On the Record (musical)

On the Record (sometimes referred to as Disney's On the Record) is a jukebox musical revue featuring many classic songs from a variety of live action and animated films and television series produced by Walt Disney Pictures, Broadway musical plays produced by Walt Disney Theatrical, and even Disneyland attractions. This theatrical celebration of 75 years of Disney music tells the story of four singers recording a greatest hits album in a magical recording studio. After opening in Cleveland in 2004, the production toured for nine months, visiting 24 cities in the United States before closing in Denver in mid 2005.

Following the successful stage productions of Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and Aida, Walt Disney Theatrical began to brainstorm a way to showcase Disney's wide catalogue of songs without the use of a movie screen to present them. The result was When You Wish, a new revue that, though intended to ultimately to play on Broadway, failed to make it past the workshop stage, despite having Tony Award winning actress Faith Prince attached to the project. On the Record, which would tell a very simple story of four recording artists in a studio. Though the developers of the production originally planned to create more complex characters and greater tension between them in the studio, they instead eventually "watered down" the plot for more general revue entertainment, In its 36 week tour, On the Record was performed for over 350,000 people, opening on November 19, 2004 at Cleveland, Ohio's Palace Theater and closing July 31, 2005 at Denver, Colorado's Denver Center for the Performing Arts. While the production was originally planned to run through September 4, after playing to disappointing, small audiences, the production ultimately decided on an earlier closing date after only two months on the road. There are currently no plans for either Equity or non Equity licensing of the production. though Nick initially denies any attraction. Meanwhile, Julian attempts to rekindle an apparent ex relationship with Diane but is often interrupted by his unrequited love's flirtation with the younger talent. As the show comes to an end, though, Diane comes back to Julian, remembering how precious their time together had once been. Nick, in turn, learns to embrace love and professes that he will always be there for Kristen.

Musical numbers in On the Record are performed by the previously mentioned four principal characters, as well as a separate, unnamed quartet, and an eight member orchestra. While the show is often advertised as a collection of 64 Disney songs, there are actually 71, Under the musical adaptation and arrangement by David Chase, songs also take different twists on their original counterparts from film or stage. "Be Our Guest" especially drifts from the original film version in that it is sung in a surplus of different languages. Julian sings a portion of the song in French, Diane sings in German, Kristen sings in Japanese, Nick sings in Swedish, and the company sings other portions in English and other languages. "The Work Song", however, hardly drifts from the original version at all, digitally altering the characters' voices to imitate those of Cinderella's mice. The songs are grouped into 15 recording sessions, as well as a prologue, finale, and a collection of instrumentals played after curtain call as the audience exits the theater, with each section's songs holding a unifying theme. Some sessions contain themes such as falling in love,

Released to stores on March 15, 2005, the cast recording, featuring the entire original cast, excluding Emily Skinner and including Kaitlin Hopkins, received decent reviews. Produced by Walt Disney Records, the two disc set with a total of 45 tracks was mostly acclaimed for the talent of the cast and the timelessness of the Disney favorites. Because the show contains very little dialogue, the two discs are a recording of nearly the entire show. Furthermore, since the show's plot involves the characters recording an album of Disney's greatest hits, the cast album is effectively the resulting compilation.

[[File:On the Record Ashley Brown. jpg|thumb|upright|In the revue, Ashley Brown, starring as the ingénue Kristen, sings two of Alan Menken's pop ballads: "Part of Your World", "A Change in Me", and Matthew Wilders' "Reflection". felt that the eight member cast was talented. After completing her run as Belle on May 28, 2006, Brown opened the Broadway production of Mary Poppins on November 16, 2006, in the title role — a performance which earned her a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Musical. Brown ended her Broadway run on October 5, 2008, but subsequently returned to the role, opening the North American national tour of Mary Poppins in Chicago on March 25, 2009. Meredith Inglesby, who served as a member of the quartet and as Diane's understudy, also found success with Disney Theatrical Productions, landing the roles of Babette the feather duster in the same production of Beauty and the Beast and later, Carlotta in the Broadway production of The Little Mermaid. She can be seen as Hannah in the North American tour of Newsies. Also, Tyler Maynard of the quartet has gone on to work with Walt Disney Theatrical, both in Mary Poppins as Valentine and, subsequently, in The Little Mermaid as Flotsam.