Disney theme parks are famous for their live entertainment. When Walt himself opened Disneyland in 1955 a cavalcade of his colorful characters paraded through the grounds of the park. It is a tradition that continues to this day in California but over at Disney World in Orlando the sparkle has begun to wear off.
Long before the pandemic began, Disney put the brakes on night time parades in its four Orlando theme parks and when their doors swung open after lockdown there were other notable omissions.
Voyage of the Little Mermaid, which had been playing since 1992, has been on hiatus since the movie-themed Hollywood Studios park re-opened in 2020. Disney doesn’t usually miss an opportunity to leverage its assets so it’s particularly surprising that the show has sunk without a trace as it could have been used to promote the live action remake of the Little Mermaid which was released in May.
Night time arena show Fantasmic only opened in Hollywood Studios in November last year whilst the futuristic Epcot park and the fairytale-themed Magic Kingdom got new performances which were panned.
They debuted in late 2021 as part of Disney World’s 50th anniversary celebration but were both replaced in April this year. The flagship was the Magic Kingdom’s Disney Enchantment fireworks and projection mapping show. Despite celebrating a landmark anniversary, the show mainly consisted of scenes from newer movies which were beamed onto the park’s centerpiece castle.
“Rather than trying to balance the nostalgia of longtime fans with the expectations of casual guests, the new Magic Kingdom nighttime spectacular seems to actively repudiate sentimentality,” wrote one visitor. “It leans heavily on animated movies from the last decade, including many that are far from classics. It’s essentially the antithesis of an anniversary show.”
Ironically, it replaced Happily Ever After, a show which seemed more nostalgic and, crucially, had a cohesive story. In contrast, another visitor said that Enchantment “feels like it was rushed. The result is sloppy. The story, and that’s using the term loosely, is a clip show that jumps from movie to movie without any real connecting themes.”
It was described as a “bootleg Happily Ever After” so Disney did the only sensible thing and brought its predecessor back. It appeased fans but was hardly an innovative solution.
That certainly can’t be said of Harmonious, Disney’s attempt to reinvent night time entertainment at Epcot. Harmonious had even bigger boots to fill than Enchantment as it replaced IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth, which debuted in 1999 making it one of the longest-running shows in Disney theme park history.
Whilst Illuminations was famous for a rousing score by classical composer Gavin Greenaway, Harmonious, like Enchantment, largely consisted of a series of clips from Disney cartoons with little story stringing them together. The clips were projected onto a screen of fine mist sprayed from huge arched steel structures moored in the middle of Epcot’s lagoon. It was an unusual and unsightly development. Critics complained that the structures spoiled the views in the park and were not worth this sacrifice given the low calibre of the content shown on the screens.
Fans rejoiced when the arches were removed and Harmonious was replaced with the more simplistic EPCOT Forever interim show. Harmonious “was just not good or engaging…Poorly paced, too much video content, it all felt like a commercial, not an actual show…The visible equipment exacerbated the issues,” said one critic. Another described it as “a clip show, where all the segments are disjointed and interchangeable to boot. That is unfortunately the modern nighttime show design style.”
Disney will have to buck that trend to avoid a repeat of this debacle as the permanent successor to Harmonious will debut in December. Last week Disney announced that it will be called Luminous: The Symphony of Us and will feature fireworks, fountains, lasers, lighting effects and music. This time it isn’t taking any chances.
Two weeks ago Disney signalled that the entertainment at its Orlando outpost is set to get a heavy sprinkling of pixie dust. The Mouse announced that Disney World’s new vice president of live entertainment would be David Duffy, a bearded Nebraska-native who has been with the company for 33 years.
Duffy started his career as a performing artist at Disney World whilst also working as an actor in commercials and television shows. In 1996, he became a show director and designer in the production team, where he worked on beloved entertainment including Cinderellabration and the Spirit of Aloha dining experience.
He was then promoted to the position of creative director for Disney Cruise Line which was followed by a stint in the same slot at Disneyland. This led to him getting an even wider remit as an executive producer for Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, where he was responsible for the development and production of global entertainment offerings. His achievements included working on the development of the Frozen – Live stage show at California Adventure as well as the opening ceremony of the Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout ride in the same park and the inauguration of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland next door.
However, his long track record and tremendous talent aren’t the only reasons why his appointment at Disney World made waves. Since November 2020 Duffy has been vice president of live entertainment at Disneyland Paris which has long been seen as the crown jewel in Disney’s live entertainment portfolio. This tradition dates back to the resort’s opening day when it was home to Mickey’s Magic Book, a show unlike any other that Disney had ever produced. Sitting on a stage next to Sleeping Beauty’s castle, the centerpiece of the show was a huge book which had pages that actually turned and fairytale backgrounds that sprung up from them like an actual pop-up book.
Since then Disneyland Paris has launched Mickey and the Magician, an indoor stage show which is running to this day and sees colorful characters gatecrashing scenes from some of the Mouse’s most famous movies. The magic in its name is far from a frivolity as the production features tricks created by Paul Kieve who consulted on the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban movie. Thanks to his handiwork, guests leave the show wondering how Cinderella disappears when she is wrapped in a carpet and how a levitating box could contain a six foot singing and dancing genie.
High-tech touches are embedded in the ornate set. There’s a broomstick which appears to brush on its own and a lifelike moving model of Lumière, the talking candlestick from Beauty and the Beast. Its special effects, catchy tune, lavish sets and spellbinding synchronized musical sets led to the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) awarding the show its prestigious Brass Ring in 2016.
Following this was no mean feat but Disneyland Paris did just that in 2019 when it raised the curtain on The Lion King: Rhythms of the Pride Lands. With a width of 40 meters, its stage is the biggest ever built at Disneyland Paris and this helps to convey the sprawling scale of the savannah. It is dotted with circular wooden platforms at different levels giving them the impression of a mini mountain range. Jets of smoke erupt from some of them, poles are attached to others for acrobats to swing on and one opens up so that some of the performers can make a surprise entrance.
Projections on the screen behind the stage transform it from a steamy savannah to a starry sky and a jungle whilst acrobats soar around on bungee ropes and others perform a surreal dance inside giant coils suspended from the ceiling. The music is a blend of stage and screen and includes new renditions of the classic tunes. Adding to the air of a Broadway show, they are all sung live and played by a band on one of the wooden platforms.
A total of 200 singers, 500 dancers and 100 acrobats auditioned to be amongst the 70 artists in the show. The lucky candidates include performers with backgrounds on Broadway, London’s West End and the celebrated Théâtre Mogador in Paris. They come from 11 countries but didn’t need to learn many lines to take part. Cleverly, the show only has a small amount of dialogue so that it can be understood by the international audience which visits Disneyland Paris.
Every year the resort auditions more than 11,000 people to take part in its shows but only a small percentage of them get through. In an interview before his departure from Disneyland Paris was announced, Duffy told us that he has “a team of nearly 2,000 entertainment professionals working together to bring the magic to life every day of the year.”
Over nearly three years, Duffy has made his mark on Paris by driving forward the development of its innovative Disney D-Light show which featured drones for the first time in a Disney theme park. As we have reported, this technology has since been expanded to showcase Marvel Comics characters and just last month Disneyland Paris announced that next year drones will be used in a new show to draw animated parade floats in the air.
Duffy also leaves a legacy on the ground too as he was the mastermind behind the highly successful Disneyland Paris 30th anniversary celebration, which won an IAAPA Brass Ring award for the most creative event. At the heart of it is a parade-show hybrid called Dream… and Shine Brighter featuring characters in costumes which have a multi-color iridescent shimmer.
The end result is so impressive that Robb Alvey, founder of Theme Park Review, the world’s leading theme park and roller coaster review site, said that “Dream & Shine Brighter > most new attractions”. The Mouse’s big cheese Bob Iger is another fan. On a trip to Disneyland Paris in March he was pictured smiling as he stood side-by-side with Duffy watching a performance of Dream… and Shine Brighter.
Duffy has even been involved with the hotels at Disneyland Paris. Their staff are called Cast Members due to their roles in a themed environment and one of the grandest of them all is the pink Victorian palace which stands at the entrance to the fairytale-themed Disneyland Park. Naturally named the Disneyland Hotel, it is currently nearing the end of a renovation and Disneyland Paris announced today that when it reopens in January next year it will be home to ‘La Troupe Royale’, a group of performers who will entertain guests with royal storytelling.
Duffy told us how he was involved with the “review of new costumes for the Cast Members that will be working at the soon-to-reopen Disneyland Hotel” and added that “the biggest challenge is something that also makes it exciting – we live in a time with an amazing amount of incredible creative content being produced. Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, Disney – the most popular and beloved movies and shows in the world are all a part of our Disney family. Having the ongoing conversation of how we create experiences for our guests that bring all of these different stories to life is both exciting and challenging.” He won’t be short of assistance in his new role.
According to the April listing for Duffy’s job at Disney World, he will be responsible to the resort’s senior vice president of operations and will report directly to the vice president, live entertainment North America. He will also have to provide leadership, oversight, and direction to a team of 500 individuals and, as he revealed to us, he has a magic formula for managing them.
Why did you choose a job in the theme park industry?
From a very young age, I remember being fascinated with the world of ‘created environments.’ Whether it was an animal habitat at the children’s zoo in my hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska, or the display of dinosaurs at the University of Nebraska natural history museum, I was always fascinated by the environments that were created and how they helped tell a story. I also grew up watching The Wonderful World of Disney every Sunday night and loved to see the worlds created by Disney. Then, for my fifth birthday, my mom and dad took me to a show called ‘Disney on Parade’ where Disney stories and characters came to life. That was it – immersive storytelling became my passion.
What was the career path that you took to get here?
I was a theatre major at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln – where I now proudly serve on the fine arts advisory board – and I knew that I would have to leave Lincoln to pursue my dreams of a life in entertainment. I started at Walt Disney World Resort in the Disney College Program for one summer, and after graduation I decided to move to Florida to pursue a career with Disney and as an actor. I was very lucky to quickly get a job as an actor in the theme parks in Florida, while also doing television, commercials and live theatre in Orlando. That was the beginning of my now 33-year journey with The Walt Disney Company.
What does a typical day involve?
The great thing about this job is there really isn’t a typical day. In general, every day involves engagement with many different teams. It could be a creative review for a new experience we’re creating or a budget work session or a review of new costumes for the Cast Members that will be working at the soon-to-reopen Disneyland Hotel. Of course, there is also time spent in the parks actually experiencing with our guests what we create, such as our new Avengers: Power the Night drone show. It’s the incredible range of entertainment here at Disneyland Paris that makes it fun to go to work every day.
What skills do you need to do your job?
In addition to a strong passion for our industry, and mental and physical stamina, I think it is important that you are able to speak many different languages. By this, I don’t mean literal languages – although I am still working on my French every day – but to be able to understand and communicate about technical and financial considerations, creative and theatrical work, marketing, PR and even business strategy. As a leader in this industry, you have to be able to interact with, understand and collaborate with all the members of your team – and here, our team really is pan-European which adds another layer of communication and creativity into the mix. While you may never reach ‘fluency’ in all of those languages, it is important to be able to engage with every area and aspect of the business.
What do you like most about your job?
That is the easiest question – the people. Disney attracts the best of the best in all aspects of what we do. At Disneyland Paris, we work with some of the most amazing theatrical and technical artists in the world. For example, when we were bringing the 30th anniversary celebration to life, we worked with such a creative and spirited team and the result was incredible entertainment like our ‘Dream… and Shine Brighter!’ daytime show. I so enjoy that collaboration with talent that we have here. On a personal note, I’ve also gained deep friendships throughout my career which transcend the work.
What is the highlight of your day?
The fact that every day seems to come with a new priority. Many things we do have years and years of planning behind them. Others, we may only need a few months or even weeks to bring to life. We continuously refresh and expand our entertainment and think outside the box to deliver new experiences. When we were preparing for the opening of Avengers Campus here, we had the chance to create a very distinct experience with immersive entertainment and storytelling. You’ll even see Marvel superheroes appearing on rooftops. How cool is that?
What has been the proudest moment of your career so far?
I feel lucky to say it’s hard to decide. The first thing that comes to mind is when the team here at Disneyland Paris brought the Disney magic back to life after we re-opened following the extended closure. To watch absolutely everyone, in every role, working at the top of their game and giving the work all that they had was truly emotional. It truly took everyone – from performers to front line managers to creative and production teams to technical teams. Everyone figured out the best way to make every guest’s visit special and magical despite the challenging circumstances at that time. It was such a significant moment for all of our Cast Members to come together again.
What is the biggest challenge in your job?
The biggest challenge is something that also makes it exciting – we live in a time with an amazing amount of incredible creative content being produced. Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, Disney – the most popular and beloved movies and shows in the world are all a part of our Disney family. Having the ongoing conversation of how we create experiences for our guests that bring all of these different stories to life is both exciting and challenging, from the littlest ones experiencing Disney classic films for the first time, to those who are maybe visiting us for the first time because they love the Marvel Universe, to fans who have been with us since opening day. We want everyone to find something that speaks to them here. It really feeds our creative thinking having such a standout lineup of franchises to deliver unforgettable memories for our guests.
What advice would you give to someone looking for a job in the theme park industry?
Don’t be afraid to start at the entry level and work your way up. While there are for sure many roles in this industry where you could enter the business at a more senior level, the majority of people working in this industry have followed almost an ‘apprenticeship’ approach, gathering information and learning about all aspects of the business through years of varied experience. That has been my journey, and I know it has served me well.
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