Disney’s Descendants, the musical that is based on the popular Disney Channel movie franchise of the same name, proved to be quite the hit in Ashtabula, Ohio this summer. The musical tells the story of the children of famous Disney villains who are given a chance to attend a prestigious prep school alongside the children of Disney heroes, and the four “Evils” in this production did well in assuming those roles. The musical featured catchy songs, dynamic dance numbers, and colorful costumes as seen in the highlighted photo which is from the Ashtabula Arts Center’s Instagram feed. Speaking of the AAC’s Instagram account, the uptick in coverage and behind-the-scenes coverage of this thrilling musical was a nice change from their old one post per show style. Let’s hope we see more of this extended coverage in the future as the fans seem to really like the added action on the account.
When it comes to local theater productions of Disney’s Descendants, each production can vary depending on the director’s vision and the resources available to the production team. With fantastic costumes and artwork all around, Director Mary Ann Kline’s vision was able to be realized on the stage of the outdoor Straw Hat Theatre. As one of three shows on the Straw Hat Theatre’s rare trust stage, this Disney show proved to be as popular as expected with six sellouts for the six shows available to the public. The overall demand and excitement was also evident online in the views of the cast’s “Be Our Guest” intro to the Evils from the AAC’s Instagram Reels which was nearly double the views of every other post the organization has ever put out on the social media platform.
In the end, Kline’s cast did well to capture the essence of the original story and showcase the unique personalities of each character. The four Evils did a particularly good job at convincing the audience that they were indeed conflicted with their pasts and their desire to do better. The show proved to be a huge success and we hope to see more like this from the Ashtabula Arts Center in the future.
Photo Credit: Harry Schwentker for the Ashtabula Arts Center