New Orleans Square came alive with the sounds of jazz as “Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee” premiered at Disneyland on Friday.
The 20-minute show is tied to Disney’s upcoming animated movie “The Princess and the Frog” and will play four times daily at the park through Jan. 3.
The show combines three types of entertainment found at the theme park – street entertainment, a small parade and a musical review.
Carla Carlile, the show’s director, said Randy Newman, who composed the music for the film, developed some of the original concepts for the live show then Carlile’s team took over.
The show starts with nearly two-dozen performers, including the characters of Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen, parading through the streets of New Orleans Square. The troupe winds its way to the shoreline of the Rivers of America and onto the riverboat dock where they board the Mark Twain Steamboat.
Once all are on-board, the paddle wheeler leaves the dock and floats out in front of New Orleans Square while the performers sing and dance to four new songs from the film. Guests can be aboard the Mark Twain with them.
“We try to bring it (the movie) to life here in the park,” Carlile said.
After the finale, the river boat continues around the Rivers of America. When it docks, the troupe parades back through New Orleans Square, ending up in a courtyard where park guests can meet and have their photos taken with Princess Tiana.
“The Princess and the Frog” premieres with a limited release in the Los Angeles area on Nov. 25, with a wide release Dec. 11.
“When approaching a theme character, please make sure you stand in front of them, they have extremely poor visibility in most cases and will not see you if you are out of there direct line of site. They do not mean to seem rude to anyone and are more than polite in all cases. It’s just really hard to see what is not right in front of you,” wrote Around Disney reader OC Mommy.
