Theater: Commercializing Broadway

The Disney Invasion.

Two of the biggest musicals on Broadway during the 1990s were Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King, adaptations of Disney animated motion pictures, prompting some theater lovers to predict the beginning of the end for the Great White Way. To market the shows Disney employed the same techniques it used to promote any of its entertainment products: massive advertising campaigns, fast-food tie-ins, and even coloring books. "We traded on the shows' powerful association with hit movies that families watch on video," said Peter Schneider, president of Walt Disney Studios. The publicity and marketing campaigns made the shows virtually critic proof. Disney chairman Michael Eisner created Disney Theatrical Productions, renovated the New Amsterdam Theater at a cost of more than $30 million, and declared Disney to be a force to be reckoned with on Broadway.

Broadway Success.

Following the...

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