Disenchanted the Musical is a project that began in 2009 and made its way to off-Broadway theaters in 2012. Not to be confused with the upcoming Disney+ sequel to Enchanted, this stage show is a parody of the Disney Princess brand that is in no way sanctioned by Disney, as proven by the public domain-approved character autographs on the poster. The show contains far too many Disney-specific references to be an interpretative musical about fairy tales in the vein of Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods. Disenchanted! is far less sophisticated than Into the Woods with a focus on low-brow humor and an overall lack of plot, which explains why it never could have been a contender for the elite world of Broadway. It must instead settle for off-Broadway and low-budget local productions like the one I streamed over the weekend. The show's childish humor about cartoon princesses might imply that it is meant for very young audiences, but the light swearing and song about boobs imply otherwise, which makes me wonder what sort of audience it is intended for.
I saw an ad for Disenchanted! on Facebook a few years ago, and it peaked my interest enough to research some songs and clips, but not enough to make travel plans to see it it at some faraway venue. Times have changed since then. Nowadays, entertainment is created with the intent that people will be able to watch it from home. When I saw a new ad for a small theater in Michigan that was offering livestream tickets, I decided to sign up for the Fenton Village Players' performance so I could finally see what all the fuss was about. The production I streamed over the weekend was extremelylow budget with no costumes or sets and poor audio quality. The only actress who tried to dress up for her role was Cinderella, who wore a nice dress. Between the performance I watched, the song clips from the official website, and other videos I had seen from the show online, I was able to get the overall gist of the musical. For the most part, Disenchanted! is about a group of Disney Princesses led by Snow White who sing about how terrible their lives are.
Now that this show is over a decade old, I think the idea behind it is too outdated to be enjoyable. Poking fun at princesses was a big fad when the Disney Princess brand was first introduced in the early 2000s with movies like Shrek and Enchanted that recoded the DNA of what it means to be a fairy tale princess, paving the way for the modern era in which Disney redefined it unironically. It no longer makes sense to sing about being tired of the ballgown-wearing damsel in distress waiting for a prince to rescue her because modern princesses wear pants and rescue their own kingdoms. Most of the jokes in this show are tired and overused, which mitigates the humor. Those of us who still dream of romance and ballgowns have trouble relating to princesses who dislike them, and quite frankly, the bitter attitudes behind the princesses of Disenchanted! are uncharacteristic of the girls they are imitating. The only two princesses whose songs I found charming and believable were Pocahontas, who sang about how disappointed she was by the many historical inaccuracies of her movie and Tiana, who sang about how pleased she was to be the first black Disney Princess.
As a narrative structure, Disenchanted! incorporates a series of vignettes in which Snow White summons various princesses from her mirror. There is very little dialogue outside of these introductions, and most songs have little to do with the one that preceded them. The only running gag throughout the show is Sleeping Beauty falling asleep whenever it is her turn to sing until the finale in which she sings the song "Perfect" with the other princesses. A narcoleptic "Sleeping Beauty" is a gat that has been done to death even though she never spontaneously falls asleep in her fairy tale outside of the initial curse. The final message of the show is that the princesses aren't as perfect as the movies make them out to be, but they're still perfect just the way they are. Did they really need a two-hour long play just to tell us that? As a lover of princesses, I found very little to enjoy about this spiteful look at beloved Disney classics. Some of the gags were quite a stretch, such as Ariel complaining about having to shave her new legs. It must have been difficult for the show's writers to come up with something for such famously optimistic characters to complain about.
Overall, Disenchanted! The Musical is an outdated low-brow satire made for people who dislike the Disney Princess brand as it was when it started in the early 2000s. It no longer applies to the new kickass princesses that Disney has been promoting over the past few years, and the jokes have been done to death in other movies and shows. The minor swearing and sexual references are inappropriate for kids, but the potty humor and trite gags are uninspiring for adults. The only audience that I think could possibly enjoy this show is college kids who have been drinking heavily. In that respect, it might be a good contender for a Vegas casino. Aside from that, it has little to offer to older fans of Disney Princess movies, as they are unlikely to agree with its bitter sentiments about these beloved characters.
Get link
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps
Comments
PrincessContent said…
Hi there! It’s been a while. :)
Sad to hear that this musical was a disappointment. And I must say I got a bit upset to hear that the streamed version was that low-budged! I mean, even if it’s streamed, people are paying to see it so they should have good camera work and the actresses should be in costume! Very unprofessional…
I did look up Pocahontas’ song though and I agree that it’s a charming song. A dark joke that, compared to the other out-dated princess jokes, is still relevant and will be in till the day we have reached more and better native American representation in the media.
Ordinarily, I would agree that the stream should have been better quality, but it was performed by a community theater in Michigan, an area that is not very well-known for the arts. Plus, their website said that most people at the theater are volunteers. The tickets were pretty cheap, so I just have to take it for what it is. It's amazing they were able to do a show at all when the pandemic is still happening.
PrincessContent said…
<3
Aha, ok! Then I immediately take back my harsh criticism!
It's been a bit of a wait, but Rainbow SpA has delivered on their promise of an original animated mermaid show ! From the creators of Winx Club , Mermaid Magic premiered on Netflix a few days ago with ten fun-filled episodes. Although the show didn't have quite as much underwater content as I was hoping for, it's a solid new Magical Girl series with beautiful animation and a female-empowering plot. I was thrilled to dive into the world of Merlinda, Sasha, and Nerissa and learn about their incredible powers on their journey to save Mertropia (originally called Mertropolis) pirates, witches, and toxic waste. The first season ended on a satisfying note with the potential for new adventures in future seasons. Merlinda is the sheltered princess of Mertropia who leaps into action when she overhears a conversation about her father using up his life force to protect the kingdom. If she can travel to the dangerous surface world through a magic portal and recover five Neptune Pea
It's been over two years since the last double feature for the Sailor Moon Crystal anime series , which covered the second to last arc of the original anime and manga. Closing the gap between the two anime versions of Sailor Moon, a two-part theatrical release premiered in Japan last summer called Sailor Moon Cosmos , which covered the final arc of the story, Sailor Stars. The film was released in two parts, which is barely enough time to cover the expansive story and is probably confusing to people watching it if they aren't already familiar with the source material. Although there is no English release of the film planned at this time, I was able to watch a fansub that allowed me to experience the thrilling conclusion to the newest iteration of this popular Magical Girl franchise. Sailor Moon Cosmos has the same plot as the controversial final season of the original Sailor Moon anime , but covers it in a much shorter time span. It introduces the trans-friendly Sailor Stars
I've been seeing several viral posts recently about historical fashion lately. One was a gallery of women's fashion every year from 1784 to 1970 , and another was a video re-enactment of how women got dressed in the 18th century . These got me thinking about some of my favorite princess fashions. Though princesses are not known to be historically accurate , their fashions drew inspiration from many different places, and history is one of them. If you take a look at the way fashion has evolved over time, you can get an idea of which parts inspired the princess movies and which parts were altered. Something that surprised me in the re-enactment was how many pieces were assembled on a woman to give the appearance of a single dress. Today, most dresses are a single piece, but historically, gowns consisted of a corset bodice and a large skirt with a crinoline underneath. This was something I also noticed about Disney's theme park princesses . Though they look like one dr
Yesterday, the Starz network released the series finale of The Spanish Princess , concluding The White Queen trilogy of miniseries that began in 2013. Based on a book series called The Cousins' War by Phillippa Gregory , the trilogy covers the women who stood behind the men in power in the English monarchy from 1464 to the 1530s, preceding the first two sovereign queens, Mary and Elizabeth. The White Queen , The White Princess , and The Spanish Princess grant us a rare opportunity to see what life was like for medieval monarchs. Watching them reminded me of why I prefer the fairy tale versions of royalty. Those stories do not contain the gory deaths, gruesome births, and invasive politics that historical dramatizations like these exemplify. In fact, I had very little interest in watching the second season of The Spanish Princess until I watched some historical videos and learned that the king that Catherine of Aragon was married to was none other than King Henry VIII, who was
I have never been a fan of the Descendants franchise , which was originally created by Disney to take down Mattel's semi-successful Ever After High line of dolls, books , and webisodes. It succeeded in this endeavor thanks to Disney brand recognition despite being an inferior product. Coming out nearly a decade after the original , we have a fourth Descendants movie entitled The Rise of Red . This movie introduces a new generation of fairy tale offspring with countless changes to the classic stories, most of which are for the worse. Its only redeeming factor was a heartfelt tribute to Cameron Boyce , who played the son of Cruella de Vil in the original films. The Descendants franchise had very little working in its favor from the start, but it at least had a leg up over The School for Good and Evil by basing the backstories of the Disney characters on their films instead of superimposing an artificial school setting where they learned to be heroes and villains. This film retcon
Almost two years ago, Disney announced that they were working on a spinoff series to Sofia the First . The best place to reveal new updates about this mysterious series would have been the D23 Expo , which took place in Anaheim last weekend. Instead, Disney Jr. quietly posted on Instagram today that we can expect to see the new series, Sofia the First: Royal Magic on Disney+ in 2026. This is fantastic news if it's true, but Disney has broken promises on many other upcoming shows over the upcoming years, so it's a good idea to take all their announcements with a grain of salt until there is something more substantial like a trailer or release date. Still, it's exciting to have a title and more information about the series. Unlike the original announcement about it being a spinoff like Elena of Avalor , the show will now be a direct sequel that continues Sofia's adventures after graduating from Royal Prep . The official summary is as follows: "Sofia the First:
As soon as I saw the previews for Netflix's new animated series, Unicorn Academy , I couldn't get over how similar it looked to Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders . Teenagers forming magical bonds with unicorns to save the world from evil? Yes, please! With a Jewel Riders graphic novel on the horizon, this is the perfect time to revisit that premise. Unicorn Academy is loosely based on a book series of the same name that got picked up by Netflix and recently aired its first season. The premiere movie and successive eight episodes follow six unicorns and their riders on their quest to protect the magical realm from the evil Ravenzella, who performed reprehensible acts to previous generations, including the father of the main character, Sophia. The show contains a lot of teen angst and drama as well as rainbows, sparkles, and magic. Although Unicorn Academy features an entire school full of unicorn riders training to be protectors, it only focuses on the six students liv
I thought I said everything I had to say about Disney's upcoming remake of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs starring Rachel Zegler until this set leak happened and took the internet by storm. While I'm no stranger to set leaks , this one really takes the cake. Maybe it's the lighting in these shots, Rachel's unfinished hairstyle in the process of being set, or her unnatural expression, but something seems very off about these photos. Can you spot it? It's probably the bright yellow skirt. As accurate of a depiction this is to the dress Snow White wore in the original animated film, these colors are horrendously bright and do not look good on our young actress at all. Don't worry, though. I'm sure they'll fix it with CGI. Rachel Zegler sports a surprisingly screen accurate rendition of Snow White's iconic dress with a blue bodice, white collar, yellow skirt, and red teardrop-shaped accepts on the puffed sleeves. And yet, it looks wrong. Could it
Disney fans from all of the world are gathering at the Anaheim Convention Center this weekend to celebrate the D23 Expo , the ultimate Disney fan event. The Expo contains all the biggest announcements about upcoming Disney shows, experiences, and merchandise, and it is an absolute blast to experience in person . Its most anticipated event, the Disney Entertainment Showcase, took place Friday night. A whole slew of trailers, performances, and exclusive footage was revealed for all of the upcoming Disney movies over the next three years. Three of these included Disney Princess franchises – Snow White , Moana 2 , and Frozen 3 and 4 . However, the vast majority of the announcements consisted of sequels, remakes, and spinoffs , meaning there is still no update on the Penelope movie that was announced two years ago. The Snow White trailer was one of the last to be revealed during the Disney Entertainment Showcase due to it being one of the most heavily anticipated ( or dreaded , depen
There have been many recent updates in the Dress Up! Time Princess app with the most notable being that they changed their name to simply Time Princess, which is how I will be referring to it from this point on. Another major update from this week was the second half of the latest visual novel, Shadows of London, a Victorian vampire story. This is the first visual novel in Time Princess that was released in two separate halves since I started playing it. I thought the wait time would be frustrating, but I found that it gave me ample time to craft the items I needed to access the new story levels so I wouldn't get stuck when the rest of the game was released. This is the easiest story I've played so far in Time Princess, but that might be because I've been playing it for so long. I was able to get through all the story levels from each of the two releases within a single evening. The main character in Shadows of London is Caroline Rayes, a young lady with a tragic past who
Comments
Sad to hear that this musical was a disappointment. And I must say I got a bit upset to hear that the streamed version was that low-budged! I mean, even if it’s streamed, people are paying to see it so they should have good camera work and the actresses should be in costume! Very unprofessional…
I did look up Pocahontas’ song though and I agree that it’s a charming song. A dark joke that, compared to the other out-dated princess jokes, is still relevant and will be in till the day we have reached more and better native American representation in the media.
Ordinarily, I would agree that the stream should have been better quality, but it was performed by a community theater in Michigan, an area that is not very well-known for the arts. Plus, their website said that most people at the theater are volunteers. The tickets were pretty cheap, so I just have to take it for what it is. It's amazing they were able to do a show at all when the pandemic is still happening.
Aha, ok! Then I immediately take back my harsh criticism!