A few months ago, On Stage Across America visited Toronto for a sneak peek of Disney’s brand-new stage show Tangled: The Musical. We saw a lot of great performances, but no sets, no costumes, and no lighting. So, our Matt McClure visited Miami, to see how all the pieces came together on board the Disney Magic.
When we last checked in on Tangled: The Musical, rehearsals were still in full force. Now, the finishing touches are in place and the show has hit the high seas on Disney Cruise Line.
Based on the animated film of the same name, Tangled puts a bit of a modern twist on the classic story of Rapunzel and her escape from her tower.
"And for me at the core, being the mom of two girls, the story of a little girl finding her way to being who she is; it’s one of those stories that everybody can fall in love with," said Disney Creative Portfolio Executive Dana Harrel.
Helping tell the story is music by legendary composer Alan Menken.
But staging a full-scale, Broadway-style show on a cruise ship has its challenges. Scenic designer Bradley Kaye had to develop a set that could easily be stored away in the Disney Magic’s limited space.
“We had to come up with a combination of hard scenery, soft goods – which is the town drop, and then, upstage what you’re seeing is actually video projection,” Kaye said.
With all of those moving pieces, Kaye says collaboration with the entire creative team was key.
“From the get-go, we had to start brainstorming and collaborating. So, the scenery has to take video, has to take the light coming through the windows, and feel that absolutely beautiful ‘golden hour.’ You know that wonderful afternoon when the light just hits everything and glows? That’s what we wanted to recreate with the set. And then, everything has to tie together with the costumes.”
That job went to Tony Award-winning costumer Paloma Young, who said she didn’t have to look far for inspiration.
"I looked a lot at nature. Rapunzel is such a child of the woods. She’s grown up looking out this one window. She’s surrounded by trees and animals, and is inspired by those," Young said.
The designer, who won a Tony in 2012 for her costume designs for Peter and the Starcatcher, said she also has a unique nickname for Rapunzel: "The Pinterest Princess."
"I’m a big fan of Pinterest as a designer," she said. "I’m constantly on there and looking at what other people have come up with. You can imagine that Rapunzel in a different time, if she had Internet, would be figuring out how to make little Olafs out of marshmallows and pinning it on Pinterest. I sort of want to create the Rapunzel pin board.”
The show is now running, but the only place to see it is on board the Disney Magic cruise ship.