Family Musicals

LINK TO FAMILY MUSICALS PODCAST

The family musical is a genre that I just can’t help but love. I have always been a big advocate of Disney films so being able to see some of my favorites performed in a theater setting is a true treat. However, not all family musicals are released by Disney. Perhaps the first family musical I knew of as a child was Peter Pan.

Peter Pan

This musical went in direct correspondence with the fact that I loved anything related to Peter Pan as a child. The Disney film was alright but the Peter Pan based stories were this musical, Hook, and Peter Pan and the Pirates. It never seemed to bother me as a child that Peter Pan was evidently being played by a woman. In fact that notion doesn’t bother me as an adult either. Peter Pan has always been traditionally portrayed by a woman on stage, going all the way back to J.M. Barrie’s time. I loved so many different songs from the production and as an adult, tried my hardest to procure the film on DVD. I have been unable to obtain a true copy of the production and will not settle for the Cathy Rigby Production.

Though I can’t find the DVD, the entire production can be found on youtube. Above is a clip from the production known as ‘Never Grow Up.’

The Lion King

Erika and I with Mufasa, 2010.

I was lucky enough to get to visit New York City for a third time right before our Broadcast for the Family Musical. I had saved up and redeemed all of my Disney Movie Reward points, which allowed me to get two free tickets to see The Lion King on Broadway. I went with my friend Erika, as she helped me to earn some of the movie reward points. Though the trip was stressful (we missed our bus and had to catch another one), the show experience was just as grand as I remember it being when I first saw the show with my father in March of 2003.

The Lion King, thus far, has proved to be the only musical that will continually make me cry on repeat views. I believe this has a lot to do with the emotional connection I personally have to the storyline, as it is my favorite film of all time.

Mary Poppins

I’ve not had the ability to see the musical as of yet and only can rely upon the cast album, but I have very mixed feelings about the changes between the Mary Poppins stage show and the original film. A lot of the songs are out of the order they appeared in during the film and this raises a red flag to me personally as it indicates that some plot changes have been made. It appears as if the stage show is a blending of the film and of the original novels, instead of a direct adaptation of the film. Even though I may be concerned about the changes in plot, it is a very small amount of worry, since I know that Cameron Mackintosh is behind the production. As evident from my earlier postings in the British Imports post, I adore Cameron Mackintosh so I know to not be entirely skeptical of him.

Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast was the very first production that Disney brought to Broadway. While no longer on Broadway, I am hopeful for a revival as I really wanted a chance to see the production.

Favorite Clips

The ‘Circle of Life’ may not be my favorite song within the musical, but it is certainly the one that causes the most emotion from me. It always manages to make me tear up and it takes a great deal of effort for me not to sob when I see the The Lion King live. This is the original Broadway cast performing the song on the Tony Awards.

The ‘Circle of Life’ may be the main song to make me cry during The Lion King, but Endless Night will always be my favorite song from the production. I had hoped that they’d animate the song and add it onto the DVD special features, but instead they choose to do ‘The Morning Report.’ Jason Raize was a great Simba.

I am still putting research into the Shrek musical, but out of the cast album, this is my favorite track thus far. I aired this song during the initial broadcast but this gives a nice visual to how the scene pans out on stage.

I have posted clips of Hugh Jackman before on the blog so when I ran across this clip, I was ecstatic to see the performer in Beauty and the Beast. Gaston is my favorite Disney villain so I really enjoyed seeing him playing the character. It is also an interesting news segment on Hugh Jackman himself.

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