Benj Pasek and Justin Paul

[ryandl15]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 11:06am

On the video coverage that BroadwayWorld.com had on of the red carpet of the Tonys, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul were interviewed. In this interview, they were asked about upcoming works, and they said they were working with Disney for a show.

Anyone have any idea what show this might be?

[finebydesign]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 12:05pm

Hmmm.. it's been a while since I've seen recently registered domains. If they're "musicalizing" something it may well be one of these. Let's speculate!

Here are some we know about via Domain registration:

Aladdin, (coming December)
Alice in Wonderland, (creative attached/TBD/cancelled?)
Calendar Girls, (TBD)
Father of the Bride, (creative attached/TBD/)
Freaky Friday, (creative attached/TBD/)
Hunchback of Notre Dame, (creative attached/TBD/)
Jungle Book, (creative attached/opens next week)
Nightmare Before Christmas, (TBD)
Pirates of the Caribbean, (TBD)
Shakespeare in Love, (TBD)
Sister Act, (open/closed)
Toy Story.(TBD)
Dumbo (Creative attached, cancelled)
The Muppets (TBD)
101 Dalmatians (TBD/completed?)
Pinocchio (TBD)
Bell, Book and Candle(TBD)
Citizen Ruth (Creative attached/Completed)
Coyote Ugly (TBD)
Flamingo Kid(TBD)
Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion(creative attached/complete/release TBD)
Step Up (TBD)
Yellow Submarine(TBD)
The Man In the Ceiling musical (creative attached/canceled?)
Hoopz (creative attached/canceled)
Carnival revival (creative attached/canceled)



Here are some that were recently acquired:

Tangledonbroadway.com
Thedisneydream.com
Thedisneyfantasy.com
Disneythemusical.com
Mickeymouseonbroadway.com


"The purchase of domain names for the films doesn’t mean that each of these adaptations will make it onto the stage. Just as Disney might start the writing process for several films that never see the light of day, so does the registration of these domains only pave the way for possible adaptation."


Updated On: 6/10/13 at 12:05 PM

[eperkins]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 1:39pm

I will go see anything these boys are connected with.

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 1:42pm

finebydesign -- none of the domain names or properties listed in your post are it. They are connected to something a bit more obscure. Can't say what, yet. Keep digging.

[eperkins]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 1:48pm

Hmmm. "Something Wicked This Way Comes", perhaps?

[ryandl15]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 1:54pm

Liza's Headband - when will we know what this project is?

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 4:31pm

Not sure. I imagine whenever Disney decides to announce it. My connection there hasn't given an ETA. I did hear it's based on a documentary by Disney but I have no idea what that means.

[finebydesign]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 4:44pm

You should definitely leak that information to us.

I knew they were developing a spelling bee musical a while back based on a docu, but that got shelved.

Could it be Sweatbox?

Updated On: 6/10/13 at 04:44 PM

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 4:46pm

It's the stage version of THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE.









Just kidding...

[broadwaybabytn]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 5:06pm

Didn't they do some music for a Disney kids series at some point in the past? I remember reading that in an interview.

[John Adams]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 5:07pm

>> "a documentary by Disney"

The Boys: The Sherman Brothers, maybe? I'd be pleased and interested to see a show that incorporated both the best tunes from the Sherman brothers, as well as new material by Pacek & Paul.

I could see Pacek & Paul writing the material that encompassed the "reality" storytelling of their lives, and the Disney songs added in as production numbers.

...and the story behind the Sherman brothers personal and professional collaboration is pretty interesting. Updated On: 6/10/13 at 05:07 PM

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 5:10pm

What other Disney docs could lend themselves well to the stage? I had no idea that Disney even produced any successful documentaries but I'm also not a big Disney person.

[Gorlois]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 5:20pm

I'll throw in "Waking Sleeping Beauty" as well, which is about the rise and fall of the Disney renaissance. It'd basically be a jukebox musical of '90's Disney tunes, but with The Lion King, Aladdin, and Newsies currently playing that might be redundant.

The Boys would be a very logical-- and fascinating-- choice.

Updated On: 6/10/13 at 05:20 PM

[John Adams]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 5:23pm

>> I had no idea that Disney even produced any successful documentaries but I'm also not a big Disney person.

Disney didn't produce a lot of documentaries which is why once you mentioned, "doc", it really narrowed the options. Mostly Disney did the wildlife/nature films, sreials or fictionalized classic books (regarding the films that were not cartoons).

The Sherman Brothers documentary was made by the Sherman brothers' sons and distributed by Disney. The other interesting Disney doc is Waking Sleeping Beauty (there are a small handful of others, but not as interesting as these two).

Waking Sleeping Beauty is about how the Disney studios revived after a long string of boring animated films of the 70s and 80s. It tells how The Little Mermaid and films that came after turned things around. Not as interesting (I think) material for a musical as the story of the Sherman brothers.

If Sondheim thought the Mizner brothers made for a good story, surely the Sherman brothers might capture an audience. Updated On: 6/10/13 at 05:23 PM

[finebydesign]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 5:28pm

Well they have a slew of nature documentaries. They also have a few based on Walt Disney which lend themselves to a bigger arc than say the Sherman Brothers. There is also a live-action film coming out this December where Tom Hanks is Walt Disney and it details the Pamela Travers episode.

They also have Waking Sleeping Beauty which is about the comeback mainly featuring Howard Ashman. Could be Henson's Place: The Man Behind the Muppets....

Disney has a massive library at this point of non-related Disney content. It's hard to say. It could be Marvel, Henson, Lucas, ABC, ESPN

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 5:35pm

Good point, finebydesign.

Prodded a little more and am now hearing it is a Disney produced documentary that actually has nothing to do with Disney itself. Can't wait to hear what it is... My guess is as good as all of yours.

Updated On: 6/10/13 at 05:35 PM

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 5:37pm

"If Sondheim thought the Mizner brothers made for a good story, surely the Sherman brothers might capture an audience."

I can't imagine any show built around the Sherman brothers relationship (the guys seemed to really dislike each other) would be any more successful than the failed show Sondheim tried to build around the Mizner bros.

[John Adams]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 5:40pm

Disney "itself" or Disney "himself".

Disney didn't produce any documentaries that weren't connected to their own franchise/business.

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 5:42pm

John, I could be receiving faulty info. Who knows. Maybe it's a documentary that was independently produced and Disney is taking it on for the stage?

[John Adams]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 5:47pm

>> I can't imagine any show built around the Sherman brothers relationship (the guys seemed to really dislike each other)

They didn't start out hating each other. The documentary tells the story better than I.

Still, I think (if any of this is even close to being on track...), there's an interesting arc of working well together at the start, and transitioning to hating each other so much that they still collaborated across an ocean (one in the UK, the other in the US).

Plus, these guys wrote everything that was popular in Disney music before Menken and Ashman became the new "them".

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 5:49pm

Is it Microcosmos: The Musical?

[John Adams]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 5:49pm

>> John, I could be receiving faulty info. Who knows.

Fair enough!

[PlayItAgain]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 7:04pm

Its called Make Believe and is an obscure little magic competition documentary that came out a few years ago.

[ucjrdude902]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 7:10pm

Not to thread jack but correct me if I'm wrong, there was a version of A Christmas Story on tour and Pasek Paul drastically redid the score before Broadway correct?

[ucjrdude902]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 7:12pm

I heard whispers years ago from a connection at Disney Theatrical about a "Walk Disney Bio Musical".