When I walked into the auditorium for chorus’ production of “Destination Disney”, it was clear this was not a normal chorus concert. The average age of the audience was significantly younger than usual. Little kids of all ages swarmed the aisles and climbed on the auditorium seats, some occasionally falling and bursting into tears. Many of the kids were dressed in Disney costumes and excitedly awaited the start of the show.
The performance began with the song “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah”. Chorus members walked down all aisles, singing along energetically. It was a great opening and brought on childhood nostalgia for the students and parents in the audience.
The performances following consisted of well-known songs from various Disney movies. The singers dressed up as different Disney characters in accordance to the songs they sang. The show featured many different Disney princesses, including Sleeping Beauty, Ariel, Jasmine, Tiana and Mulan.
The costumes the singers wore were detailed and it was clear that they were well thought-out. During a Beauty and the Beast song there was a singer dressed in a full body tea cup costume. The singers also danced to skillful choreography. During the song “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” from Mulan, performers did some impressive baton twirling.
To create feeling of storytelling, chorus members spoke in between performances about the background of the upcoming song. This part of the show acted as a nice transition and tied all the songs from different movies together.
The only unfortunate part about the Destination Disney performance was the sound. The chorus members who sang in the background were hard to hear. It must have been because the microphone propped in front of the risers could not capture all of the voices singing, but the loud volume of the music tracks really dominated the singing.
The entire show led up to a grand finale of Frozen performances. Megan Griggs made a spectacular Elsa and left everyone in the audience cheering for more. Griggs sang an impressive cover of the well-known song, “Let it Go” and hit some jaw-dropping notes. Elizabeth Malone dressed up as Olaf and sang the Frozen song “In Summer”, which the audience also loved.
After the show, children in the audience had the opportunity to get the Disney characters’ autographs. In all, Destination Disney was a performance that warmed hearts and brought back some great childhood memories for everyone.
