Tangled: The Musical, exclusive to the Magic in Disney Cruise Line’s Fleet, debuted last November and I had an opportunity to see the production, talk with the designers, and step into The Snuggly Duckling as the ship was in dock in Miami.
At an hour long, only 40 minutes shorter than the movie, Tangled: The Musical is a visually stunning production that brings the beloved animated world to life with just as much heart with three new songs created just for this show.
The show stays true to the storyline from the hit feature film—with a few special twists to create a live stage production—featuring favorite characters like Rapunzel, Flynn Rider, the villainous Mother Gothel and Maximus the guard horse.
The story follows the thrilling adventure of Rapunzel as she escapes the confines of her tower and the clutches of Mother Gothel, who wishes to shield the secret of Rapunzel’s magical golden tresses and royal roots. Rapunzel strikes up an unlikely friendship with the suave, crown-stealing bandit Flynn Rider, and together they face ruffians, thugs and a budding romance on a hair-raising journey filled with classic Disney playfulness and whimsy that will delight audiences of all ages.
The amazing composer Alan Menken and lyricist Glenn Slater returned to pen the three new songs and to add musicality to the flow of Tangled: The Musical.
The three new songs are “Flower of Gold” which opens the show with a look at the birth and abduction of Rapunzel, “Wanted Man” gives us a closer look at who Flynn Rider is, and my favorite “When The Princess Returns” is set in the Kingdom of Corona and captures the spirit of just how much Rapunzel was loved and the optimism & hope surrounding her hopeful return.
In addition to new melodies you will also experience favorite songs from the movie, including “When Will My Life Begin,” “Mother Knows Best,” “I’ve Got a Dream”, and the Grammy Award-winning ballad “I See the Light” that will bring you to tears.
The production is full of beautiful costumes, puppetry that will have you wondering how they bring Maximus to life, and sets that transport you from the Walt Disney Theatre & immerse you in the world of Tangled.
Disney assembled an all-star creative team to develop this extravagant production, and having the chance to talk with them only made me appreciate Tangled: The Musical more.
Master puppet designer Michael Curry, whose extraordinary creations are featured in Disney’s Tony Award-winning musical “The Lion King” on Broadway, has created a new standard and level of puppetry in Maximus blending craftsmanship with the comedic abilities of the actor to create this sassy character who is the mane.
During our time on the Magic, we got to hear from the two of the show’s designers.
Tony Award-winning designer Paloma Young joined the team to create the beautiful and vibrant costumes. While the inspiration for the costumes came from a ‘natural place’ with flower iconography and natural textures, Paloma had a personal inspiration for Rapunzel that you might not expect.
I’ve been calling her the ‘Pinterest Princess’, in that she has so much energy and creativity. And she paints, she bakes, she braids her hair in all sorts of different ways, and is sort of this contemporary idea. You can just imagine Rapunzel’s Pinterest Board with things like ‘Today this is how I painted the lanterns’, so I was inspired by both Folk Craft and contemporary interpretation of Folk Craft.
So for total funsies, I felt it was necessary to create my own Tangled Pinterest Board!
Bradley Kay is the Senior Art Designer of Tangled: The Musical, and he spoke on the process of bringing Tangled to life on stage.
When I got the script I went back to the source material. To Bavaria, the forrest, the palace, the scope of the area, the lanterns, and really all the elements and how we could adapt that to bring the show to the stage so we aren’t lifting and repeating the film and make it much more theatrical.
With that we started looking at the carvings and the paint styles.
This is Rapunzel and this is Rapunzel’s view of her world, so we started off very rigid from the moment you enter the Tower. But when we get to her it gets soft and fluid reflecting her murals and paintings. Then once we go out of the Tower with her, I tried to go through her eyes where everything is even more soft and fluid with no straight lines in the entire set.
The Tangled fun doesn’t stop there at O’Gills Pub has been taken over by Thugs for the night, and you can sling a mug at The Snuggly Duckling.
I was bowled over by tith clever details from the movie and touches inspired by the regulars of The Snuggly Duckling! I mean…who WOULDN’T want to play a game of THUGO!
In the main dining rooms of the Magic, you will also find two desserts from The Snuggly Duckling.
I really enjoyed my time with Disney Cruise Line on the Disney Magic to see Tangled: The Musical, and I have my fingers crossed that I will get to experience a full sailing one day!
You can find more pictures from my time on the Disney Magic to experience the ship and Tangled: The Musical on our Facebook Page.
For more information about the sailings of the Disney Magic, check out the Disney Cruise line website.
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