Disney is planning to adapt its film classic Mary Poppins for the stage.

Disney has its stage hands full with Poppins, school shows

By Elysa Gardner, USA TODAY

Disney's theater division has a variety of new projects on tap for 2004, from professional shows to programs that will enable schoolchildren and other amateurs to create their own spectacles. (Related item: Disney's live theater projects take center stage)

Disney is planning to adapt its film classic Mary Poppins for the stage.

As head of that division, Thomas Schumacher realizes that such progress eventually will require closing certain long-running productions. "You have to ask how you can tour these shows, license them, roll them out in other ways — and bring new titles in."

New titles for the coming year include a stage adaptation of Mary Poppins and On the Record, a touring show designed to evoke a recording session for "the ultimate Disney album," Schumacher says, with dance numbers.

Beyond that, Disney will for the first time make Beauty and the Beast and Aida available for stock and amateur projects, including high school productions, through an agreement with the licensing agency Music Theatre International.

Disney and MTI also are developing musicals for students to perform, among them an adaptation of the 1992 film Newsies, an Aladdin for middle schools, and Cinderella and The Jungle Book for elementary schoolers. For the latter three, teachers will have access to 40-minute scripts with directors' notes.

CD tracks also will be offered, Schumacher says, allowing children to sing along karaoke-style. "(School music) programs are being cut back, so if you don't have an orchestra, you can use this. Or if you do have an orchestra, you can rent the parts from us."

Disney also will continue to cultivate audiences through its association with Feld Entertainment, the company that runs Disney on Ice. Chairman and CEO Kenneth Feld works with a team from Schumacher's department on seven ice shows, which last year attracted more than 10 million fans.

Feld also is readying Disney Live, a series of non-ice stage shows featuring characters from popular stories and films. The first, focusing on Winnie the Pooh, is set to open in New Zealand in June, then move to Australia and likely end up in North America toward the end of 2005.

Feld says that the Disney Live shows will incorporate humor, audience participation and music, from Disney classics to covers of contemporary pop songs.

"It won't be a passive experience," he says. "The show is geared for all levels, every age group."

Disney Channel properties Kim Possible and Jo-Jo's Circus have been mentioned as possible future Disney Live outings, but not yet confirmed. Similarly, Schumacher says that Disney stage versions of Pinocchio and Hoopz have been put on the back burner for now, but not abandoned.

"And then there's another idea, something totally original, based on a 20th-century phenomenon," Schumacher adds, mysteriously. "I can't tell you about it now, but it's fantastic."