Passamaquoddy

Even if the studios theme park doesn’t get the fan attention that is awarded the Magic Kingdom or Epcot, in one area it excels.  It has two excellent restaurants that, in addition to good food, are the most immersive on property.  It’s a difficult distinction, but for me the Sci-Fi Drive-in is an experience first, a restaurant second.  Even more so is the 50s Prime Time Café.  Diners are thrust confidently into a 1950s household where Mom rules the kitchen, and the kids each have their own chores... in this case, serving tables.

The restaurant is designed around a multi-room home, each room - and in some cases each table- has its own unique décor, firmly from a 1950s household.  Black and white art deco television monitors pepper the home, running short bits from classic television shows – Prime Time, of course.  The servers… err kids may be out front taking food orders and bringing stuff around, but it’s obvious that Mom is in charge.  She remains out of sight, busy in the kitchen.  Grandma assists her with dessert.  But Mom’s presence is felt, and the kids let you know, ‘reminding’ you of Moms rules.

Today I was eating alone, and they still made me set the table for myself.  After a restroom break several of the family asked me if I washed my hands.  When I verified I had, they persisted, questioning whether I used soap.

The menu is, of course Mom’s home cooking.  Roasted Peppers, Pot Roast, Chicken Pot Pie… Lunch entrees range from $12.99 up to $16..  So I chose a nice meatloaf ($14.99) and a generous helping of vegetables.  (And you better eat those!)  I topped it off with a Chocolate Shake ($4.99) that was off the charts delicious.  I actually left half a cup of shake behind as the serving was so large.

The dessert menu is brilliantly presented using a viewmaster.   

They are all in the $5 to $6 range and include nice gooey S’mores.

When it was time for me to pay the bill, Mom had sent a reminder “No tower for at least an hour!”

The 50s Prime Time Café may not have the kitchen of the Brown Derby or anything in the World Showcase of Epcot, but it has a dining experience that is most enjoyable.  I have never eaten there when I wasn’t surrounded by consistent laughter…  Just like Mom wants it.

Compared with other Disney properties Tarzan didn’t have much of a life on Broadway.  It closed after a year and a few months for various reasons.  It was an expensive show to produce and even a dangerous one.  Audience and critical response were lukewarm.  So, the show it shuttered.  But did it deserve its drubbing?

I saw TARZAN early in its run and found the evening entertaining and visually appealing, but it didn’t grab my heart the way the Lion King did. The director, Bob Crowley had an intriguing take on the story, but it still seemed simple compared to Taymor’s Lion King. 

The film on which the stage show is based is an excellent film, easily the best telling of Tarzan to grace the silver screen.  But it wasn’t really a musical.  Sure, it won an Oscar for Best Song, but there were only a few songs and most were not performed on screen, rather as background for montage.  Now, composer Phil Collins expanded the score to include nine new songs.  Of those nine, I found two as worthy pieces.  The strongest is Tarzan’s ‘eleven o’clock hour’ song “Everything That I Am”. 

The entire stage is draped with ceiling to floor strips of green fabric on all three walls.   This is an interesting choice as it obscures entrances, allowing someone to appear out of nowhere.  The most interesting choice in the production was the extensive use of ‘wire work’.  One expects a Tarzan to have some wiring as he swings back and forth across the stage, but Director Crowley uses his wires pretty consistently.  For much of the show, the stage is a vertical one.  Characters climb up and down, swing back and forth.  The most effective use, Tarzans shipwrecked family walks down the back wall – giving the illusion that the audience is in the trees looking down at them.  This along with stupendous scrim work make the opening six minutes awe-inspiring.

On the flipside are some risks that don’t pay off well.  Worst of these is a minute long “animated” Tarzan doing shadow puppets during “Son of Man”.

American Idol runner-up Josh Strickland is vocally strong with Phil Collins music.  His physical presence is different from other telling of Tarzan; he remains muscular, but is thin and at times, tiny.

I’m not sure of the show will ever tour the US.  I imagine if it does, it would be re-worked with less of the physical requirements that required venue design changes.  If it does tour, check it out.  It is far from perfect, but it is also much better than the anti-Disney backlash that greeted it in New York City.