Last Saturday, nine Oberlin Music Theater fourth-year students livened up Tappan Square with their “Disney in the Park” performance. The program consisted of twelve songs from nine different shows: Beauty and the Beast, Newsies, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Frozen, The Lion King, High School Musical, Anastasia, and Mary Poppins. The performances included a mix of ensemble numbers, solos, and a couple duets.
A moderately-sized audience filled Tappan Square the day of the event, where Firelands Association for the Visual Arts’ Art Fair in the Square was simultaneously being held. The audience consisted primarily of Music Theater majors, along with some families from the Oberlin community with young children. Considering the Disney repertoire and the short run time, the event seemed geared toward younger audiences.
Energetically running up to the bandstand, the students immediately got into formation to perform “Be Our Guest,” demonstrating great synergy with each other through characterization and choreography. This group performance was then followed up by a series of solos and duets. Out of all the solos, Reese Henrick’s performance of “I Want the Good Times Back” from The Little Mermaid, and Tobias Yeung’s rendition of “Summer” from Frozen stood out for their captivating audience engagement. Both Henrick and Yeung made their way down to the front row, making direct eye contact with audience members and incorporating them into their characterized movements. Similarly, Elliot Block brought “Head in the Game” from High School Musical alive with the use of a basketball, showcasing his dribbling skills.
Despite the students’ impressive performances, the event was lacking in production elements, making it potentially less engaging for families. Performers wore neither costumes nor traditional concert attire, but instead an array of identical “Oberlin Music Theater” t-shirts. Live pianist and Assistant Professor of Music Theater Matthew Webb brought atmosphere and pizazz to the stage, accompanying each of the student performers, but the focus on Disney’s Broadway shows, as opposed to more standard tunes from the movies, may have been less engaging to the younger attendants. The first two solos were from the Broadway version of Newsies, and later in the program, we heard songs from The Little Mermaid and Aladdin that only appear in their stage adaptations. Additionally, there was no repertoire from recent Disney movies for the kids in the crowd who have a greater connection with the music of Moana or Encanto than with Disney’s golden age. Despite this, on some of the more familiar numbers like “Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” performer Justin Lee-Price got audiences to sway their arms, and with the finale of Mary Poppin’s “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” audiences were clapping along.
Still, the event as a whole was enjoyed by many and set the stage well for the upcoming season of Music Theater productions.
