New Disney MTI Jr/Kids Shows

[MollyJeanneMusic]

Posted: 7/15/19 at 11:41am

Four new adaptations of Disney movies - Frozen Kids, Moana Jr, Newsies Jr, and Finding Nemo Jr - were announced to be released over the next two years for regional licensing. While Frozen and Newsies weren't huge surprises, especially with pilot productions, Finding Nemo Jr. and Moana Jr. seem to hint at new interest in developing those two shows further. (Finding Nemo has been a musical at Walt Disney World for years, but this is the first inkling of any stage adaptation of Moana.). Could these two musicals be in the works for the Great White Way in years to come?

[DramaTeach]

Posted: 7/15/19 at 3:42pm

I don't remember there being enough music in Moana for a full musical. Have to hand it to Disney for getting these out. They make so much money from them, so it's in their best interest. I just wish other companies would do the same. Hello Dolly Jr.? Grease Jr.? I know there's a school version. Mamma Mia Jr.? Kiss Me Kate Jr.? How to Succeed...Jr.? West Side Story Jr.? Waiting on titles like this over some of the more juvenile ones that have been released. I get that they're for young kids, but can't we challenge them? 

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

Posted: 7/15/19 at 3:50pm

If MOANA does become a full-length Broadway spectacle, it will undoubtedly go the FROZEN route and have a ton of new material written for the adaptation. It's not like Lin-Manuel Miranda is afraid of hard work...Lol

I agree that I'd love to see more young performer versions of "classic" shows. I think Tams-Witmark recently released a kids' version of ANYTHING GOES, which is fascinating to me. That being said, keep the JR. label away from anything Sondheim...Into the Woods Jr. is enough...I can't wait for the 15-minute masterpiece that is A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC JR.

[bdn223]

Posted: 7/15/19 at 4:03pm

Ado Annie D'Ysquith said: "If MOANA does become a full-length Broadway spectacle, it will undoubtedly go the FROZEN route and have a ton of new material written for the adaptation. It's not like Lin-Manuel Miranda is afraid of hard work...Lol

I agree that I'd love to see more young performer versions of "classic" shows. I think Tams-Witmark recently released a kids' version of ANYTHING GOES, which is fascinating to me. That being said, keep the JR. label away from anything Sondheim...Into the Woods Jr. is enough...I can't wait for the 15-minute masterpiece that is A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC JR."

 

Actually A Little Night Music, as its already filled win innuendo, could actually work. You just change the sex to kissing...most of it will go over kids heads.

 

[copskid949]

Posted: 7/15/19 at 4:34pm

I am SO incredibly happy to see Finding Nemo finally getting out there. One thing of note is that while something like Moana will have to cut down on content in the 60-minute format, Nemo will actually have to add about 20-25 minutes of additional content. I'm guessing basically all of the original show will be retained, with minor adjustments here and there. No idea what they would add from the film, though. The whale? The filter scene? Just making the scenes longer in general? Everything does feel pretty rushed for time, even just listening to the cast album, so more dialogue/dance breaks sounds fun.

As for Newsies, I'm interested to see what'll have to go. Everything seems fairly important to the plot, which is quite good but also quite difficult. I personally think the parts with Medda wouldn't really be necessary or entirely kid-friendly, but I'd still love to see her make the cut. As for everything else, it's really hard to say. My guess is they won't include "Letter from the Refuge," considering we already know the show works without it. I'd also love to see less reprises of "Carrying the Banner," of which there are many.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 7/15/19 at 4:50pm

From what I hear, the entire romantic subplot has been removed from Newsies, Jr.

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 7/15/19 at 4:59pm

I'm so thrilled that Finding Nemo will finally be available for the public! That's one of my favorite shows at Disney World and I saw it three times during my internship last year. It's some of the Lopezes' best work.

I'm shocked that Moana got a show before Tangled and even Coco. I guess the hair logistics for Tangled is very complicated to solve for schools. Hopefully, this will lead to a full Broadway show. 

[MollyJeanneMusic]

Posted: 7/15/19 at 6:31pm

HeyMrMusic said: "From what I hear, the entire romantic subplot has been removed from Newsies, Jr."

I was actually in a pilot production of Newsies Jr. last May!  The romantic subplot is removed (sorry, "Something to Believe In", but there's enough material between Jack and Katherine that a few simple stage directions could hint at a relationship, as our director did.  There is one reprise of "Carrying the Banner" during the transition to Pulitzer's office, but the second reprise after "The Bottom Line" was cut.  "Letter from the Refuge" is kinda combined with "Santa Fe" as a sort of counterpoint duet.  Medda did make the cut as of May - "That's Rich" and "I Never Planned on You" are combined into one vaudeville number called "Just a Pretty Face," with all-new lyrics by Jack Feldman.  Unfortunately, "Watch What Happens (Reprise)" is cut completely, making Jack's return to the strike more ambiguous before, at least in this version, the Delanceys actually capture Jack and drag him to Pulitzer's office.

[MollyJeanneMusic]

Posted: 7/15/19 at 6:49pm

And disneybroadwayfan2, I LOVE Finding Nemo at Disney World, too!  We just saw it a few days ago, and it was just as good.  It's also gotten a resurgence in recent years - mostly from the current cast of Dear Evan Hansen.

[DramaTeach]

Posted: 7/15/19 at 6:53pm

^. Thanks for the info, MollyJean!

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 7/15/19 at 7:00pm

Looks like Finding Nemo will still just be the 60 minute one act version and it won't be available until 2021.

[MollyJeanneMusic]

Posted: 7/15/19 at 7:06pm

DramaTeach said: "^. Thanks for the info, MollyJean!"

In the immortal words of Jack Kelly, "Fo' shore."

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 7/15/19 at 7:25pm

Thank you MJ for the Newsies info!

That’s so bizarre NEMO will be out in 2021. If you go on #findingnemothemusical on IG, you will see that two theaters just had the first performances.

[copskid949]

Posted: 7/15/19 at 7:31pm

CATSNYrevival said: "Looks like Finding Nemo will still just be the 60 minute one act version and it won't be available until 2021."

It’s not even an hour as it currently stands. Disney really limited how long the show could be. At minimum it’s more like 35-40.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 7/16/19 at 12:59am

copskid949 said: "It’s not even an hour as it currently stands. Disney really limited how long the show could be. At minimum it’s more like 35-40."

I apologize. It’s listed on their page as 60 minutes but probably only because it’s over the 30 minute mark.

https://www.disneytheatricallicensing.com/browse-shows/60-minute-shows

[copskid949]

Posted: 7/16/19 at 1:17am

CATSNYrevival said: "copskid949 said: "It’s not even an hour as it currently stands. Disney really limited how long the show could be. At minimum it’s more like 35-40."

I apologize. It’s listed on their page as 60 minutes but probably only because it’s over the 30 minute mark.

https://www.disneytheatricallicensing.com/browse-shows/60-minute-shows"

Actually I should be the one apologizing! What I meant was that Nemo’s current production at the Animal Kingdom in WDW is only 35-40 minutes long. They’ve expanded it for the Junior show, so that’s actually a really good start towards maybe seeing more out of it later on!

[trentsketch]

Posted: 7/16/19 at 3:13am

The Finding Nemo runtime is easily going to reach 60 minutes for the JR version. Disney has, in the past, added songs from other films to their JR versions to make them run a little longer (Alice in Wonderland has Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah, for example). They'll add in reprises, extra choruses with a larger ensemble, and additional instrumental scoring to expand book scenes with movement and/or dances. There's also usually a pretty lengthy song at curtain call.

Frankly, their JR shows tend to run longer than an hour because of the amount of scene changes and length of the book scenes (Beauty and the Beast JR and Mulan Jr can easily hit 90 minutes if you use all the underscoring and listed scene changes). 

Moana Jr is only a surprise because I hadn't heard of any pilot productions yet. It's a no-brainer for an adaptation since the film is still so popular. They're also testing out stage versions of Twice Charmed (one of their cruise ship shows) and Descendants this summer. The rights for the ones they move forward with are usually available within two years.

[PopAria]

Posted: 7/17/19 at 7:28pm

Surprised no one has thought of Pocahontas Jr yet. The  Native American curriculum in schools would tie in nicely with that show.  

 

 

[JSquared2]

Posted: 7/17/19 at 7:41pm

I for one am looking forward to PRETTY WOMAN JR.

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 7/17/19 at 8:30pm

trentsketch said: "Moana Jr is only a surprise because I hadn't heard of any pilot productions yet. It's a no-brainer for an adaptation since the film is still so popular. They're also testing out stage versions of Twice Charmed (one of their cruise ship shows) and Descendants this summer. The rights for the ones they move forward with are usually available within two years."

You can see Moana Jr productions through Instagram. It actually looks amazing and shows off why this could work on Broadway if technology is good enough.

I actually saw Cinderella 3 a couple of days ago (Fact: Lesli Margherita is the signing voice of Anastasia) and it is very similar to Twice Charmed. I was wondering why that or Twice Charmed hasn't gotten the MTI treatment yet. 

Don't know why they're taking their sweet time with Descendants. By 2021 or 2022, that franchise should be long gone. The third one is the last movie, especially now one of their main four has passed on.

[santeFEEE]

Posted: 7/21/19 at 3:34pm

There are two more non disney jr shows in the works as well. Something Rotten Jr. and 13 Jr. What do you guys think?

[DramaTeach]

Posted: 7/21/19 at 6:22pm

^ Both of those are very exciting! Hopefully they’ll come soon.

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 7/21/19 at 11:56pm

MollyJeanneMusic: Thanks for the info on ''Newsies, Jr.''!

And does it include ''Brooklyn's Here'' and ''Once and For All,'' too?

[MollyJeanneMusic]

Posted: 7/22/19 at 7:14pm

Wayman_Wong said: "MollyJeanneMusic: Thanks for the info on ''Newsies, Jr.''!

And does it include ''Brooklyn's Here'' and ''Once and For All,'' too?"

It does!  Due to the hour thing, all the songs are shortened in some way, but other than the ones I mentioned above, they're all in there in some fashion.

[MayAudraBlessYou2]

Posted: 7/23/19 at 10:08am

It is in Disney's best financial interest to create Jr/Kids versions of all their animated films, so the fact that they exist doesn't necessarily lend itself towards any Broadway aspirations or plans. 

However, this is not the first time a stage adaptation of Moana has been planned. Moana was one of several films on the table for a potential stage musical in the theme parks. The Magic Kingdom was supposed to get an expansion of Main Street USA with a large "Main Street Theater", capable of hosting live shows. Disneyland has a theater like this which currently houses a short version of Frozen (and before that, Aladdin). It would have been nice to have a house that could eat a thousand people in Magic Kingdom several times a day. But just as land clearing began, the Main Street Theater project was abruptly cancelled (well, officially "put on indefinite hold". Most people point to the deteriorating monorails as the culprit that sank the project (an EPCOT monorail door opened mid-ride, and a video circulated the web. So suddenly new monorail trains became a much bigger priority for Disney and their money). Moana (along with Mary Poppins, and a "disney hits" concert) was one of the top considerations for the Main Street Theater, but we may never get to see it come to life.