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Defending the Mouse
Why an essay?
The contemporary world is full of cynical criticism. I tend to feel the need to defend persons, companies, industries, etc. that are constantly slandered by intellectual society. There seems to be some sort of gratification in contradicting the theorists conspiracy that these people are out to get them. To the theorists the world is still only in black and white; for me, I try to see it in Technicolor, it’s more interesting. I was spurred early on to challenge Kunstler the best I could. I attempted to do it in the first essay by placing a personal image of my family onto the car industry. Now I am trying to validate Disney. I chose the essay format because I feel it is the most assertive way to get the point across. The only other format applicable would have been a video, but it is too late to video record the passage of history of the New Amsterdam theatre on 42nd Street.
Why defend the Mouse?
I was always struck by the term ‘Disneyfication’ when talking about Times Square. I understand the term is used to articulate the artificial nature of the district. But that in turn suggests that Disney itself is entirely artificial, and I am not sure that I agree. Yes, Disney is hugely based in the fabrication of world cultures. But would it have survived as long as it has without having some truth behind all of the fakeness?
I’ll admit, I am not a fan of the commercialized tourist culture. But I wouldn’t want to blame it on one company. It is just as much my fault that Times Square is what is, because I’ve supported the NYC tourist culture many a times visiting the wax museum, playing at Dave & Buster’s, shopping at the Hershey store, etc. Who am I to blame? It wasn’t as if I was boycotting it.
My first instinct was to analyze the Disney theme park phenomenon. But that topic has been discussed from front to back, so I was looking for a new direction. The history of the New Amsterdam Theatre has always fascinated me, particularly its history with the Follies. Plus I had completed an internship with the theatrical division of Disney last year, so discussing the company from a theatre industry perspective was the obvious choice.
Lately I have also been completing some freelance work for the company in their offices located in the New Amsterdam theatre. Previously when I worked for them, the headquarters were in a standard New York office space located in a building a few blocks away. Having the offices separate from the theatres themselves gave a peculiar dynamic that separated the business from the art. However their lease expired this past fall, and they moved locations into the former nightclub above the New Amsterdam’s mainstage. The dynamic of the office has completely changed. The art and the business are located within in one structure, and the architects of the new space have made this apparent in the design. Parts of Ziegfeld’s nightclub have been adapted into the office’s layout, including the glass runway, which now leads into the President’s office, and the proscenium arch, which towers over the employees. While working late in the new offices one night, I could overhear the audience’s enthusiastic reactions to Mary Poppins in the background. There was this sense of fulfillment in the work that I was doing, something that could never be achieved in the old office space. Later that night as I was exiting the theatre at the 42nd Street entrance, it suddenly dawned on me how drastically different Disney’s role in New York has been compared to the other developments. It has not been about creating false nostalgic experiences. It has been about creating something uniquely New York.
Further Thoughts:
There is a ghost that haunts the New Amsterdam Theatre. Her name is Olive Thomas. Learn her story by listening to this podcast:
http://www.playbillradio.com/podcast/podcast.html?item_id=1145
For more information on Disney on Broadway visit:
