Until now, Walt Disney World audiences have not had access to a full-length, Disney-branded theatrical production during their resort stay. It's a level of amazement you just won't find at the theme parks' Beauty and the Beast: Live on Stage. Gasps are widespread, audible, and involuntary. Skillful lighting, clever theatrics, and expertly rehearsed acrobatics conspire to hide any hint of the "how." To the naked eye, these effects are indistinguishable from what we might call real magic. People and objects move about the stage - and through the air - in ways they shouldn't be able to. In one inspired sequence, she studies the great Disney villains of yore but lands in a heap of doubt all her own.ĭRAWN TO LIFE's stagecraft and special effects are second to none. Though she cackles like a sea witch and saunters like a squid, she is in fact a giant wad of crumpled-up papers, the embodiment of all those ideas we throw away when we don't believe in ourselves. The one Disney-like character who does appear in physical form on stage is an Ursula-ish entity unique to this show. It is a show that, in its own inexplicit way, contemplates the self-doubt and failure that are the inevitable backbone of any creative victory. DRAWN TO LIFE is as much an homage to the art of animation as to its particular manifestations in the works of Walt Disney. When Disney characters appear, it's often in silhouette, or otherwise in roughed-out drawing-board sketches. The familiar melodies of animation are sampled more than covered, all elegantly interwoven in Benoît Jutras's enchanting score. But the show's interaction with intellectual property is exquisitely artful and ever so slightly less "COPYRIGHT THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY!" than might be expected. I don't know if "subtle" is how I'd describe the Disney of it all. But it does raise a critical eyebrow toward how effectively fused these two disparate brands - Disney and Cirque du Soleil - can be. A Disney fan myself, I don't mind that, and I even applaud his penchant for Walt-era storytelling (and his foresight to include Encanto, scheduled for release long after his death). Little Julie's dad must have either worked for Disney or wanted to, because he apparently only drew their intellectual property. ![]() But new acts always arrive in time to wow, giving this 90-minute, intermission-less production just the clip it needs to get by. Deciphering each scene's intended meaning isn't always easy, and some come close to an overstayed welcome. ![]() There is no dialogue or narration here, just good old-fashioned circusry executed in state-of-the-art fashion. The portal for his parting gift awaits her at the drawing desk in their basement, where ink and paint come to life. ![]() Whereas I understood La Nouba to have been fairly abstract in substance (never having seen it myself), DRAWN TO LIFE has a story to tell: a young girl named Julie is grieving the loss of her father, an animator, when she discovers a magical adventure he left behind just for her. The other is that it opens with a dead dad. That's one way you know it's a Disney production. It is a lavish, full-fledged, uncompromising spectacle of big-budget entertainment with an expansive cast. The big white tent that houses the newly refurbished Soleil stage was packed to the gills on opening night, with guests including "Full House" star John Stamos, Disney Parks Chair Josh D'Amaro, top Cirque creatives, and bookoos of bigwigs from the Mouse House - all with nary a hint of pandemic, save for the mandatory face masks on audience members.ĭRAWN TO LIFE is not modified, adapted, socially distanced, "reimagined for unprecedent times," or performed behind masks. The debut of DRAWN TO LIFE, which finds Cirque partnering with The Walt Disney Company in a creative capacity for the very first time, heralds the return of live entertainment to the Florida-based theme park empire in a major way. ![]() With that bold pronouncement Thursday night from Daniel Lamarre, CEO at Cirque du Soleil, Walt Disney World welcomed its circus-in-residency back to Disney Springs, the resort's shop-and-dine district, with an all-new show - the first since Cirque's La Nouba wrapped a two-decade run there in 2017.īy intermission, Lamarre means more than just the pause in their own production.
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