CriticalDance Forum

Disney adds dash of Broadway to its mix
Theatrical pros bring greasepaint glamour to 'Aladdin' extravaganza in Anaheim

Robert Hurwitt, Chronicle Theater Critic

Enter Anne Hamburger, a dyed-in-the-greasepaint theatrical producer, most recently artistic director of the adventuresome La Jolla Playhouse. Hamburger, who had made her name as founder and leader of New York's innovative En Garde Arts -- staging plays on abandoned piers and producing works by the likes of Charles L. Mee ("Big Love") -- might seem an unlikely match for Disney. But so was Taymor. So is Matthew Bourne, of the all-male "Swan Lake," now reportedly developing a stage version of "The Little Mermaid" for Disney.

Hamburger was brought on as executive vice president for creative entertainment of the theme park division. "Aladdin," which opened in mid- January, is her first show, and in some respects it represents a full-scale theatrical invasion. The 2,000-seat two-balcony Hyperion is a spacious but intimate-feeling Broadway-style house, designed by Manhattan theater architect Hugh Hardy (of Hardy Holzmann Pfeiffer). The book was adapted from the animated film by playwright Chad Beguelin. And Alan Menken added a new song to those he wrote for the film with the late Howard Ashman and Tim Rice (who stepped in after Ashman's death).