Hearing Casey Nicholaw is new director of Disney's 'Hercules'

[BETTY22]

Posted: 4/21/23 at 7:44am

I remember Alan Menken giving Casey credit for fixing Aladdin.

Wonder if he can also work his magic another Disney how. 

[jkcohen626]

Posted: 4/21/23 at 8:08am

Kinda surprised that they have this much determination to land this ship when they have more surefire money makers in the pipeline and could probably make a killing licensing this as is.

But, Nicholaw is probably their guy is they are planning to continue on with it. 

[ElephantLoveMedley]

Posted: 4/21/23 at 8:21am

Just what Broadway needs: more overblown, excessive choreography.

I adored Casey for ages but haven't enjoyed any of his work at all since Something Rotten. It feels like he lost his magic touch a few years ago.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 4/21/23 at 8:31am

More sparkle, glitter and he'll add a tap dance number.

[BwayLB]

Posted: 4/21/23 at 8:41am

If that is true, then I have no objection. I loved his work on Aladdin

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 4/21/23 at 9:29am

Aladdin was pure flash and trash. I imagine Hercules will get similar treatment now.

[BJR]

Posted: 4/21/23 at 9:38am

jkcohen626 said: "Kinda surprised that they have this much determination to land this ship when they have more surefire money makers in the pipeline and could probably make a killing licensing this as is.

But, Nicholaw is probably their guy is they are planning to continue on with it."

Agree all around. I'm surprised they're sticking with this. They must see the excitement each production generated, but then neither of Lear's could land it.

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 4/21/23 at 9:49am

If this is true, between this and Devil Wears Prada, there are other women who are capable of directing these shows. And that’s no disrespect to the brilliance of the rumored new directors attached to these shows. Yes. money is always gonna be at top of everyone’s mind, but big  sigh. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 4/21/23 at 10:18am

It may also be that these 2 women for Herc and Devil never should have been hired in the first place, or wanted out from the project.

Each production started with the out-of-the-box interesting choice (Lear, Anna) but when that didn’t work they wanted people with track records for big successful musical comedies. Susan Stroman and to a much lesser extent Kathleen Marshall are pretty much the only 2 women working on that level on Broadway. To be clear that’s a systemic problem, but when you’re hiring the second director for cleanup duty on a musical you don’t have the time to experiment with someone out of left field.

As I said with DEVIL, it’s probably not a matter of turning it into a great work of art; it’ll never be that. They just need something competent and crowdpleasing.

[DaveyG]

Posted: 4/21/23 at 10:28am

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "It may also be that these 2 women for Herc and Devil never should have been hired in the first place..."

Exactly. 

 

[A.J.]

Posted: 4/21/23 at 10:32am

What’s Julie Taymor up to these days?
 

Large-scale, epic staging with nods to ancient culture is exactly what Hercules needs. 

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 4/21/23 at 10:35am

A.J. said: "What’s Julie Taymor up to these days?


Large-scale, epic staging with nods to ancient culture is exactly what Hercules needs."

I wish they'd let her crack at it. Certainly more exciting than a lateral move to Casey. 

[BwayLB]

Posted: 4/21/23 at 10:52am

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "It may also be that these 2 women for Herc and Devil never should have been hired in the first place, or wanted out from the project.

Each production started with the out-of-the-box interesting choice (Lear, Anna) but when that didn’t work they wanted people with track records for big successful musical comedies. Susan Stroman and to a much lesser extent Kathleen Marshall are pretty much the only 2 women working on that level on Broadway. To be clear that’s a systemic problem, but when you’re hiring the second director for cleanup duty on a musical you don’t have the time to experiment with someone out of left field.

As I said with DEVIL, it’s probably not a matter of turning it into a great work of art; it’ll never be that. They just need something competent and crowdpleasing."

I don’t expect Hercules to be perfect. I expect it to be good and would possibly make me want to see it a second time

 

[DaveyG]

Posted: 4/21/23 at 10:54am

broadwayboy223 said: "A.J. said: "What’s Julie Taymor up to these days?

Large-scale, epic staging with nods to ancient culture is exactly what Hercules needs."

I wish they'd let her crack at it. Certainly more exciting than a lateral move to Casey."

Well, her last large-scale musical infused with Greek mythology (re: Arachne) was Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark. 

[Kad]

Posted: 4/21/23 at 11:04am

I’ve heard there was a great deal of behind the scenes turmoil with this production and that Tom Schumacher had a heavy hand in its creation and had a very narrow, specific vision of what he wanted from the stage version… and that was basically what Nicholaw did with Aladdin. So this is not terribly surprising. 

[Ke3]

Posted: 4/21/23 at 12:18pm

A.J. said: "What’s Julie Taymor up to these days?


Large-scale, epic staging with nods to ancient culture is exactly what Hercules needs."

Isn’t Julie still trying to get an adaptation of Across the Universe off the ground?

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 4/21/23 at 12:24pm

On board for Casey to turn this around.

[bwaydreamer]

Posted: 4/21/23 at 12:48pm

ElephantLoveMedley said: "Just what Broadway needs: more overblown, excessive choreography.

I adored Casey for ages but haven't enjoyed any of his work at all sinceSomething Rotten. It feels like he lost his magic touch a few years ago."

Absolutely agree!  Casey hasn't done anything good since Book of Mormon, and even most of that was Jason Moore. 

[lucynewlife]

Posted: 4/21/23 at 2:54pm

was Casey responsible for the Aladdin revisions from Toronto to Broadway? If so, it will be interesting to see what can be done with Hercules, based on the reviews/critiques. I do think that the Aladdin revisions from Toronto to Broadway made the show a lot safer but also a bit more bland in the process.

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 4/21/23 at 3:07pm

Updated On: 4/21/23 at 03:07 PM

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 4/21/23 at 3:08pm

This is for the best.  DEBESSONET has a gift with community engagement - but isn't a great director.  Into The Woods was great due to the all star cast originally assembled with City Center short run - and further blessed coming out of the pandemic.  The production itself wasn't exciting, simple and devoid of all magic.  Great cast - boring production.  Hercules - great music, decent cast - boring/creatively lacking production.  She's better with community revivals than new work.

Hercules needs a new director Nicholaw or other.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 4/21/23 at 10:54pm

Not a huge Casey fan. He just hasn't done much that's interesting besides stuffing every show with endless production/dance numbers - the number one complaint from Some Like It Hot. I don't think he's the best for this, but he'll just make it into bland, boring, tourist fare, which is what they probably want.

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 4/21/23 at 11:04pm

More than DeBessonet can do.

Updated On: 4/21/23 at 11:04 PM

[lapinitsa]

Posted: 4/21/23 at 11:11pm

lucynewlife said: "was Casey responsible for the Aladdin revisions from Toronto to Broadway? If so, it will be interesting to see what can be done with Hercules, based on the reviews/critiques. I do think that the Aladdin revisions from Toronto to Broadway made the show a lot safer but also a bit more bland in the process."

 

Yes, he was. It was widely reported. And as Betty22 said, Menken himself gave Nicholaw credit for pulling the show together between Toronto and NY. Does the material for Herc give him the same opportunity? I dunno.

 

[lucynewlife]

Posted: 4/21/23 at 11:27pm

lapinitsa said:

Yes, he was. It was widely reported. And as Betty22 said, Menken himself gave Nicholaw credit for pulling the show together between Toronto and NY. Does the material for Herc give him the same opportunity? I dunno.

"

 

Good point. IMO considering that the Toronto-to-Broadway Aladdin transformation largely revolved around "Emphasize the Genie as much as possible specifically because of James Monroe Iglehart being given standing ovations mid-show," and "cut all this extra material that was leftover from the earlier version of the film [all the Arabian Nights reprises, Call Me a Princess, etc]" I wonder if Hercules does have the same bones for a "make it palatable for mainstream audiences" as Aladdin did.