindsay Nicole Chambers, Carla Duren, and Megan Sikora star as four best friends as they unwind, watch a chick flick, and play their favorite drinking game. The new musical comedy is a celebration of female friendship, laughter, and life lessons from the movies we know and love.
Flip through photos of the first rehearsal below:
Photos: Inside the First Rehearsal for Chick Flick the Musical
Chick Flick is presented by Broadway Venture Capital Fund, and executive producers are Richard Frankel and Joe Watson.
Six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald and two-time Tony Award winner Brian Stokes Mitchell headline Let Freedom Ring!, a free tribute concert in honor of the late Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at Kennedy Center Hall January 21.
McDonald and Mitchell, who co-starred on Broadway in Ragtime and Shuffle Along, reunite for the 6 PM concert on Martin Luther King Day that is presented by the Kennedy Center and Georgetown University. McDonald and Mitchell are joined by the Let Freedom Ring Choir and musical director Rev. Nolan Williams Jr.
The performances will be live-streamed on the Kennedy Center Facebook and YouTube pages and at kennedy-center.org.
Free tickets (up to two per person) are being distributed on the day of the performance starting at 4:30 PM at the entrance to the Hall of Nations, available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Overflow seating will also be available at Millennium Stage North (near Eisenhower Theater) for patrons to view a simulcast of the performance.
Warner Music Group’s Arts Music has digitally released a cast album of the 2017 London revival of Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman’s Follies. The recording preserves the performances of the 2017–2018 cast, which was led by Imelda Staunton as Sally Durant Plummer, Janie Dee as Phyllis Rogers Stone, Peter Forbes as Buddy Plummer, Philip Quast as Ben Stone, and Tracie Bennett as Carlotta Campion.
Janie Dee Johan Persson
The production returns to the National February 12, 2019, in a cast newly led by Joanna Riding as Sally and Alexander Hanson as Ben. Dee, Forbes, and Bennett will all reprise their roles from the 2017 run.
This album, available on Apple Music/iTunes and Spotify (with a physical release on the way), marks the second time this production has been recorded; a performance was broadcast live to movie theatres with the National’s NTLive series November 16, 2017, with several encore screenings following.
Helmed by Dominic Cooke, Follies began performances at London’s National Theatre in August 2017, completing its run in January 2018. The production featured scenic and costume designs by Vicki Mortimer, choreography by Bill Deamer, musical supervsiion by Nicholas Skilbeck, musical direction by Nigel Lilley, lighting design by Paule Constable, and sound design by Paul Groothuis.
Set in a decaying Broadway theatre, Follies centers on a reunion of former Ziegfeld-esque follies girls who gather to relive their past and rehash old wounds and regrets. The legendary original 1971 Broadway production was co-directed by Harold Prince and the late Michael Bennett, who also supplied choreography. Sondheim’s Tony-winning score, a mix of pastiche and complex, character-driven material features “I’m Still Here,” “Broadway Baby,” “Losing My Mind,” “In Buddy’s Eyes,” “The Road You Didn’t Take,” and “Too Many Mornings.”
