Wednesday, November 16, 2011

THE MAGIC IS COMING TO NEW YORK: Disney Cruise Line takes Broadway to the high seas

They make it look so easy.

They sing. They dance. They recite their lines and hit their marks, even as hydraulic lifts rise up and down within inches of their feet and the boat occasionally sways ever so slightly to and fro, making for sometimes unsteady underpinnings.

And one lucky performer gets to do all this while wearing a 55-pound, Swarovski crystal-studded Cinderella gown.

On the Disney Magic’s eight-night Bahamian cruises out of New York next year, a talented cast of 30 singers and dancers will take part in four different stage productions in front of packed houses in the grand Walt Disney Theatre.  Read More...

Limited Broadway Run for Disney’s ‘Newsies’

In a break from its traditionally lavish approach to Broadway, Disney Theatrical Productions announced plans on Tuesday to mount a low-budget, three-month run of its new show “Newsies the Musical” in New York this spring, limiting its financial risk after two costly flops.



This new entry for the Broadway season, which so far has a thin lineup of original musicals, is a fast move by a company that usually prepares productions years in advance. Disney is known for planning and spending many millions of dollars on Broadway musicals, like its current hits “The Lion King” and “Mary Poppins,” and on major advertising campaigns aimed at laying the groundwork for long runs in New York and future national and international tours. Read More...

Apple Names Levinson Chairman, Disney’s Bob Iger to Board

Nov. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. beefed up its board by appointing Art Levinson as chairman, filling a vacancy left by the death of Steve Jobs, and adding Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Officer Robert Iger as a director.




Levinson, on Apple’s board since 2000, becomes non- executive chairman, the Cupertino, California-based company said yesterday in a statement.



Adding Iger may cement ties to Disney, on whose board Jobs had a seat, and may ensure that Apple retains access to the entertainment company’s TV shows and movies, said Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray Cos. Levinson’s appointment lets Tim Cook concentrate on being CEO without the added responsibility of being chairman, he said.  Read More...