Coop chats Walt Disney Theater and "Disney The Tale of Moana" on the Disney Treasure
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00:00It's Coop with Big 98.1. We are still on the Disney Treasure, this incredible new ship from
00:04Disney Cruise Line. And we're going to talk about one of the shows. We're at the Walt Disney Theatre
00:08right now. Jenny's title is way too long for me to say. I don't even, can you, what is your title?
00:12Vice President Live Entertainment for Disney Signature Experiences. That's a lot. That fills
00:16up the whole business card. Talk to me about this incredible show, obviously, behind us here.
00:21It's Moana and everything that goes into this on the ship. Yeah, we are so proud that this is the
00:25first ever stage adaptation of Moana. So not only the world premiere on Disney Cruise Line,
00:29world premiere anywhere in the world. It's an incredible opportunity for us to be the first
00:35team to really look at this beautiful film and find what's the theatrical language. How do we
00:39bring it to life on stage? So I have three kids, all three of them love Moana. It is,
00:44and no disrespect to any of the other Disney movies or any other things that are on this
00:46amazing ship, but Moana is the family favorite. And so this has got to be very exciting for all
00:51sorts of families. Can you talk to me about sort of the art here and everything that went into that?
00:56Yeah, so when we set out to create the story, we knew that Disney Live Entertainment, Walt Disney
01:01Imagineering, we couldn't tell the story alone. So we brought in incredible experts from the
01:04Broadway community to collaborate with us. Our incredible director, Connor Gallagher,
01:09and our puppet designer, Michael Curry Designs, who created this beautiful Te Fiti puppet,
01:13which transforms an epic style from the fiery Tec-Ha into Te Fiti. Michael Curry Designs,
01:19they also did the iconic puppets in The Lion King on Broadway. So they're the best in the business.
01:23And we know, so not only though, bringing in those experts from Broadway, but also we knew
01:27we needed culturally authentic voices from the Pacific Island to help us find what's that visual
01:32language? What's that musical language? How do we tell the story on stage? And our cultural consultant,
01:36Aaron Salat, was a huge part of this process. So let's talk about that. Obviously, it's very
01:40important for Disney to be culturally respectful and accurate with displaying, portraying the
01:50islands and Moana. Talk to me about everything that went into that and your role in the show.
01:54I was a music and cultural consultant for the show. I joined my friend and brother,
01:58Peter Rothfeld Espiritu, who consulted on choreography. And much of what you see here,
02:04he put his hands on and gave some insight to. Our goal was really to bring the heart and soul of the
02:09Pacific to the cast and to the stage. So we worked on Tokeloan language production. We worked on
02:15choreography, assuring that, you know, proper steps with the feet were being done and proper hand
02:19gestures were sort of reflective of a Pacific worldview. And so when you're coming to see the
02:24show, obviously you're going to get an incredible show. It's Disney. We're going to talk to Moana
02:28in a second, actually. But you're also getting something that is authentic to the islands. It's
02:32been a lot of work that's put into that specific part of it, right? Absolutely. And I think part
02:36of the power of, again, kudos to Disney for the foresight and the future's thinking of this, is
02:42that the cast is really quite diverse. I think we have five Pacific Islanders in the cast, but so
02:47the vast majority of the cast, which is a statement unto itself, but the vast majority of the cast is
02:52really from elsewhere, from different parts of the world. And so for them to embrace telling a story
02:58like this in this particular way is, in all honesty, for me, life changing. It's incredible.
03:04Jen, talk to me about the star of the show. Moana. We're so honored to have the incredible
03:10talents of Kayena on our team to bring this character to life. Kayena is only the second
03:14performer ever to play the role of Moana, the first ever on stage. So it's been kind of incredible to
03:20watch this beautiful character come to life through this beautiful performer. Kayena, talk to me about
03:24how amazing it is for you to play this role and how excited you are for people to get on this ship,
03:30the Disney Treasure, and see what you've got in store for them. Absolutely. I mean, this is a dream
03:35come true to be able to tell this beautiful story, to tell it with beautiful people, but to tell it
03:42because I connect with it so much, because it is a story of where I am from, of my people,
03:49my village. And I'm so excited for people, for families to see this beautiful show because the
03:54Disney Treasure was built with families in mind. And that's exactly what the show is about. It is
03:58about ohana, about family, and I can't wait for everybody to fall in love with this beautiful
04:03story over again. Without giving away too much of the story, can you give me maybe a favorite part
04:08of the show? And all three of you can answer this. If you have, if you've seen the show, if you have a
04:11favorite part, what is it? I'll go first. Where you are. Where you are is my favorite because we get
04:17to showcase our whole ohana, our village. So it's very exciting to bring our village to life through
04:25where you are. My favorite moment is the end of what really feels like act one, the how far I'll
04:30go reprise, because it is just Kayena on stage and her beautiful voice and her magnetism. It's
04:36just captivating. It's a beautiful moment of theater. I love it. Thank you guys so much.
04:40I cannot wait to see this show on board the Disney Treasure.