⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A stunning tribute to Walt Disney and the company. A must see for all Disney fans.

There’s something so wonderful about the way Disney puts on a show. They have emotional pulls in every direction and know how to tug at your heart strings with the fullest of sounds. So, I was delighted to find out that Disney in Concert were touring and coming to Nottingham.

Walking into the Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham, it was a sea of Disney outfits with ages ranging from primary school aged children all the way up to senior citizens. Growing up in the 90s, I spent my childhood singing and dancing around to Disney music, rewinding Disney Sing Along Disneyland Fun back to the beginning to watch it again and again, and watching the golden years of Disney animation. It was an unmissable evening for me, and the rest of the audience in the near sold out venue. Disney brings magic wherever it goes and the buzz was contagious.

The huge screen projects an array of characters with the familiar blue Disney branding, the Disney in Concert logo, a silouette of Mickey and Walt shaking hands and the text “Celebrating 100 years of The Walt Disney Company Live in Concert”. And what a celebration it is to create such a stunning love letter to the company with such a fitting and powerful celebration which proved to be just as wonderful as one might imagine.

Clips from the huge back catalogue of Disney’s animated productions are projected throughout the performance, often with pencilled storyboard illustrations brought to life too with a full live orchestra. The Novello Orchestra conducted by David Mahoney brought the music to life, often collaborating sounds and scores together to keep the production fresh and exciting.

When You Wish Upon A Star is a staple of a Disney movie opening, so it was fitting to start the evening with a stunning performance complete with the castle. A series of songs are performed with clips from the movies before David Mahoney so warmly greets the audience. He had a fantastic presence and it seems as though he is not only an expert in his field, but also a believer of the Disney magic. His passion and love for the production shone through and I found him entertaining and engaging to both watch and listen to.

Disney fans will be delighted to see and hear so many Disney movie magic come to life, with the obvious ones but also some unexpected performances. Split into two with a brief intermission, there’s performances to Alice in Wonderland, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Frozen, The Jungle Book, Tarzan, Aladdin, Encanto, Moana, Hercules, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Princess and the Frog and so many more. But, you’ll also see the likes of The Rescuers, Wreck it Ralph, Wish, and Big Hero 6 make appearances.

We were seated in Tier 1, which I felt gave an extraordinary view of the performance. I loved that we were eye level to both the screen and the dimly blue lit orchestra, it gave a complete overview of the entire show and I loved being able to see the orchestra perform whilst simultaneously watch clips. If you’re a TikTok user and see ‘edits’ to your favourite songs, this felt like a feature length version of such.

Instead of one song playing complete with the movie clip, you’ll have segments from various movies that tie it together. There is a broad sample of clips that fittingly match a score, and Disney have cleverly combined these together to tie the characters together in one feature length story. The highs and the lows are fought together, and in true Disney magic, good prevails all and we all take our spot in The Circle of Life.

It perhaps comes to no surprise that once Dos Oruguitas played, I caved and the tears fell. I had held it together until then, but it was clear that there were plenty of wet eyes around the venue.Crescendoing into Go The Distance was emotional and powerful and yes, I cried some more.

Disney in Concert was the opportunity for fans to hear such nostalgic and powerful songs come to life complete with emotional clips that will awaken and embrace your inner child. But, for non-Disney fans, I think it would be an amazing chance to see what the Disney fuss is all about. It’s the opportunity to hear the soundtrack to generations before us childhoods and hear just how magical the scores are.

I loved how Walt Disney often introduced the clips and his presence was celebrated, as Disney does so well. We’re reminded that without Walt, there would be no Disney. We’re reminded that without Walt deciding to use music in Snow White to drive the story forward, animation today might not be where it is right now. We are there to celebrate Walt and his brilliantly creative brain.

The concert did exactly what it said it would. It celebrated the 100 years of Disney magic in a wonderful and poignant way. It’s a must-see for Disney fans.

press tickets for review