5 Reasons Schools Should Perform “Descendants: The Musical”
by Greg Ehrhardt
“Descendants” is not a household name except for avid Disney Channel fans, parents of Disney tweeners, George Clooney fans, and “Movies set in Hawaii” fans (and for the latter, no this article isn’t about the George Clooney movie, you guys can stop reading, I promise.)
But The Disney movie/musical “Descendants” should be a household name for any families that want to get their kids into musical theatre.
For those hearing of this movie for the first time (I was one as of 3 months ago), “Descendants” is a trilogy that tells the story of the children of famous Disney Villains. These kids, along with their evil parents, have been banished to an island called “Isle of the Lost” due to a spell of the Fairy Godmother. Fairy Godmother, along with other Disney Heroes and their kids, live on an island called “Auradon”, which is ruled by The Beast and Belle, and eventually their son Ben. The movie features four kids of Disney villains: Mal (daughter of Maleficent), Evie (daughter of the Evil Queen in Snow White), Jay (son of Jafar), and Carlos (son of Cruella Deville). They start off reveling in villainy on Isle of the Lost until Ben decides the kids of villains deserve a chance to live the good life with the heroes and brings the 4 title characters over to Auradon to integrate them into their society.
It was conceived as a Disney Channel Movie, so you are not getting Shakespearean acting here, but the pop-style music is written to be catchy (and nothing more), and there’s an abundance of fun dance choreography.
6.6 million viewers and a 90% Rotten Tomato score later, a trilogy was formed, with the capper premiering in August 2019. But as we know, no good IP goes to waste: Disney created an official stage musical version of “Descendants”, and they announced recently it is now available to license and perform at school theatres near you. I read the screenplay (and you can too here); it merges the trilogy into one story, as well as includes songs from all three movies as well.
Unlike other Disney IPs like “Frozen”, “Little Mermaid”, and “Aladdin”, this musical has no business being on Broadway because the material, and the music, is simply too young for the typical Broadway Audience (see exhibits A, B, and C). More importantly, the audience that needs to see this are kids, not adults. And kids should see this in schools so they can fall in love with musicals at an early age.
“The audience that needs to see this are kids, not adults. And kids should see this in schools so they can fall in love with musicals at an early age.”
Yes, you heard me, “Descendants” can hook many kids onto musical theatre and should be at the top of the list for schools.
Here are five reasons why:
1) It has a good, relatable, timely message
The fundamental message of “Descendants” is the sins of the villainous parents are not the sins of their children. Everyone starts innocent and should be judged by their actions and not any related prejudices. No one’s perfect, and anyone can be a hero, warts, and all. It is a great message for the times as schools continue to deal with bullying, and racial prejudices are flaring up again.
2) It’s a blast to perform
a. One thing that jumped out at me watching “Descendants” is the actors looked like they were having a ton of fun, especially during the dance numbers. This is a VERY active musical if done right, and the performers will have fun rehearsing, never mind performing. Check out this song as an example and picture the fun kids would have rehearsing this for hours.
b. The costumes are out of the Forever 21 wardrobe, not typical period dresses and outfits like many traditional musicals. Do you think a 13-year-old will want to dress like the cast of Oklahoma, or dress like this? (This factor cannot be overlooked)
c. Kids love to play evil, and most musicals only involve a handful (at most) of characters playing bad. This musical, half the case is bad (at least for the beginning), and most teenagers who perform this will revel playing bad before completing their character arcs.
3) The songs are (unfortunately for parents) super catchy
There are not many traditional musical ballads in the trilogy. The songs are composed with a pop/techno bent designed to tap your toes immediately. And try as you might, it’s going to be hard not to sing “Rotten to the Core” to yourself after you hear it. And ultimately, isn’t that the point of musicals, to take the songs home with you? And that leads me to:
4) It will be a blast for the audience, especially kids.
Some traditional musicals are a bear to get through for people under 25 because the songs are so stuffy. Not the case with “Descendants” numbers. This is not to say this musical will win any Tonys, nor will these tracks be sent to the Smithsonian as national treasures. The songs are written for the hook, and that is it. And for those whose tastes this won’t align to (and there will be many), at worst the songs will zip right along until it feels like it’s already over as soon as it began.
5) This is as much a dance recital as it is a musical.
This is not to suggest the musical will have non-stop dancing like “A Nutcracker’s Christmas”, but when they dance, they’re putting on a show and putting A+ effort in.
With a fun plot, active dance choreography, catchy music, and performances designed to relish in villainy (remember, half the cast are villains), it’s going to capture the imaginations of a lot of kids who will want to play-act it themselves at home and dream of doing it on the stage.
Don’t believe me? My daughter after watching it on Disney + said to me “I actually like this more than Frozen 2”
Now that’s an endorsement to go on the cover of the playbill.
Photo: JACK ROWAND/DISNEY CHANNEL