Disney Theatrical Group News

Students from the Humphreys School of Musical Theatre (HSMT) will perform in four nationally distributed choreography DVDs for the Music Theatre International (MTI) Broadway Junior collection of musicals. The news was announced today by Theatre Under The Stars (TUTS) and educational musical theatre consultancy firm iTheatrics. iTheatrics, which is based in New York City, is producing the DVDs, which will feature original choreography by its chief choreographer, Steven G. Kennedy.

The Billie Holiday Theatre continues its 42nd Season Generations United with the World Premiere of Maid's Door by Writers Guild Award winner and Emmy Award nominee Cheryl L. Davis; the show will be directed by the Theatre's Artistic Director Jackie Alexander. Opening Night will be Thursday, March 6; and the show will run through Sunday, March 30. Performances are Thursday-Saturday at 8pm with matinees on Saturday at 3pm and Sunday at 4pm. All tickets are $25 and can be purchased online at www.thebillieholiday.org or by calling the box office at 718-636-0918 or 0919. A discounted rate of $15 is available for Children 15 and younger, Seniors, and Students with a valid ID.

The Walt Disney Studios today unveiled its exclusive cloud-based digital movie service, Disney Movies Anywhere.

The Smith Center for the Performing Arts has received a $100,000 grant from Disney. The award is being used to fund the Disney Musicals in Schools program, an outreach initiative that creates sustainable theatre programs in elementary schools.

Today, Walt Disney Studios has unveiled the first images from the Frozen-inspired suite at Quebec City's famed Hôtel de Glace, in celebration of Disney's 'FROZEN' Blu-ray & Digital HD release. Created entirely out of sculpted ice and snow and supervised by the film's art director Michael Giaimo, the 'Frozen Suite' is modeled after Anna & Elsa's bedrooms. The collaboration will also include a 'Frozen Activity Cave' bringing the wonder of Disney's wintry tale to life like never before. The suite will be unveiled this weekend and remain open through March 23.

Tony-nominated composers Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, Andy Jones (Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella), Heidi Blickenstaff (The Little Mermaid), Ashley Brown (the original Mary Poppins), Merle Dandridge (Tarzan, Aida), Josh Strickland (the original Tarzan), Andrew Keenan-Bolger (Newsies), and Alton Fitzgerald White (The Lion King), will join 4,500 students and teachers representing 93 groups from 26 states and the District of Columbia at the 2014 Junior Theater Festival, it was announced today by Timothy Allen McDonald, founding Chairman of iTheatrics and the Junior Theater Group. The Junior Theater Festival is being held January 17, 18 and 19 at the Cobb Galleria in Atlanta.

Broadway PR firm Polk & Co.'s founder and president, Matt Polk, has just announced that Tom D'Ambrosio, Wayne Wolfe, Frances White and Colgan McNeil will be joining the public relations, media strategies and social media firm. Beginning January 6, 2014, the four press agents, formerly of The Hartman Group, will join the existing company of five including press agents Jessica Johnson and Michelle Bergmann.

Preston Copley, formerly of Disney Theatrical Group, where he served directly under President Thomas Schumacher on the gamut of the commercial producer's Global productions, has joined Jean Doumanian Productions as Director of Creative Development for Theater, working alongside Jean Doumanian, and Vice President, Patrick Daly. In his new position, Copley will be identifying existing work and developing new theatrical content for commercial productions on and off-Broadway, and for audiences abroad.

R&H Theatricals, a division of Rodgers & Hammerstein has released a student version of THE SOUND OF MUSIC, it was announced today by Rodgers & Hammerstein president Ted Chapin. This new theatrical property is part of R&H's Getting to Know Collection. Applications are being accepted now, with materials shipping in February for customers in the USA and Canada and at a later date for other countries around the world. Schools and educational musical theater groups interested in licensing the musical may contact http://www.rnh.com/collection/10/Getting-To-Know.

The Utah Shakespeare Festival soared this year in more ways than one. Not only did the Festival produce a regional premiere of a Tony Award-winning play, it continued the Complete the Canon initiative, started the History Cycle, and the company is preparing to break ground on a new arts center. The Festival continues to push the envelope and through countless hours and a resilient company of artists, the Festival once again received tremendous praise this year for an artistically successful season.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, this month, Disney's THE LION KING will become the first Broadway show to reach $1 billion in cumulative gross

This summer, New Mexico is inviting visitors to experience authentic adventure through a different lens with the help of www.newmexico.org/filmtrails, a new travel planning resource created by the state's tourism department. Using special itineraries, film history and lore, travelers can plan trips based on popular movies and TV series shot in New Mexico. The most recent of these, Disney's 'The Lone Ranger' (due in theaters nationwide July 3), features scenes filmed in various locations across the state.

Last week BroadwayWorld reported that Disney Theatrical Productions has been experimenting with bringing a live stage version of THE MUPPETS to Broadway, but according to the New York Times, that's not the only project in the works. Many other shows based on animated Disney classics are being created for the stage including THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, book by Peter Parnell and direction by Scott Schwartz), for which a table reading was recently held. It was announced several year ago that stage adaptations of DUMBO (direction by Stephen Daldry), and Tim Burton's version of ALICE IN WONDERLAND (direction by Rob Ashford) were in the works, though no new information has been released recently on either project.

Disney Theatrical Group today, Monday 3 June 2013, announced that it would be holding exploratory open auditions in London for NEWSIES this month.

High school seniors of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) got the graduation ceremony of their dreams on Saturday, May 18, when Disney Theatrical Group President Thomas Schumacher delivered their commencement address, and the diplomas were presented by 'Mary Poppins' herself: UNCSA alumna Rachel Wallace. A 2009 college graduate, Wallace just completed a run in the national tour and the New Zealand company of the popular Disney show. Scroll down for photos from the ceremony!

After four weeks of online voting at makeamusical.org, five schools emerged as winners of NBC's "Smash" Make a Musical Constructed by Lowe's initiative. The winning schools will each receive a grand prize gift certificate to Lowe's to make renovations to their school theaters.

Today, March 26th (5:30-7:pm), Tim Federle, author of Better Nate Than Ever, will interview the 19 year old author, Henry Hodges, who wrote 'How To Act Like a Kid,' at the Drama Book Shop. The interview will be followed by a Q&A with the audience followed by a book signing.

On Tuesday March 26th (5:30-7:pm), Tim Federle, author of Better Nate Than Ever, will interview the 19 year old author, Henry Hodges, who wrote 'How To Act Like a Kid,' at the Drama Book Shop. The interview will be followed by a Q&A with the audience followed by a book signing.

Thirty schools from across the country have been selected as finalists in NBC's "Smash" Make a Musical Constructed by Lowe's initiative to improve school theater facilities. The schools will compete to receive the most online votes at makeamusical.org by Wednesday, April 10 in order to receive one of five grand prize gift certificates to Lowe's for their renovations.

Nineteen-year-old Henry Hodges has spent the last fifteen years either on stage or in front of a camera. From playing Chip in 'Beauty and the Beast' to Jeremy Potts in 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' and Michael Banks in 'Mary Poppins,' Henry has practically lived on Broadway for most of his young life.