One of the most invigorating aspects of my career has been the transition from traditional video content creator to developing 360 holistic ideas for stories and branding. Envisioning how content can be repurposed, reinvented, and presented to an audience in new and interesting ways. When I first watched and heard Encanto with its ensemble soundtrack and music theater roots, I immediately thought; “limited live concert experience.” In my head, I saw the entire show and the streaming and social content that would accompany it. The show would feature the entire Madrigal Family creating a once in a lifetime experience to entertain and excite both live audiences and Disney+ subscribers. Sadly, no concert experience has been announced, but given the chance, here’s how I would stage and distribute the show.
The Locations:
The Encanto Concert experience would be limited to Los Angeles, Orlando, and New York City to tie into the two Disney Theme Parks and the Broadway roots of its songwriter, Lin-Manuel Miranda. The show would run one week in LA at the Hollywood Bowl or Walt Disney Concert Hall with a potential one-night ‘large show’ at Crypto.com Arena (formerly Staples Center.) In Orlando, the show would run 1 week in the Dr. Philips Center for Performing Arts with a potential one-night ‘large show’ at the Amway Center. In New York City the show would run at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, or a Broadway theater for a week with a potential one-night ‘large show’ at Madison Square Garden. Theme park activations would be part of the LA and Orlando runs, more on that shortly.
I would set up the show drawing inspiration from the “Tick, Tick… Boom” staging in the Netflix film, Directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, adding an LED wall for animation and image support. “Tick, Tick,…Boom” image ©Netflix “Encanto” image ©Disney
The Show and Staging:
Drawing inspiration from Tick, Tick… Boom and live show readings, the concerts would be staged like the live performance, musical workshop in the Netflix movie. The vibe would be casual as if the performers all got together at Lin-Manuel Miranda’s house and decided to sing some songs together. The cast will be dressed as ‘themselves,’ not glammed up concert costumes or even Encanto costumes (yet), but casual and relaxed. The band would be set up along the middle to back of the stage so they are clearly visible to the audience and become a part of the show. All of the performers would have stools to one side of the stage so they can all be on stage for the entire show, rather than leaving the stage until their own numbers. That allows them to join in on some songs, grab an instrument, interact with the audience, or just can get up and dance. The simplicity of the staging gives cast room to have fun and improvise making each performance truly unique.
The rear of the stage would be one large LED screen wrapped behind the band allowing for animation and image support throughout the show. Some props and small set pieces inspired by Casita could be sprinkled throughout the stage to add more color.
The show itself would feature all of the songs from Encanto. Sprinkled throughout the show would be live backstories featuring inspiration for the movie, the Columbian culture and how it influenced the story and music, and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s inspirations for the songs. We might also hear from the cast on how they developed a connection with their characters. Lin-Manual Miranda would have a piano so he could introduce a few deleted songs and possibly present alternative versions of songs before they made it into the film.
Also sprinkled throughout each performance would be pre-recorded questions from the audience, recorded each night before the show, to be answered by the cast. This would most likely be a highlight each evening allowing for some great answers and banter between the cast.
The show will start with Stephanie Beatriz coming out and introducing the entire cast during “Family Madrigal.” When the show reaches the final song, “All of You,” Stephanie will have slipped off stage during the previous segment and reappears on stage as Mirabel in her iconic dress. One by one, the rest of the cast rejoins her on stage in full costume as their characters. This gives the audience that over-the-top finale of seeing their favorite characters brought to life on stage. It’s another “Disney Pixie-Dust Magical Experience” the company is so famous for.
The Encore is a mix of “Family Madrigal” and “Encanto” with the entire audience encouraged to get up and dance.
Cinderella’s Castle in the Magic Kingdom, Orlando, Florida.
Theme Park Activations:
During the LA and Orlando runs of the show, the cast would make two appearances at each of the Theme Parks singing three songs at each appearance.
In Disneyland Park, the cast would perform in the evening just before the normally scheduled fireworks. The songs would be We Don't Talk About Bruno, Waiting on a Miracle and All of You. Waiting on a Miracle would include some fireworks timed as they were in the movie. Either that same day or a different day, the cast would perform at Disney California Adventure with the songs The Family Madrigral, Surface Pressure, and All of You. This might be a daytime performance or it could be a night before the Wonders of Color show.
In Orlando, the cast would perform the same two sets of songs. In the Magic Kingdom, again just before the normally scheduled fireworks, the songs would be We Don't Talk About Bruno, Waiting on a Miracle and All of You with the fireworks for Miracle. In Epcot the songs The Family Madrigral, Surface Pressure, and All of You either during the day or just before the Harmonious show.
In New York City I would consider an unannounced pop-up 3 song set in Times Square on the TKTS bleachers, possibly with the cast in full Encanto costumes.
©Disney
Disney+ Original Content
Of course an Encanto Concert experience lends itself to a limited series (probably 4 parts of 45-60 minutes each) that follows the development of the concert, rehearsals, show scenes and interactions at the parks and locations. With the nature of that cast, there should be plenty of incredibly fun and funny moments during their time together. The theme parks especially lend themselves to fun scenes on the rides and the cast interacting with guests and cast members. A Bonus episode would present the full version of the six songs recorded in the theme parks, intercutting the performances between Disneyland and Disney World (and Times Square if they do it).
In addition, Disney+ would stream the official Encanto Concert Movie that presents the entire concert with performances, the backstories, and elements from all three locations.
Make-A-Wish
Disney’s long-time affiliation with Make-A-Wish would create some amazing experiences for families during the run of concerts at all three locations and the theme parks with backstage access and possibly some on-stage appearances.
That’s How I Would Do It
And that’s how I would stage an Encanto Concert to create both an incredible live concert experience and binge-worthy original content for the home audience. Not to mention the slew of social content from both official Disney Parks accounts and the individual cast member accounts.
What do you say Disney? Let’s make this happen!