Disenchanted
Disenchanted Book, Music and Lyrics by Dennis T Giacino
Florida Theatrical Association
Presenting at The Abbey, Orlando FL</strong>
Maybe this is the show. Maybe this is the show that breaks out of the Orlando Fringe and becomes the next “Urinetown” or “[title of show].” It’s got the legs, both literally and figuratively. We meet the Princesses of Disney, stripped of their wussy little girl persona and turned into post-feminist, post-modernist, and post-lesbian anti-heroes. The leader of the pack is powerful Snow White (Michelle Knight), with her operatic power she hits those High C Over Disney land notes and in “One More Happily Ever After” she pushed The Abbey’s already overdriven audio system over its acoustic edge. If you’ve seen earlier version of this show, there are some significant changes. The minor deities have been eliminates or promoted with Cinderella (Breanne) as the ditz who finds her inner strength, and Sleeping Beauty (Hannah Berry-Mathews) as the earth mother type. Backing them are outrageous Andre Canny covering the loony Belle and the drunk-on-oxygen Little Mermaid. Lulu Picart is the crowd favorite Hua Mulan and her half-sister Pocahontas in her leather fringed miniskirt. Shonda L Thurman is a hysterical Rapunzel as well as the Frog Kissing Princess Who Has No Name. These are some of the strongest female voices we have in this town.
The music comes from a live band; there are rim shots and a kicking bass line and some third wall breaking between the band and Snow White. Sets are glorious, the undersea rig for “Two Legs” is complete with a shell themed Port-o-let. The strongest songs are still the same, Belle’s “Insane”, Shonda’s “Not V’one Red Cent” sung in dirndl drag, and the ensemble “Finally”. The only complaint I’ll offer is the sound system is driven too hard, the microphones tended to feed back and the overdriven sound diminished the quality of the singes voices. Hopefully they can turn the amps down to 9, and you can catch this gem as it preps for the big time on Broadway.
For other events at The Abbey, visit http://abbeyorlando.com
For more information on “Disenchanted” please visit www.disenchantedmusical.com</em>
