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“Disenchanted!” - Director Notes

As I prepare my director notes for this event, I am feeling grateful. Grateful for the opportunity to work with talented, passionate, dedicated musical theatre artists who joined together to create a “theatre pandemic magical miracle.”

Rewind to the fall of 2015. As Director of the Performing and Visual Arts at the Frankel Jewish Academy, I was fortunate to attend the Educational Theatre Association's National Conference in Tampa Bay, to fill my cup with fresh and exciting new theatre shows and techniques for my high school students and beyond.

During the conference, I ducked out of the hot sun and took a stroll through the theatrical vendor booths, when “Bippity-Boppity Boo,” my eye caught this colorful magnet of a red apple pierced with darts labeled, “DISENCHANTED!” The enthusiastic vendor enlightened me of this hilarious musical cast with diverse, original, fairy tale-singing princesses who are none too thrilled with the way all the storybooks, animated movies, and “realistic” theme park shows have been portraying them.

Fast-forward to spring of 2019. I was honored to play Nathan Detroit in the classic musical, “Guys and Dolls,” at Village Players, where I shared the stage with theatre enthusiast David Carroll. Together David and I agreed to start a new theatre company to support professional non-profit theatre and increase public access to live theatre with affordable, innovative performances.

Skip to spring of 2020. I am now the Artistic Director of Nicely Theatre Group and am excited as we prepare for our first production, the musical “Pippin.” However, as our theatre world became limited to raising the curtain virtually, Nicely had to adapt and searched for entertainment that entailed a unique set of criteria-- less than an hour in length, small cast, and the ability to perform under COVID protocols safely.

This past summer, Nicely rolled out our first ever One-Act Festival, with two more One-Acts released for the holidays, supporting local actors and crew and providing the public with much-needed free, original entertainment. I welcome you to visit our website for more about the One Acts (nicelytheatregroup.org).

That brings us to today. Inspired by the masterpiece filming of “Hamilton,” Nicely decided to embrace a new theatrical challenge. We decided to film a one-act musical at The Berman Center for the Performing Arts with a professional cast and crew using multiple 4K cameras. I recalled DISENCHANTED and thought it would be a perfect fit.

Happily ever after, we discovered that Dennis Giacino, the DISENCHANTED! creator had created a “stay-at-home” version of this show. We obtained the rights, held virtual auditions, and rehearsed virtually for four weeks under Vocal Director Dan Greig, Choreographer Mark McCleese, and myself. Technical Director/Film Editor Eric Maher and his crew filmed the production using safety protocols to keep the cast healthy, as we completed the filming process in less than seven days. All actors were filmed individually, safely distanced from the crew. This meant that the editing process would be a key factor in creating theatrical magic. Myself, Eric, his assistant Andrew Young and our Musical Director, Ron Pietrantoni spent many hours editing the film and sound to present a show that is the next best thing to live theatre.

This temporary virtual theatre journey has been one of the most enjoyable and rewarding professional theatre experiences of my career. Thank you for buying a ticket and supporting theatre in Detroit!

On behalf of Nicely Theatre Group, I invite you to recline in your favorite chair with family (and as a bonus, you don’t have to silence your cell phone) as we present the musical theatre treat “DISENCHANTED!” directly to your living room.

Mitch Master

Artistic Director

Nicely Theatre Group

 

Song List

One More Happ’ly Ever After – Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty

Insane! – Belle

Without The Guy – Hua Mulan

Two Legs – Little Mermaid, Cinderella & Snow White

Honestly – Pocahontas

Finally - The Princess Who Kissed The Frog, Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Hua Mulan, Pocahontas & Little Mermaid

All I Wanna Do Is Eat – Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Hua Mulan, The Little Mermaid & The Princess Who Kissed The Frog

A Happy Tune? - Snow White, Cinderella & Sleeping Beauty

Perfect – Sleeping Beauty, Little Mermaid, The Princess Who Kissed The Frog, Cinderella, Hua Mulan & Snow White

Once Upon A Time - Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, The Princess Who Kissed the Frog, The Little Mermaid & Hua Mulan

One More Happ’ly Ever After (Reprise) – Company

 

Cast

Creative Team

Multimedia

N'Jeri Nicholson as The Princess Who Kissed The Frog sings "Finally"
Amie Dasher as Cinderella from "All I Want to Do is Eat"
Jennifer Jones as Sleeping Beauty performs "Perfect"
Kai Stidham as The Little Mermaid performs "All I Want to Do is Eat"
Nicely "Disenchanted!" Princesses Perform "Finally"
Mary Magyari as Snow White in "The Princess Complex"
Lexa Maxa as Pochahontas in "The Princess Complex"
Alexa Carollo goes "Insane" as Belle
Cat Menzies as Hua Mulan reflects on her story

Multimedia

MANY THANKS

Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit

The Berman Center for the Performing Arts

Frankel Jewish Academy

University of Michigan-Flint

St. Dunstan's Theatre Guild

Birmingham Village Players

Carolyn Koblin

Sarah Winkler

Detroit Public Theatre

Leslie Andrews

Lauren Carroll

Michelle Carroll

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Join us on March 27, 28 & 29 for our collaboration with Ghost Light Productions for the Obsidian Theatre Festival, a three-day celebration of Black stories featuring the work of emerging Black artists. Learn more at obsidianfest.org.