Following from our last Christmas post covering the Christmas parade, today I’ve decided to take a look back at what ended up probably being the stand out piece of entertainment from my very brief Christmas visit.
The show is currently being performed between four and five times a day, and is on the Videopolis theatre stage, which can be found inside café Hyperion. This is a great place for it, in my opinion, as it has a good capacity and isn’t so far away that it would get missed due to the location (think Forest of Enchantment). What is nice about Videopolis, is that if you’re not fussed about having a close view, or perhaps you’ve seen the show before and want a second viewing, you can actually grab a meal from Hyperion and view the show from the seating area there.
If however this is your first viewing or you like to take photos, I would recommend arriving early and queuing for the best seating area right at the front. For this you will need to queue round the far side of Hyperion, to the right of where the two arcades, Alpha and Beta, used to be. This is pretty much opposite the fast pass entrance to HyperSpace Mountain and should be roped off ready. I’m not sure how long before the show we queued, maybe 30 -45 mins, but we got central second row seats and I honestly thought it was so worthwhile and would happily wait that long again.
The show features Mickey, Minnie and Goofy, but also an incredible live band with singers and dancers. I must admit I was sceptical, at first as I wouldn’t describe myself as a lover of the arts. Surprising, possibly, for a Disney fan but I don’t have a love of musical theatre, and I wouldn’t suggest going to see an orchestra or that sort of live music for myself. Having said all of that, I can assure you, what I witnessed in that theatre was way beyond my expectations, and I loved every second.
If you’re familiar with the entertainment offerings in other parks, you might be thinking that Tokyo Disney Sea already have a show that sounds rather a lot like this, and it’s true they do, but that doesn’t diminish Paris’ version in any way, and from what I can tell it isn’t an exact copy.
The show lasts around 25 minutes in total and covers a variety of songs with an overall Christmas theme. The show starts with just the band on stage, and then the dancers and singers start to come out to perform the first song Ain’t Got That Swing. During the song there is a tap section with around 8 dancers and the quality during this was superb. It reminded me of the genie section of Mickey and the Magician. After the tap break we are joined by our first character, Mickey, in a white suit with blue accessories to match the male vocalists. As is traditional for DLP, Mickey speaks French throughout.
After the first song Goofy arrives in a matching white suit to join Mickey on stage. It feels really strange to see him without any sort of hat on but he just looks so dapper that it works. We then get our second song, Jingle Bells, which sees Goofy take centre stage with one of the female singers doing the lead vocals. I really love this jazzed up version of a classic song, as it really suits the show. It’s unexpectedly perfect.
Half way through Jingle Bells we are joined by our final character for the show, Minnie, in a beautiful white dress with matching feather in her bow. The song then blends into Frosty The Snowman, at which point Minnie joins in and shares the lead vocals. Towards the end of the song Mickey comes back out to join Minnie and dances with her and the other dancers. I really love their costumes and love how the Blue, White and Silver ties in with not only the 25th theme, but feels Christmassy too.
The next song is Minnie's solo, I Love The Piano.This is probably my least favourite section of the show, which is not to say it's bad, just the part I enjoyed least. I find it to be a bit slower than the rest of the show and it doesn't have the Christmas feel the rest of it has. I also think it's nice when it's familiar songs, but that of course is personal preference.
Following on from this is White Christmas, which features the most beautiful dance sequence with Mickey and Minnie together. This for me was just one of those moments that felt extra magical. There’s something about the staging and the lighting,those glamorous costumes and then the dancing all coming together that really pulls at your heart and I would be surprised if there weren’t peopleholding back a tear or two, like me!
At the end of White Christmas the dancers come back on stage and the band really pick up the pace. Mickey tells Minnie he has a surprise for her as Santa's Claus is Coming To Town starts to play. The dance sequence at the start of this is such a good showcase of the talented dancers and shows off exactly what they're capable of. I remember just being mesmerised by the dancers the first time I saw the show and I applaud each and every one of them for the hard work and dedication that must have gone into learning and preforming the show for us each day.
Suddenly as the singers call for Santa Claus at the start of the song, no other than Santa Goofy appears at the back of the main seated audience, and he makes his way down past the audience onto the stage. After the song Goofy and one of the main male singers break it down and introduce each section of the big band. This then blends into Let it Snow, complete with snow effects at the front of the stage - proper Disney magic.
Next, a small section of staging at the back turns round and of course, it’s Mickey Mouse himself. Probably the biggest surprise of the show, rather than the singing or dancing, has to be that Mickey's been practising ready to play the drums for us. To be honest with you, I couldn't believe this was happening first time round but I thought it was great and it was definitely a crowd favourite.
The other thing which I think I was too surprised by drumming Mickey to notice at the time, was that not only had Mickey joined the band, he'd had an outfit change too. Now some of you may recognise the light blue and pink suit he's wearing, as it's none other than his special 25th outfit from April 12th. It was great to see these brilliant costumes used again and they worked perfectly with the overall theme.
Finally Mickey comes back on stage with Minnie and Goofy in their April 12th outfits too, finishing off the show perfectly. The entire show was phenomenal and had me totally captivated from start to finish. It is such a good addition to DLP's entertainment schedule, and not only would I like to see it return for Christmas 2018, I would also enjoy an adaptation that allows it to run all year round and I'm sure it would continue to pull a crowd.
If you didn't manage to catch the show this time around, or like me you're just so in awe of it that you'd like to see it again, DLRP Fans have shared it on their YouTube channel, so head over and give them a thumbs up!
Hoodsie xx
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