Nemo and Lion King Cast Questions

[DisMommyTX]

We have always loved the shows at Animal Kingdom and have probably seen both the Nemo show and Festival of the Lion King at least 8 times each over the past 2 years.

With the exception of a couple lead singers at FOTLK, I usually recognize most of the same cast every time -- until today! We haven't been since December, but I was surprised to see a completely different cast in Nemo. I think Crush was the only lead I remembered. Is it possible I caught a backup or understudy cast because it was a Sunday and supposed to be a low crowd day? Most were good but the timing seemed off and the voices and personality just weren't there. I mentioned something to an outside CM and he said much of the regular cast had changed -- something about contracts and for a while they didn't have anyone at all on top of crush! I was so disappointed! I am still hoping this was just the main cast's regular day off. This show usually brings me to the brink of tears, but today was completely skippable. Does anyone know anything more about cast changes or rotation schedules? I would gladly brave AK on high crowd days if it means seeing the better performers.

FOTLK was a similar story. There were only 3 tumble monkeys (two of whom I recognized ) and they didn't do the tumbling sequence at all, or even set up the trampoline stage for it. A couple of the lead singers seemed out of their league, hard to understand or even hear. There were fewer extra side dancers and stilt walkers--it looked pretty sparse. A couple of the newbies, like the male red bird in the featured duo were awesome, but overall it was a far less impressive show. Is this the new norm? A result of cost cutting and/or contract disputes? If so, is there anyone we can write to, to let them know that the difference is noticed and the loss of their remarkable cast is affecting the reputation of the shows?

I really hope this was simply a day off for most of the cast members we remember so fondly, but with the obvious signs of cost cutting in other areas, I am worried that it is something more.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I don't know what's going on specifically with contracts at Disney, but all long running shows have cast changes. Contracts expire, actors may or may not want to renew. Most actors who have been in a show for a while want to move on to something new. It really is not an actor"s dream to be performing in a theme park show for their entire lives.

We have seen the Nemo show at least five times since it opened. The original cast was stellar and subsequent casts have been good, but when we saw it last February it was incredibly lackluster. The actor playing Crush was completely off key. Disney can only cast from the pool of actors who actually show up to audition. Most really good trained musical theater actors are in New York trying to get into Broadway shows, Broadway national tours and reputable equity regional theaters. A Disney theme park show is not high on their list of desirable jobs. Most actors aspire to stardom and they aren't going to find that by performing in Nemo for their entire careers.

 

[dancemonkey]

We just saw folk last week and it appeared to the the same cast we saw in December. Can't speak to nemo. We haven't seen that one yet!

 

[cjparker0110]

I can't speak for WDW shows, but my sister used to work in entertainment at Busch Gardens Williamsburg in the 80s. For the shows there they usually had 2 main casts (some had a third). That allowed the show to run 7 days a week. It's possible that you have almost always caught the one main cast because they would do the most performances. Perhaps this time you happened to catch cast number 2 (or 3 if they have that). Number 3 would especially explain timing being a bit off (something most people wouldn't catch but regulars would).

 

[nilla]

There was definitely a different Dory last June than we were used to seeing, but she was also great. If there are changes, I'd chalk it up to performers moving on before I'd attribute it to cast cuts. I'd imagine even people in such great shows as these might want something more after years of doing the same thing. Or the "2nd cast" thing that cjparker0110 discussed.

 

[msmama]

As we all know, illness spreads quickly at Disney so imagine the people who have to spend every single day there. You know how illness spreads through school classrooms or workplaces? Well, the same thing happens at Disney!! You may have caught an under under study cast (or simply the main cast not at their best because of illness).

There were more tumble monkeys in Feb, but as I understand it, they can only do the actual trampoline tumbling if there are 4 of them and I don't think they have a ton of backups so if someone is sick or injured, they can't do the trampoline part.

 

[AngiTN]

I can't speak for WDW shows, but my sister used to work in entertainment at Busch Gardens Williamsburg in the 80s. For the shows there they usually had 2 main casts (some had a third). That allowed the show to run 7 days a week. It's possible that you have almost always caught the one main cast because they would do the most performances. Perhaps this time you happened to catch cast number 2 (or 3 if they have that). Number 3 would especially explain timing being a bit off (something most people wouldn't catch but regulars would).

Like you I'm not sure what WDW does but back in the day Opryland operated on the same concept.
They had 2 casts that performed a given show through the summer season. Then in the off season, when the park went to a weekend only schedule they'd combine those 2 casts in to a single cast to work the rest of the season. Those performers never stayed beyond 1 operating year. I believe theme park performing looks good on a resume to a point. Too long and it could actual hinder you from future work.

As someone above said, it's pretty rare for theme park performer to be the career goal of an actor/singer/musician.

 

[asbyrneva]

I agree there has to be a second cast. 10 performances a day 7 days a week? That's like 5 hours of stage time alone a day let alone getting ready, time in between performances etc.