Disney Nightmare Comes To The Stage

[MamasDoin'Fine]

Posted: 4/24/12 at 12:10pm

English National Opera is to stage a new production imagining the “alarming and truly frightening” life of Walt Disney.

It has been claimed that Disney wished to be cryogenically frozen and that his body is hidden away at Disneyland - an idea dismissed by his family.

'The Perfect American' is composed by Philip Glass and based on the novel by Peter Stephan Jungk.
Published in 2005, the book was a fictionalised account of Disney’s last days, seen through the eyes of a disgruntled ex-employee who hated his former boss.
It examines some of the many accusations levelled at Disney over the years: that he was a racist and a bully, a McCarthyist and an anti-semite, who took credit for the work produced by the animators in his employ.
It has also been claimed that Disney wished to be cryogenically frozen and that his body is hidden away at Disneyland - an idea dismissed by his family.

The Walt Disney Company does not allow unauthorised use of its characters so director Phelim McDermott and his Improbable theatre company will come up with more sinister interpretations of Mickey, Minnie and friends.

John Berry, ENO’s artistic director, said: “Improbable will create their own impression of the Walt Disney world. You will sort of recognise them.”
Asked if the production would appeal to children, Berry said: “Yes, in a sort of nightmarish way.”

Christopher Purves, the British baritone, will play the role of Disney in the opera, which opens in June next year.

It begins with a scene around Disney’s death bed and continues in flashback, including surreal encounters with Abraham Lincoln and Andy Warhol.

'The Perfect American' is the 24th opera from Glass, who said: “The story of the last days of Walt Disney, American icon and creator of perhaps the most pervasive fantasy world on our planet, is surprisingly gripping and at times disturbing.
“But, on the face of it, how could it be anything else? The pulse of his life has to be the pulse of our own American culture. And, like other aspects of life here, it is unimaginable, alarming and truly frightening.”
'The Perfect American' is a co-production with Teatro Real in Madrid, where it will have a world premiere in January.

It is one of the highlights of ENO’s 2012/13 season, announced today.

Another is 'The Sunken Garden', a contemporary opera with a libretto by David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas.He has teamed up with Dutch composer and director Michel van der Aa to create the “occult mystery film opera”.

Audiences will don 3-D glasses for the experimental production, which will be staged in April next year at the Barbican, rather than ENO’s Coliseum home. Actors on stage will interact with a 3-D film backdrop.

Berry said: “This is experimental, risky and new territory for the ENO. It is a big leap.”
The season will feature a new production of La Traviata, a revival of the Deborah Warner-directed Death in Venice and the first UK staging in 50 years of The Pilgrim’s Progress, directed by Yoshi Oida.
Berry admitted that ENO faces a “huge financial challenge” this season and a struggle to fill seats.
He said: “People are booking later and later, and because there is less money around people are being very careful what they go and see.
“It’s not just us - it’s the only topic of conversation I have when I travel and see our international partners. It’s a tough market.
“Some companies would respond by putting on lots of revivals but that is something we don’t want to do. We have decided to invest in this programme. ENO really is the modern home of opera in London.”

[AvenueQResident]

Posted: 4/24/12 at 6:13pm

Awh, I thought this would be about 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' finally coming to the stage.

[MamasDoin'Fine]

Posted: 4/24/12 at 6:15pm

No, this sounds like it will be a nightmare any day of the year!