Here's the thing about the Disney Cruise Line. It's kind of a Broadway theater series masquerading as a cruise ship business.
Yeah, Disney's ships visit some great ports around the world, including its own Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point. They serve multi-course dinners every night. You get a comfy room in which to sleep. Want to hit up a themed bar and show off your drinks on social media? Disney Cruise Line has some of the best.
But none of that deserves top billing. That honor goes to the nightly productions in the Walt Disney Theaters on Disney's six cruise ships. And the best among them? The queen of this cruise line is Disney's current queen of the seas, Moana.
The new Disney Treasure is home to Disney Tale of Moana, the company's most ambitious effort yet to bring the world's most popular streaming movie to the stage. This new production deftly mixes high-tech in-theater animation with the most time-tested stage tricks to create 60 minutes that honor the spirit of the animated movie while promoting the craft and art of live theater.
Disney's live theater shows are included in your cruise fare. The theater stages two shows each night - an early show for those with a late dinner seating, and vice versa. That limits the productions to about 60 minutes to work with. So do not expect a line-by-line recitation of a Disney movie on stage.
Nor would that be right, even if the Walt Disney Theater had all the time in the world to entertain you. Yes, a short-sighted manager could have ordered a few rubberhead characters on stage in front of a screen, and many fans would walk away happy. But the company instead has invested millions annually in live theater, from Broadway here to its cruise ships, to offer its fans a chance to experience its stories in an especially touching medium.
To do that requires reimagining the spirit and themes of its animated movies within the parameters of a live theatrical production. A stage production cannot duplicate the movie's beautiful depiction of the wide ocean. Instead, Disney Tale of Moana focuses intimately on Moana's two main relationships, with her grandmother Tala and the rogue demigod Maui, accompanied by artful suggestions of the surroundings.
The production design of this musical draws and rewards your attention throughout. The show opens with a handsomely decorated village, represented by a backdrop of tapestries hung from bamboo beams. If you have seen Moana, the movie, your anticipation for the thrilling next act might test your patience for all this exposition. Disney employs Tala to narrate much of the set-up, and there are a couple of nifty tricks here to age Moana to her 16 years. Kaenaonalaniowaianuhea Kekoa offers a stunning performance as Moana, nailing the both the vocal and emotional performances while navigating the precise choreography of this demanding production.
I spoke with her the next morning about the production and what makes it special to her, as a Hawai'ian.
As in the movie, the show really gets going when Moana crosses that reef and sails the open ocean. It's a classic quest myth - this time calling on a young woman to deliver the token that can save her people and her home. Three story beats define the journey here: meeting Maui, tricking Tamatoa, and confronting the volcano god Te Ka. Each gets a moment of visually stunning stagecraft, culminating in the show rolling out the largest puppet in Disney Cruise Line's stage history. I want to say more, but I also don't want to spoil the surprise of witnessing the magic of these physical characters, as powered by the show's cast.
A final transformation leaves the audience marveling at Disney's stagecraft. But Disney Tale of Moana is not all tech and tricks. The leads deliver consistently impressive vocal performances that capture the essence of their characters, backed by a chorus that is called upon to play characters from people of Motunui to the ocean itself.
On Disney Treasure, Disney Tale of Moana shares the Walt Disney Theater stage with productions of Beauty and the Beast and Disney Seas the Adventure. We reviewed those shows when they debuted, on Disney Wish and Disney Dream, respectively: New 'Beauty and the Beast' musical debuts on the Disney Dream and Disney Wishes for Cruise Fans to 'Seas the Adventure'.
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