An upcoming Disney performance attracts a different type of audience.
“We’ll be celebrating this iconic music with young people who grew up in the 90s and loved the Disney princesses and watched them on VHS,” said Syndee Winters, who appeared on Broadway and in the national tour of the Lion King as Nala, and is one of the four performers scheduled to share a night of stories and songs at the Disney Princess — The Concert at 7 p.m. Nov. 14 at the Columbia County Performing Arts Center.
Winters called the concert a girls’ night out, a time for besties to come together and relive the memories of a time when they were growing up and watching the likes of “The Little Mermaid,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “Aladdin.”
Just as their pint-sized counterparts might dress up as their favorite Disney princesses, the women who attend the Disney Princess — The Concert often don their own costumes to make the night more of an experience, she said.
“We really encourage people to dress up in their royal adult-sized attire,” she said.
And like younger fans, the people who attend this concert get involved and excited about the show.
“We were singing a song from ‘Tangled,’ and I heard someone say ‘Yes.’ It was a grown-up voice,” she said.
Like most young Disney fans, Winters grew up with a favorite movie and princess. For her it was “The Lion King,” and traveling with the show as well as performing in it on Broadway was a dream come true.
The concert version brings together Christy Altomare, Broadway’s original Anastasia; Broadway.com Audience Award-nominee Isabelle McCalla, who performed as Princess Jasmine in “Aladdin;” and Anneliese van der Pol who played the role of Belle in “Beauty and the Beast.”
The show celebrates 12 Disney princesses with a variety of songs.
Winters said being on stage with the other accomplished women has been exciting.
“This is a show for women. It’s about the queen’s queen,” she said.
In many shows, there’s a single female lead, but in this, there are four female leads — all equally strong and all on stage at the same time, interacting with each other. And sometimes, they break out into incredible four-part harmonies, she said.
While the concert is appropriate for children, none of the performers wear the character costumes. They all perform as themselves.
Tickets for the event are available at ticketmaster.com.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the managing editor of The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com
