Why does MTW do so many Disney shows? Wichita forms an unlikely connection with NYC

In recent years, Disney musicals have become a staple of Music Theatre Wichita’s summer seasons.

Just over the past two seasons, the company has produced “The Little Mermaid,” “Freaky Friday,” “Newsies” and “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.”

It’s happened so much that it was a slight surprise that no Disney shows would be part of MTW’s recently announced 2019 lineup.

Why has Music Theatre Wichita done so many Disney shows lately?

It’s the culmination of a relationship MTW has built over the past 14 years with the Disney Theatrical Group — which in turn has continued to churn out Broadway stage adaptations of its massive back catalog of films.

“Wayne (Bryan), who’s the captain of the ship, never runs away from a musical,” said David Scott, director of theatrical licensing for Disney Theatrical Group. “We’re able to trust him, from our point of view, because he delivers high-quality productions.”

Pioneering Disney licensing

Before 2004, Disney did not license its material out to anyone not affiliated with Disney.

“Even if you were a daycare and you put a Mickey Mouse outside, you’d get a cease-and-desist order,” joked Wayne Bryan, producing artistic director for MTW.

But in 2004, an adaptation of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” was playing on Broadway and had toured around the country (including in Wichita).

That year, Disney allowed six theaters in the U.S. to mount their own productions of “Beauty and the Beast,” and Music Theatre Wichita was among those six — an “experiment” to see if people other than Disney could do Disney, Scott said.

The six theaters were all at least 90 miles from New York, Orlando and Anaheim, where Disney has a strong presence, and “we were the large, Broadway-sized company,” Bryan said.

“They came to see it, and I don’t know if they expected cardboard cutouts in a corn field somewhere, but they were pretty astounded,” Bryan said.

Because MTW produces all of its own sets and costumes in-house at Century II, it was then able to rent those pieces out to other theaters who were interested in doing the musical but lacked the ability to create original sets and costumes.

In turn, this gives Disney an even greater pool of eligible theaters to license new works out to.

“It goes back to (Bryan) being one of the leaders in the regional theater arena,” Scott said. “When he first tackles material for us ... it allows other people to do that show. It gives them a little bit of a road map on the show.”

Wichita important for Disney

There are a few other reasons Music Theatre Wichita is often pitched new Disney musicals.

Its geographic location “is excellent, because it gives us a sample of a demographic in the middle of the country,” Scott said. Using feedback from Wichita, Disney is able to get a feel for a how a show might play to a wider audience, he said.

“From an institutional point of view, Music Theatre Wichita is kind of like this ... Camelot of musical theater,” he said. “Over the years, they’ve cultivated an audience that is probably one of the most educated audiences — they know about the history of musical theater, they like classics and new things, and they trust what’s going on there.”

In 2011, Music Theatre Wichita was one of only three theaters in the country allowed to do “The Little Mermaid,” which wasn’t particularly well-received on Broadway initially.

Shortly after that, Disney workshopped the musical and premiered a new version — the one currently playing at Century II as part of MTW’s 2018 season.

When Disney considers expanding licensing of a new musical, such as “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” last year, “My Son Pinocchio” in 2015, or “Freaky Friday” this year, MTW is usually one of the first to get a crack at it.

“I think it has to do with, first, just the reputation that they have of doing really high-quality work and putting a lot of care and precision into productions,” Scott said. “It comes down to trust.

“We know (Bryan) is going to do the best he can do with the show, and produce it in the scale and scope of what Music Theatre Wichita does, which is awesome, because it gives other regional theaters an example of how to do that show.”

Scott, who has worked with MTW since 2006, said Wichita also stands out because of the quality of its orchestra.

“They can do any instrumentation of any show, and unfortunately a lot of theaters around the country just can’t afford it — they just don’t have the resources to do the full orchestra of whatever it is,” he said. “At Wichita ... it always sounds perfect.”

This story was originally published August 16, 2018 at 2:15 PM.