Toy Story—The Musical, by GrooveLily and Dickstein, Will Debut on Disney Cruise Line (original) (raw)

News Toy Story—The Musical, by GrooveLily and Dickstein, Will Debut on Disney Cruise Line Toy Story—The Musical, based on the acclaimed Disney-Pixar film, will make its debut April 10 in the Walt Disney Theatre of the Disney Cruise Line, which will be in dock at Port Canaveral, FL.

Valerie Vigoda and Brendan MilburnPhoto by Aubrey Reuben

The musical features Randy Newman's Oscar-nominated song, "You've Got a Friend," which was heard in the film, as well as seven new songs penned by GrooveLily's Valerie Vigoda and Brendan Milburn. Little Women's Mindi Dickstein penned the book.

Stefan Novinski — who has helmed productions for South Coast Repertory Theatre, Center Theatre Group, New York Musical Theater Festival and New Dramatists — directs a repertory cast of 21. The creative team also includes costume designer Ann Closs-Farley and set designer Sibyl Wickersheimer.

Toy Story—The Musical, according to press notes, "opens with an introduction to Woody, a pull-string talking cowboy who has long been six-year-old Andy's favorite toy. But Andy's birthday brings a new arrival - Buzz Lightyear, the coolest action figure in the universe. Woody's jealousy gets the better of him and he schemes to get rid of his new rival, but things go dreadfully awry. Woody and Buzz find themselves outside of Andy's room and in a hostile world. Working together and overcoming their differences, they find their way back to Andy - along the way developing an appreciation of one another and creating a friendship."

The production utilizes "larger-than-life props [that] help transform the 977-seat Walt Disney Theatre into a toy-sized world of fun and adventure. A rear projection screen aids the transformation between human-sized and toy-sized scenes and takes the show from the comfort of Andy's room — to the frenzied world of Pizza Planet — to the frightening room of Andy's neighbor, Sid."

In a statement Anne Hamburger, executive vice president of Disney Imagineering Creative Entertainment, said, "When we first thought of bringing 'Toy Story' to the stage, there was a great deal of excitement about the project. Everyone on our team could immediately see how the heart and comedy of these characters could come alive in a memorable way that is unique to musical theatre." For more information visit www.disneycruise.com.