AladdinAlan Menkin (Music); Howard Ashman, Tim Rice & Chad Beguelin (Lyrics); Chad Beguelin (Book)SHNThe Cast of AladdinWith exotic, kaleidoscopic colors of every hue imaginable, Disney’s Aladdin bursts onto the SHN Orpheum stage in a touring version that has more elaborate scene changes, more dazzling costumes, and more jumping tumbling, and even flying cast members than … [Read more...] about “Aladdin”
Alan Menkin
“Disney’s The Little Mermaid”
Disney’s The Little MermaidAlan Menken (Music); Howard Ashman & Glenn Slater (Lyrics); Doug Wright (Book)Broadway San JoseThe Cast of The Little MermaidA stage-filling, blue screen full of bubbles that boringly bobbled up and down a few inches in each direction as the packed audience filled the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts should have been all the evidence we … [Read more...] about “Disney’s The Little Mermaid”
“The Hunchback of Notre Dame”
The Hunchback of Notre DameAlan Menken (Music); Stephen Schwartz (Lyrics); Peter Parnell (Book)Hillbarn Theatre Randy O'Hara (Quasimodo) & the Gargoyles Based on the 1831 novel by Victor Hugo, The Hunchback of Notre Dame as a stage musical retains the songs of the 1996 Disney film while keeping more of the darker, more serious elements of the novel than does the … [Read more...] about “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”
“Disney’s Beauty and the Beast”
Disney’s Beauty and the BeastAlan Menken (Music); Howard Ashman & Tim Rice (Lyrics);Linda Woolverton (Book)Oregon Shakespeare FestivalThe first time I saw Disney’s Beauty and the Beast on the big screen as an animated film, I immediately pictured the opening number “Belle” as made for the big stage. As the song’s angelic-looking namesake roams aimlessly nose in a book … [Read more...] about “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast”
“Sister Act”
Sister ActAlan Menken (Music); Glenn Slater (Lyrics); Cheri & Bill Steinkellner (Book)Hillbarn TheatreDawn L. Troupe, Melissa Costa and CastGlory Hallelujah and Amen! Hillbarn Theatre may not have Whoopi Goldberg from the 1992 movie or Patina Miller from the 2009 London and 2011 New York openings; but thank the Almighty, the Foster City company has found its miracle … [Read more...] about “Sister Act”
