The Appalachian Center for the Arts and the Mountain Arts Center opened their first co-production, “Disney’s Descendants: The Musical,” on March 11-12 at the MAC. The show is running this weekend, March 18-20, at the App for its final three performances.
News-Express photos by Nicole Ziege
The Appalachian Center for the Arts has collaborated with the Mountain Arts Center to open their first-ever co-production, and there are hopes of similar partnerships taking place in the future.
The App opened its newest children’s show, “Disney’s Descendants: the Musical,” on March 11 and March 12, and more performances of the show will take place at 7:30 p.m. on March 18 and March 19 and 3 p.m. on March 20. The show ran its first weekend at the MAC’s stage, and the final three performances will take place at the App, which is located at 218 Second Street. Tickets are $13, including tax/fee.
“This has been a year in the making,” said Robin Irwin, the App’s executive director. “We have been talking and brokering this as a viable option.”
Erick Buckley, the App’s director of education and outreach, said that Irwin has wanted to partner with regional arts organizations since they started at the App.
“Robin has always been a proponent of the idea that the arts should be regional as partnerships,” Buckley said. “Our objective from the moment we came down was really to say, ‘Hey, there’s a lot of talent, and there’s a lot of interest in the arts in general of all stripes. We should all be working together and trying to pull together for one another.’ … Another way to think of it is cross-pollination. Hybrid flowers tend to be heartier.”
“Disney’s Descendants: The Musical” features the App’s first-ever children’s show with live music, which is played by regional students who perform in the Kentucky Junior Pros and led by Music Director Jennifer Bersaglia, and the show also features a cast of more than 30 students from across the region.
The show, based on the popular 2015 Disney television film of the same name, follows the story of the teenage children of famous Disney villains Maleficent, the Evil Queen, Jafar and Cruella de Vil. The four teens leave their island prison, where all the villains must live, and attend school with the children of famous Disney heroes and heroines, like Queen Belle and Princess Aurora, from the Disney movies “Beauty and the Beast” and “Sleeping Beauty.”
Irwin said the show was a “Disney phenomenon” for several years after it was released, and the story has an important message, which is that you don’t have to follow in your parents’ footsteps and repeat their reality. She said she felt like that message was important in a region like Appalachia and Eastern Kentucky, where family and heritage are valued.
“They’re the villains’ kids, and they’ve been marginalized. The ‘elites’ have marginalized them. Beast and Belle and all the others, they made the decision that their parents were evil so, therefore, their offspring will just be the same,” she said, referring to the four villain teenagers. “Then, Ben, the Beast and Belle’s son, says, ‘Why don’t we reach out to these kids?’ Descendants and family are so important and mean a lot to everyone, but especially in East Kentucky. In Appalachia, it’s a lot more familial here, and family is just more valued. … You’re not doomed to repeat your parents’ reality.”
Buckley said that this co-production with the MAC has allowed them to expand their geographic area, as well as offer new opportunities for students who want to perform or play in the live orchestra during the early months of 2022.
“We’ve had our Academy at the App productions for several years now, and they have always been very robust. They also always have a great turnout with the kids,” Buckley said, referring to the App’s Academy at the App classes. “Robin (Irwin) thought this would be a great opportunity to do a musical that has live music so it’s a student orchestra, and they have some of the singers that make the commitment during the summer to do the (Kentucky) Junior Pros. So, this really gave more of an opportunity to more people. And, because we held some of the rehearsals, as well as some of the performances, at the MAC, it really spread out the geographic area as well.”
Buckley said that they hope their children’s shows help more students in the region learn about the arts and be more exposed to the economic opportunities that the arts can create. Also, they emphasized how promoting regional arts through shows like “Disney’s Descendants: The Musical” can help boost the creative economy in Eastern Kentucky.
“We always remind people that, yes, Broadway makes a lot of money by being Broadway and tickets sales and what not, but Broadway’s economic impact is larger than any major league sports team in New York combined because of restaurants, hotels, tourism, etc,” Buckley said. “And this is the same thing. Our selling tickets is great, but it’s people coming into the town, going to dinner, staying overnight and those kinds of things. It’s the ancillary.”
Buckley and Irwin expressed optimism for similar collaborations to happen again in the future with other local organizations.
“Our goal is definitely to do this again,” Buckley said.
For more information on tickets, call, (606) 262-4004, or visit, https://bit.ly/3t9FiCF. The App is located at 218 Second Street, Pikeville.
