Disney songs filled the McKay Auditorium and sea-witch Ursula cursed the performers at the Broadway Cabaret performances on Nov. 13 and 14.
After being cursed, the men became women and the women became men. Alpha Harper, whose regular job is the costume seamstress, was also needed to fill one of the roles. The cast recruited her for the performances to become their fairy godmother that saved the show by switching them back to their original genders.
The student performers created the story and selected all Disney songs to tell that story, said Spencer Grubbe, a junior from Oregon studying music.
The performance took flight with “You Can Fly” from “Peter Pan.” At the conclusion of this number, a male version of Ursula played by BYUH alumnus Pononui Cabrinha, came sauntering down the aisle singing part of “Poor Unfortunate Souls,” from “The Little Mermaid” when she stole Ariel's voice. Instead of stealing the princes’ and princesses’ voices on stage, he switched them. For the few musical numbers after, the men sang and acted the women’s part and the women sang and acted the men’s part.
“Be a man!” sang all the women in unison, plus a male Mulan in the group. The performance took an unexpected turn when female Shang and male Mulan started fighting with their staffs. At the first blow in Friday’s performance, Mulan’s staff broke in two with a loud crack, and muffled conversations could be heard in the audience as they tried to figure out if that was staged or not.
Upon asking Grubbe, who acted as the Genie in “Aladdin,” he enthusiastically explained how it was not a part of the planned performance. Even though Mulan had the disadvantage of having two short sticks instead of one long staff during the Friday performance, he still beat Shang.
Logan Romrell, a sophomore from Texas studying psychology who came to support Grubbe, expressed how something unexpected like this also happened in the performance of “Mary Poppins” she watched earlier this year. “It made it more entertaining because they played off the unexpected event throughout the performance.”
After the women became “men” and the male muses convinced male Meg to fall in love with the buff, female HERculese, they were all changed back into their original roles and genders with a wave of a wand and “Bibbidi-bobbidy-boo” sang by Harper as the fairy godmother.
The show continued with other songs, including a collection from “Aladdin” which was Romrell’s favorite part of the performance. She said she felt the performers energy and the magic as she watched from the audience. That is what keeps her coming back to Broadway Cabaret’s concerts, she said.
During intermission, the audience participated in a Disney Trivia contest. What was the first item the merchants offered Jasmine when she went to the market in disguise? This question stumped nearly the entire audience. It was a clay pot. For participating and answering correctly, audience members got candy and prizes.
Julia Lowell, a junior from California studying biology, said she was invited to the performance by her friend. Prior to the performance she said, “I’m hoping to have a good time,” and she said her hope became a reality by the time intermission came.
After intermission, songs from “The Lion King” were featured and the performers were turned this time into animals. By the end of the performance a wishing star from the fairy godmother given to the emcee, restores the cast to their human forms.
The finale featured Director Michael Belnap singing a solo of “When You Wish Upon A Star” with cast members singing back up and Stacey McCarrey on the piano. “I heard about this event from a teacher,” said Kahea Hiapo, a sophomore from Arizona in the biomedical program. She said her childhood was filled with Disney music, which was another factor that drew her to the event.