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Inside Disney Jr. Live’s first international tour

The team behind Disney Jr. Live’s debut international tour have discussed the magic and mechanics of staging children’s first concert experience.

The multi-billion dollar business of touring theatre, shows and exhibitions is going from strength to strength, with the second edition of Touring Entertainment LIVE set for Wednesday 26 February as part of the International Live Music Conference (ILMC) in London.

Disney has put its unique stamp on the family entertainment format with Disney Jr. Live On Tour: Let’s Play! On the heels of a successful run in North America, the immersive concert experience opens in the UK with a “limited engagement” at London’s Royal Festival Hall on 15-16 March 2025, before being rolled out across Asia and the Middle East.

The tour unites production company Terrapin Station Entertainment with Sony Music stablemates Senbla (UK) and Barcelona’s Proactiv, which will handle UK and international promoting duties, respectively.

“This is a perfect example of how several divisions within Sony can all partner to create an unforgettable experience,” Terrapin’s Jonathan Shank tells IQ. “The show has been performed over 400 times in the US in the last handful of years and sold over 700,000 tickets. It has been one of the most successful preschool touring properties over the last decade here in North America.”

“Disney advocated for this tour to go global and has been such a supportive partner”

Disney Jr, Live On Tour features an interactive musical performance that includes singing, dancing, 3D special effects and acrobatics. Tickets start at £19.50 (€23.50).

“It was a long time goal for us to bring this show and all these iconic characters – Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Spidey – to London,” says Shank. “Ollie [Rosenblatt, Senbla CEO] and I have been talking about the idea of bringing this production to the UK since about 2018. Ollie is beyond the perfect partner to help bring this show to the UK, and is perfectly suited to make this into global production, which is what we intend to do.

“Disney advocated for this tour to go global and has been such a supportive partner, so it’s been a big team effort and it’s off to an absolutely incredible start. I feel like that the UK audience is really embracing Disney Jr.”

Shank, who won a Grammy in 2009 for his role in creating the Global Drum Project album, is credited as a pioneer in bringing intellectual property to the live stage, with past productions such as Disney Junior Dance Party On Tour, Peppa Pig Live! and The Fresh Beat Band Live generating more than US$80 million at the box office.

“The work that Jonathan has done in the US is exemplary,” enthuses Rosenblatt, who was elevated to SVP Masterworks Live at Sony Music earlier this year. “You can tell by the number of shows they’ve done, how long it’s been going and the number of tickets sold that it’s a high quality product – and we like dealing with high quality shows and experiences.”

The show features hits from several popular Disney Jr. series, including songs written by Fall Out Boy frontman Patrick Stump

Senbla has become renowned for its work within the films in concert format – most recently with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, with Avatar the Last Airbender also set to tour in early 2025.

“We have a long history with Disney – we already work with them across multiple film titles – so it made sense for us to try and bring this to the UK as well,” says Rosenblatt. “There has been an enormous growth in the Disney Jr. brand in the UK, mainly through Disney+, which has really helped expand the offering into the UK market because, historically, it was a very US-centric property. Timing is everything with these things and you can’t manufacture that; you have to wait for the right time.”

He adds: “The show deserves to go global. It’s done incredible business, and that is testament to the hard work that Jonathan and Terrapin have done over many years with Disney to grow and develop this brand. So for us to be able to bring it into the UK is a great privilege, and the early signs are that the audiences are delighted it’s here as well.”

The show features hits from several popular Disney Jr. series, including songs written by Fall Out Boy frontman Patrick Stump.

“A lot of the songs featured in the Spidey segments were written by Patrick, which brings a bit of that vibe and energy into the show,” explains Shank. “It’s a very high energy, highly choreographed, acrobatic, high performance skill-type show. It’s just a lot of fun.”

“The beauty of this kind of show is that the characters are evergreen”

A core goal for the tour’s organisers is to give young audiences their first taste of music and theatre.

“It’s magic for the kids to see the character they love up on stage and in some cases, get to meet them, and it’s special for us to be able to bring that opportunity to families,” notes Rosenblatt. “Quality always prevails – if you bring a great show to an audience, there’s no reason why they’re not going to come back – and the beauty of this kind of show is that the characters are evergreen. If you’re enjoying it at the age of seven and eight, you might have moved onto something else by the time you’re nine and 10, but there’ll be another seven and eight-year-old enjoying the characters.”

Furthermore, Rosenblatt sees limitless potential for similar productions in the future.

“The expansion in IP gives a great opportunity to bring things to the stage that people know and love,” he finishes. “A big part of the growth is in being able to find a solution to translating what people see and engage with on screen, onto the stage. But it takes experts and high quality producers like Jonathan to understand the vision and understand what that takes.”

The Touring Entertainment Report (TER) 2024, a resource that puts the global business of touring theatre, shows and exhibitions in focus, is out now.

 


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Multiple summer concert series kick off in Spain

Promoters Live Nation and the Music Republic are kicking off new, open-air concert series in Spain this week, as venues including the Wizink Center and Ifema prepare to host live shows over the next few months.

The Music Republic, which promotes festivals Arenal Sound, Viña Rock, Granada Sound, Madrid Salvaje and the Festival Internacional de Benicàssim (FIB), announced its Republic Alive concert series this week, with 800-capacity outdoor shows taking place throughout July, August and September in Valencia, Granada, San Fernando, Seville and Toledo.

Artists performing as part of the series, which kicks off tomorrow (17 July), include Andrés Suárez, Miss Caffeina, Diego El Cigala, M Clan, Viva Suecia and Cepeda. Tickets for the shows are available here.

This week has also marked the start of Live Nation’s Crew Nation Presents concert series, which is taking place at the 2,500-capacity La Riviera in Madrid until mid-September.

The first sold-out show of the series took place last night with a performance by Spanish singer-songwriter Guitarricadelafuente. Other acts playing as part of the Crew Nation Present series, which raises money for Live Nation’s Crew Nation relief fund, include El Kanka, Sex Museum, Muchachito and Triángulo de amor bizarro.

Tickets for the Crew Nation Presents shows are available here.

Madrid’s 15,500-capacity Wizink Center, the largest arena in Spain, is also preparing to welcome back artists and fans, with the Proactiv- and Voltereta Tour-promoted Truss Madrid Madriz Summer Fest, which will see performances from over 30 artists from 15 August to 15 September.

Promoters Live Nation and the Music Republic are kicking off new, open-air concert series in Spain this week, as venues including the Wizink Center and Ifema prepare to host live shows over the next few months

The arena will operate at a reduced capacity, with between 1,200 and 2,200 attending each concert, sitting at tables and chairs around a 360° stage.

Spanish techno-rumba group Camela will kick off the concert series, with other performance coming from acts including Funambulista, Despistaos, Izal, Stay Homas, Pablo López, Ara Malikian, Sara Baras and Sofía Ellar.

Tickets will become available here over the coming days.

Fellow Madrid venue, the Ifema conference and exhibition centre, is also returning to live music after a bout serving as Spain’s largest ‘hospital’. Abre Madrid! (Madrid Opens) began on 7 July and is running until 6 September, with acts performing to up to 1,000, seated fans on two open-air stages in the Ifema grounds, which usually plays host to Live Nation’s Mad Cool festival, DGTL Madrid and Río Babel festival.

Artists performing as part of Abre Madrid! include Xoel Lopez, La Habitación Roja, Carlos Sadness, Diego el Cigala, Mala Rodríguez and Miguel Poveda.

Ifema has been recognised as a safe space by the Community of Madrid and the World Travel and Tourism Council, allowing the venue to host events at up to 75% of its full capacity, provided that the configuration of space allows for 1.5 metres to be maintained between individuals.

In addition to the Abre Madrid! Shows, the venue plans on hosting 60 fairs and congresses in the last six months of 2020.

Tickets for the Ifema shows, which also span comedy, theatre, cinema and family entertainment, can be found here.

 


This article forms part of IQ’s Covid-19 resource centre – a knowledge hub of essential guidance and updating resources for uncertain times.

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ILMC speaker spotlight: Christoph Scholz, Semmel Concerts

The International Live Music Conference (ILMC) is now less than a month away and, as more and more chairs and panellists are announced, IQ catches up with some key speakers to hear what they hope to get out of this year’s conference.

First up is Christoph Scholz of SC Exhibitions, a division of German promoter Semmel Concerts and the company behind Los Angeles conference the Experience Economy Meeting (TEEM) – formerly the Touring Exhibitions Meeting.

Scholz will appear alongside Kilimanjaro Live’s Lucy Levitt to co-chair ILMC’s Touring Entertainment: Game For a Show panel – which this year moves to a bigger room to satisfy demand – to discuss why family shows, touring exhibitions and other kinds of immersive, alternative content are piquing the interest of promoters and fans alike.

Joining the chairs are Harlem Globetrotters’ Arnold Bernard, Secret Cinema’s Amy Farrant, Hartshorn-Hook Enterprises/Immersive Everywhere’s Brian Hook, Nicolás Renna from Proactiv and Alex Homfray of Alex Homfray Cultural Destinations.

 


IQ: What do you expect to be the main talking points at your panel?

CS: My co-chair, Lucy Levitt, and I are expecting some exciting guests this year. We will ask Arnold Bernard from Harlem Globetrotters how they have managed to keep such an iconic sports entertainment troupe relevant for so many years.

Amy Farrant, the marketing director of [immersive cinema experience specialist] Secret Cinema, is also joining the panel. Secret Cinema has just signed a deal with Disney and is expanding globally – this will deliver us plenty of talking points. Brian Hook from [theatre experience company] Immersive Everywhere also be there to will tell us everything about the forthcoming Doctor Who Experience in London.

“Our aim is to explore the key developments across touring exhibitions, pop culture and family shows”

You’ve moved up to a bigger room for 2020. How do you expect the session to compare to previous years?

We are hosting a special double-panel event this spring, which provides a great opportunity for our colleagues in the experience and live entertainment fields.

The first will be at ILMC on 5 March in London. Then, on the first weekend of May, we will also have a panel at The Experience Economy Meeting (TEEM) in Los Angeles. The second panel will pick up on the themes discussed in London, creating a fantastic intercontinental partnership of ILMC in London and TEEM Los Angeles.

Our aim with both panels is to explore the key developments and brightest new spectacles across touring exhibitions, pop culture and family shows.

“Touring exhibitions are benefiting from globalisation much in the same way as live touring is”

What are some of the biggest trends you’re seeing coming through in the family/touring/alternative entertainment world?

Looking at the classic staples in this non-traditional touring sector – which includes everything that is not rock, pop or another musical genre – touring exhibitions, family shows and events such as comic conventions are benefiting from globalisation much in the same way as live touring is.

There are more venues, more markets opening up and more opportunities. I am personally fascinated by the likes of The Haus of Gaga in Las Vegas or The Zone: Britney Spears in Los Angeles.

Are we seeing new forms of fan worlds here?

To find out the answer to this question and more, come along to ILMC’s Touring Entertainment panel at 5 p.m. on Thursday 5 March.

 


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