Walt Disney World's annual International Festival of the Arts is in full swing at EPCOT. This month, theatre stars Sierra Boggess and Jelani are currently bringing a little Broadway magic to audiences. They are performing as part of the Disney on Broadway concert series running now until February 23, featuring a whole host of performers who have starred in Disney's stage musicals.
On January 16, Boggess and Remy performed a special preview concert for the press; see videos from the event below. Boggess and Remy had their own solos, with Boggess singing The Little Mermaid's "Part of Your World" and The Hunchback of Notre Dame's "God Help the Outcasts," and Remy performing "Endless Night" from The Lion King. The pair also united for a duet of "A Million Dreams" from The Greatest Showman—which is slated for a stage adaptation via Disney Theatricals, premiering in the UK this spring. Boggess and Remy will continue to perform in concert at EPCOT until January 29.
Boggess made her Broadway debut originating the role of Ariel in The Little Mermaid on Broadway. Booking your first role on Broadway is a dream come true for any theatre kid, but the magic is all the greater for a theatre kid who also grew up with Disney. "My sisters and I used to pretend we were Ariel in the bathtub and then get in trouble because we would splash the water all over the floor trying to do that moment where she comes over the rocks," she shares in an interview with Playbill.
"I remember when I was in elementary school, I wondered if we could ever do a play of The Little Mermaid, and then maybe I could be Ariel. And then all of those years later, it happened, with the out-of-town tryout before we went to Broadway being in Denver, which is where I'm from. Jodi Benson, the original voice of Ariel, also went to Milikin University, which is where I went to school, so it's really cosmic stuff," says Boggess.
Now, in the midst of a sparkling Broadway career, Boggess is making one more debut, with her first-ever time performing at Disney World. "I love our set list. I'm so, so excited about getting to do things that I wouldn't normally get to do...and getting to sing 'Part of Your World' at Disney World is really special, because this is where it all started," she says.
Though Boggess has notoriously played a number of ethereal, princess-type protagonists, she chose a darker anthem for the second solo of her set: "God Help the Outcasts," sung by Esmeralda in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, is an ode to those living on the fringes of society. The next time Boggess takes to the stage to sing a Disney song, she says: "I've got to tap into one of the villain songs. I want to step into my villain era!"
Remy is returning to the happiest place on earth after performing in last year's Disney on Broadway concert with Caissie Levy. "It's still the same feeling of joy and happiness, with a whole new repertoire. So it literally is a whole new world," he shared in an interview with Playbill.
Like Boggess, Remy also made his Broadway debut in a beloved Disney show, starring as Simba in The Lion King. "I do feel like I grew up with Simba, and he's given me so much. When you're able to step on the stage and tell the story and bring joy to so many people...you get so much out of it as you put so much into it. So, it is like the circle of life," he says.
The Disney on Broadway concert series will continue at Walt Disney World's EPCOT Theme Park through February 23 with a rotating set of dates and performers. Isabelle McCalla (Aladdin) and Adam Jacobs (Aladdin) will perform until January 29, Tarzan's Anastacia McCleskey and Josh Strickland will perform January 30–February 10, Mandy Gonzalez (Aida) and Kissy Simmons (The Lion King) will perform January 31–February 12, Ainsley Melham (Aladdin) and Ashley Brown (Mary Poppins) will perform February 13–19, Susan Egan (Beauty and The Beast) and James Monroe Iglehart (Aladdin) will perform February 14–21. The festival will close out with a Disney quintet February 22–23 with Brown, Melham, Egan, Iglehart, and Kyra Belle Johnson.
For the full line-up and more information, click here.
