The story
Founded by Peter Schneider and Thomas Schumacher on Nov 23, 1999.1
Background
Starting in 1949, Ice Capades started adding Disney's segment to their performances. Costumes from those shows were used at the opening of Disneyland in 1955, with some performers hired away for Disney. With the characters a hit at the 1964 New York World's Fair, Walt Disney wanted another outlet for "live" characters. Disneyland put on Disney on Parade, a self-produced live arena show, starting in 1969. After several years, Card Walker shut down the show as it was not making enough profit.
Soon after Mattel/Feld Productions' 1979 purchased the Ice Follies And Holiday on Ice, Inc., Feld approached Disney with a proposal to create a Disney show on ice. Thus Walt Disney's World on Ice premiered in 1981. Disney Studio co-produced "Largely New York" with Kenneth Feld, owner of Feld Entertainment, that premiered on May 1, 1989 at St. James Theatre.
On February 8, 1993, Disney incorporated Walt Disney Theatrical Productions, Limited with Ron Logan as president to produce Beauty and the Beast: A New Musical, which opened at the Palace Theater on April 18, 1994. In 1997, DTP reopened New Amsterdam with King David. Peter Schneider was promoted to Disney Studios president in January 1999, while Thomas Schumacher was promoted to president of Walt Disney Feature Animation and Walt Disney Theatrical Productions while both are made co-presidents of Disney Theatrical.
Walt Disney Imagineering created Disney Fair, a $30-million U.S. traveling attraction that took up 5 acres. The fair started its 15 city 15-month tour at Puyallup, Washington in September 1996. With poor attendance, the fair was pulled after a few stops. Disney Entertainment Projects (Asia Pacific) Inc., a new Disney Asian Pacific subsidiary, selected a renamed fair called DisneyFest as its first project. The 1,000-ton show was transported by ship to Singapore. The festival opened on October 30, 1997 there during the year-end holiday season for a three-month period.
History
Buena Vista Theatrical Group
Buena Vista Theatrical Group Ltd. was the name of Disney Theatrical Productions as of November 23, 1999 with Disney Theatrical Productions becoming its first division. In January 2000, the formation of the group along with Hyperion Theatricals, Disney's second production division, to oversee Hyperion and Disney Theatrical Productions (DTP) was announced. Hyperion's first production was Aida and all other non-Disney animation based productions were placed under Hyperion. In September 2000, all three US DTG shows, both Hyperion and DTP, were placed under the "Disney on Broadway" banner, then under "Disney on Broadway on Tour" when the shows went on national tour.
Schneider's promotion to studio chair left Schumacher as the only president of DTG in January 2000. Schneider left Disney Studio in June 2001 to form his own theater production company partly funded by Disney. In 2003, Music Theatre International became licensing agent for Disney musicals and plays for the school performances.
Disney Theatrical Group
After May 2007, Buena Vista Theatrical Group changed its trade name to Disney Theatrical Group. DTG's Disney Live Family Entertainment signed a 10-year agreement with Feld Entertainment for Disney on Ice, Disney Live and other Disney productions in August 2008.
In 2010, Disney Theatrical Group launched its free Disney Musicals in Schools outreach program in New York City. Disney Musicals in Schools allows participating schools to get free performance rights, professional teaching artists and ShowKit materials to one of seven 30-minute Disney musical specifically written for elementary schools. By the end of 2017, the program was available in 18 cities having added 5 more cities, including the first international city London, that year.
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On October 31, 2010, the group closed its Glendale, California office and cut staff in a DTG reorganization. In April 2013, Disney Studios initiated a 5% layoffs across all unit including DTG as the Disney conglomerate moves towards a reorganization later in the year. On April 28, 2014, the Group was an honoree at the Actors Fund Annual Gala. Disney India launched its Live Entertainment operations in 2015 with the production of Beauty and the Beast musical to be shown from October to December in Mumbai and Delhi.
No word before or after Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox about Fox Stage Productions' status post acquisition. However, the unit's head, executive vice president Cohen, who was also executive vice president of legal affairs, was laid off immediately after the Disney acquisition of 21st Century Fox in March 2019. On July 3, 2019, Fox Stage Productions was moved into Disney Theatrical Group as Buena Vista Theatrical division with all top executives leaving at that time.
In March 2020, The New York Times stated that 'A trade association representing producers and theater owners, said the 41 Broadway houses would remain shuttered at least through June 7'. Which puts the Disney Theatrical Group's Frozen performances on hold until possibly June 2020. On May 14, DTG announced that the Frozen musical would close permanently.
On September 28, 2023, The New York Times published an article noting significant leadership changes in the subsidiary, where Thomas Schumacher now holds the title of Chief Creative Officer, while Anne Quart has become the EVP and Executive Producer, and Andrew Flatt has become the EVP and Managing Director.
From Wikipedia’s article on Disney Theatrical Group, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4