Sunday, June 27, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Encore!
I've now had four Encore rehearsals, two with my section leaders and two with the full orchestra. I am totally blown away by the talent that is in this group and the production that is planned for this August!
In total, there are 101 musicians in the orchestra and 300+ in the choir. We also have a troupe of dancers and models that will be part of the show this summer. The show is called Dream Our Dreams! (with an exclamation point, or course), and is a musical tribute to the legacy of Disney. The show opens with Let the Magic, Music, and Mayhem Begin from our new fireworks spectacular at Magic Kingdom, A Dream is a Wish and Circle of Life, at which point the orchestra will be dramatically revealed to the audience. We continue on into Dreams of Love, which includes Can You Feel The Love Tonight, Bella Notte, He's A Tramp (can only be described as "hot"), and You'll Be In My Heart. We segue into Dreams of Fantasy, which includes That's How You Know from Enchanted. I Put A Spell On You from Hocus Pocus plunges us into Dreams of Darkness, which also includes This Is Halloween, Grim Grinning Ghosts, Poor Unfortunate Souls, and Be Prepared. We have a brief intermission, then jump start the second act with music from Pirates of the Caribbean and Dreams of Adventure, which also includes music from The Princess and the Frog, Tarzan, Hercules, Mulan, and Pocahontas. We then have Dreams of Family (my favorite from there is Shadowland from the Broadway version of The Lion King), and finally Dreams of Discovery, which includes many themes from Future World attractions at Epcot.
The finale of the show is Dream Our Dreams, which actually came from an unpopular parade that ran at Disneyland for all of ten weeks back in the 90's. The music itself is really cool though, we get to rock out and fiddle the theme from the Main Street Electrical Parade.
The rehearsals are a lot of fun, but very long. It's tough to sit upright with a violin for three hours every week. It's a fun group to work with, we have two keyboardists that crack jokes all night long, loud enough for me to hear but out of our conductor's range. Most of the musicians don't play for Disney, they have regular day jobs in the parks just like me. This orchestra provides a great venue for all of this creative talent to be unleashed! I cannot wait to see how this show is going to turn out.
ADDENDUM: Kyle is my stand partner. He's pretty cool. But he really needs to replace his A string, it's bringing the whole orchestra down.
In total, there are 101 musicians in the orchestra and 300+ in the choir. We also have a troupe of dancers and models that will be part of the show this summer. The show is called Dream Our Dreams! (with an exclamation point, or course), and is a musical tribute to the legacy of Disney. The show opens with Let the Magic, Music, and Mayhem Begin from our new fireworks spectacular at Magic Kingdom, A Dream is a Wish and Circle of Life, at which point the orchestra will be dramatically revealed to the audience. We continue on into Dreams of Love, which includes Can You Feel The Love Tonight, Bella Notte, He's A Tramp (can only be described as "hot"), and You'll Be In My Heart. We segue into Dreams of Fantasy, which includes That's How You Know from Enchanted. I Put A Spell On You from Hocus Pocus plunges us into Dreams of Darkness, which also includes This Is Halloween, Grim Grinning Ghosts, Poor Unfortunate Souls, and Be Prepared. We have a brief intermission, then jump start the second act with music from Pirates of the Caribbean and Dreams of Adventure, which also includes music from The Princess and the Frog, Tarzan, Hercules, Mulan, and Pocahontas. We then have Dreams of Family (my favorite from there is Shadowland from the Broadway version of The Lion King), and finally Dreams of Discovery, which includes many themes from Future World attractions at Epcot.
The finale of the show is Dream Our Dreams, which actually came from an unpopular parade that ran at Disneyland for all of ten weeks back in the 90's. The music itself is really cool though, we get to rock out and fiddle the theme from the Main Street Electrical Parade.
The rehearsals are a lot of fun, but very long. It's tough to sit upright with a violin for three hours every week. It's a fun group to work with, we have two keyboardists that crack jokes all night long, loud enough for me to hear but out of our conductor's range. Most of the musicians don't play for Disney, they have regular day jobs in the parks just like me. This orchestra provides a great venue for all of this creative talent to be unleashed! I cannot wait to see how this show is going to turn out.
ADDENDUM: Kyle is my stand partner. He's pretty cool. But he really needs to replace his A string, it's bringing the whole orchestra down.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Mischief Managed
June Excitement
A lot of the last two weeks has been business as usual, but I still have some exciting things to report on:
My friend Sam J visited WDW the first week of June. He was one of my first friends who really shared my same affinity for the Disney Parks, not to mention an endless barrage of trivia tidbits. I'm glad he was able to visit, it's always fun park-hopping with seasoned pros!
Last week I was fortunate enough to get a Wishes shift in Fantasyland, as a "castle guard" for the fireworks. Because there are many pyrotechnics that launch from the castle and the rooftops in Fantasyland that supplement the big ones out back, the immediate area is cleared out about an hour before each show so that the cannons can be inspected and tested. This poses a challenge for guests who are coming in and out of Cinderella's Royal Table, which is located inside the castle. My job was to stay under the back archway of the castle and direct guests safely to and from the restaurant while the testing was going on. Of course nobody can walk out there when the show is going on, so a couple minutes before the show we held all guests in the castle breezeway. I think they were disappointed that they were stuck there, but they actually had a really "up-close and personal" view of the show, and I got to chat with several princesses-in-training while we were waiting for clearance from the pyro team. I would take that shift over a parade shift any day.
The pirates take over Cinderella Castle during the new Summer Nightastic! fireworks at the Magic Kingdom
I also got to Emergency Stop the ride a few days ago when a kid was jumping from car to car. Because he had gotten out of the vehicle, we had to run into the ride to find him. I think he could have been ejected from the park for what he did, but after we talked to him he seemed a little intimidated and was willing to cooperate. I just felt bad for the people who were stuck on other vehicles in the ride and had to listen to One Little Spark for five extra minutes!
Other excitement includes my first Encore rehearsals and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter! I will create separate entries for these soon.
My friend Sam J visited WDW the first week of June. He was one of my first friends who really shared my same affinity for the Disney Parks, not to mention an endless barrage of trivia tidbits. I'm glad he was able to visit, it's always fun park-hopping with seasoned pros!
Last week I was fortunate enough to get a Wishes shift in Fantasyland, as a "castle guard" for the fireworks. Because there are many pyrotechnics that launch from the castle and the rooftops in Fantasyland that supplement the big ones out back, the immediate area is cleared out about an hour before each show so that the cannons can be inspected and tested. This poses a challenge for guests who are coming in and out of Cinderella's Royal Table, which is located inside the castle. My job was to stay under the back archway of the castle and direct guests safely to and from the restaurant while the testing was going on. Of course nobody can walk out there when the show is going on, so a couple minutes before the show we held all guests in the castle breezeway. I think they were disappointed that they were stuck there, but they actually had a really "up-close and personal" view of the show, and I got to chat with several princesses-in-training while we were waiting for clearance from the pyro team. I would take that shift over a parade shift any day.
I also got to Emergency Stop the ride a few days ago when a kid was jumping from car to car. Because he had gotten out of the vehicle, we had to run into the ride to find him. I think he could have been ejected from the park for what he did, but after we talked to him he seemed a little intimidated and was willing to cooperate. I just felt bad for the people who were stuck on other vehicles in the ride and had to listen to One Little Spark for five extra minutes!
Other excitement includes my first Encore rehearsals and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter! I will create separate entries for these soon.
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