Although few expect Michael Eisner to radically alter the way he has been running the company, some investors out there are apparently doing what they can to force him to do just that. An "activist" recently gathered together many investors - some reports suggest this group could own as much as 20% of public stock - and issues like Eisner's possible successor, governance practices and the current board were discussed. Because of such investor unhappiness, the many recent news stories about the board full of "cronies" and the current mistrust of large companies, some things WILL actually change after Tuesday's big meeting. The board will most likely evolve into something more independent of Eisner. But don't expect much from his "five-year plan" that is different from his current plan of cutting EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE!
CH-CH-CH-CHANGES!
Yahoo News - Sept 18
Apart from the changes at WDW that J Dana mentioned in a recent thread, there are a few other new things at the Orlando resort. First, the 100 Years of Magic celebration will be extended through February due to it being "such a hit." More like, "It doesn't cost us anything to keep the hat, the parades or One Man's Dream, so we'll drag them over into our slowest months." We ain't dumb. Also, Early Entry... errr... the Extra Magic Hour will be just that, an hour, but will apparently include Animal Kingdom this time around. Though it would require magic for there to be enough reasons to visit AK an hour early.
ALADDIN GETS NATIONAL PRESS, BECAUSE...???
Playbill Online - Sept 20
For some reason, Playbill has a story on the soon-to-open Aladdin stage show in DCA. The article claims there are no plans to move the show to Broadway. Well, then why cover it? Maybe because its creator, Anne Hamburger, head honcho of entertainment at the Disneyland Resort, used to be the artistic director at the La Jolla Playhouse, which has created big shows like "Tommy" and sent them to Broadway. Also maybe because we all KNOW it will head to Broadway!!! This thing will have to really bite to not be on its way to the Great White Way. Then again, "Beauty & the Beast" bites and it still went to Broadway.
WET ENOUGH? SPLASH DOWN INTO THESE RELATED AREAS OF TPI
Disney Starts Restoring What It Had Cut
Aladdin Remains @ Rate the Rumors
Blast! Returns @ Rate the Rumors
No complete details yet--and that's no surprise--but it appears that Disney's focus will remain on turning around ABC. Expect more cost-cutting throughout the company, other wise. The article did not specificially mention theme parks, but if they are to be included among the cuts, Disney can expect continued poor performance in that area, as declining attendance and sales overwhelms whatever cuts Disney manages to find in this already decimated area.
Disney will appoint two "outsiders" on the board to its governance committee. And it will likely reduce the number of board members overall, likely by cutting as many of four Eisner pals.
"Beauty" is NOT a great play. The plot is whisper-thin and few characters ever become truly three-dimensional. The songs are nice, but who really needs to hear "Be Our Guest" ever again? (I could insert another "Cats" metaphor here in regards to "Memory" but I won't.) But the one thing that will keep "Beauty" from ever being a good musical are those people in the cheesy tableware outfits. People make fun of people dressing up like cats (there it is again!), well how does that even compare with dressing up as a frickin' candle every night? Or a clock? And we won't even get into the absurdity of teapots!
"The Lion King" will long be remembered for the beauty and ingenuity it brought to Broadway. "Beauty" surely won't be remembered for anything.
Speaking of "Lion King," there is a HUGE difference between what that play is doing and what "Beauty" is doing. LK doesn't have people dressed as animals. It has people in artistic stylizations of animals. Kind of like in "Starlight Express" where everyone was trains but the costumers didn't get all anal and make them accurate. "Beauty" doesn't have stylized ANYTHING. Yes, the costumes aren't as cheesy as the ones in WDW, but there is still a wide chasm between artistic interpretation and what "Beauty" does with its fantastical characters. The cartoon works because the animation makes the fantasy believable. The play doesn't work because it tries to be far too realistic with such an unrealistic plot.
Spectacles are created for the "tourists," or, to be frank, the people who come into NYC and would rather see a spectacle than a real musical. Which explains the long success of the Rockettes. Musicals that tell actual stories, like Ragtime, are harder sells to the out-of-towners, and tend not to do as well. And even many of these go down the spectacle route here and there, like Les Miserables, just to appeal to the people who don't attend the theater that often.
Still, more often than not, the cream rises to the top on Broadway. The musicals with the best word-of-mouth and reviews (The Producers, Hairspray, Mamma Mia, The Lion King) are all selling out every show. Beauty & the Beast has not done so for quite some time, which is quite telling for a spectacle.
