(This is from Carol:)
Yoo Hoo, Irene!
On May 24th '97 you wrote to All:
 IWP> Yoo Hoo! Has anyone seen light magic? My daughter and I were fairly
 IWP> underwhelmed by the 2 hour tv special. Disneyland had been working on a
 IWP> replacement for the Electrical parade for the past four
 IWP> years--scrapping at least two different incarnations. Unlike Tokyo and
 IWP> WDW, they didn't choose to simply update from light bulbs to fiber
 IWP> optics.
I haven't seen it, but I've been following the flames about it on
the newsgroups rec.arts.disney.misc and alt.disney.disneyland since the
Annual Passholders Event night on May 13.
To bring people up to speed about Light Magic at Disneyland:
Last autumn the Main Street Electrical Parade at Disneyland took its
last roll down Main Street after 25 years.  For the past two years and
several million dollars a new show has been in the works.  This show,
now called Light Magic, was to feature fiber optics, four identical
stages which would roll out to Small World Plaza and then to Main Street
and back for a total of four shows nightly.  Basically the show is about
the Disney characters being asleep, being awakened by pixies and Tinkerbell
and rediscovering magic in their lives.
The first public showing was to be May 13 to 24,000 DL annual passholders
who paid $25 over and above the costs of their annual passes to be among
the first to see the new show.  Unfortunately, Light Magic fell terribly
behind schedule backstage.  Nothing has been formally announced as to
what went wrong tht night, but some posts on Usenet which sound rather
credible portray contractors quitting in the middle of installing the
fiber optics, the task being too complex and overwhelming to work out
in time for its premiere, and the Marketing Department insisting the
show go on even though everyone else knew it wasn't ready.  The night
was a disaster.  The show premiered incomplete, unfinished.  It's not
the fault of the performers.  Paul Pressler, DL President, told Annual
Passholders it was actually a "rehearsal" they were about to see.  A
rehearsal at $25 admission above the cost of an annual pass?  People were
VERY mad, actually booed the show while it was in progress, and a long
line of hundreds of people formed demanding, and receiving, cash refunds
for the cost of their tickets.
The Light Magic show's problems, as described by long-time park fans,
include a score that sounds too much like Riverdance, too much dancing,
too much glitter and confetti at the end of the show which ends up in
people's food and drinks, clothes and gets tracked all over the park.
To the good, children love the show.  The pixie dancers come out to
the curb and interact with park-goers.  But the reactions since May 13
and it's real official opening on May 23 is that while the show has
improved a lot since the disasterous May 13 AP night it still has so
many problems the best that can be hoped for is that it continues to
improve.  I would describe reaction so far as "mixed leaning towards
negative".
 IWP> Also, Maynerd (the month of May with a nerd at the end) is our
 IWP> favorite cast member too. He does an incredible Jungle cruise:  all his
 IWP> own jokes, and a very good Hunchback fool.
I understand Maynard is also a CM at the DL Haunted Mansion
and is superb in that job.  He even has his own fan following for it.
--Carol Koster: CKoster@neosoft.com or Fido c/o Rich Koster 1:3828/1.3
  FidoNet Disney Echo Moderator
--- April V1.0+
(1:3828/1.3)
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