Pocahontas - Le Spectacle

Report by Gerard de Vries

Story: This Pocahontas show is totally different from the one that runs in Anaheim. In Anaheim, it's a stage show like Beauty and the Beast (with all the sound pre-recorded) and during the show the story of Pocahontas is told in sound and vision. At DLP, the show is the shooting of a movie (by a 'director' and his 'assistant') based on the story of Pocahontas. This means that the story is divided into scenes, between which the director yells "cut" and gives directions to his cast.

Setting: The show is not set on a stage, but on a life set which contains an Indian village, small hills, some trees, a part of a river and a waterfall. The only thing that's fake is the waterfall, which they temporary turn off at one point in the show. The public seating area has a roof but the stage doesn't, so the show probably only runs in good weather conditions. Nice detail: the set is located in such a way that the 'stage' area is in the shade, but the top of the rock where Pocahontas appears is nicely lit by the sun, which gives an extra effect to her first appearance.

Sound: The music is pre-recorded, as are the background voices, but the lead vocals are all sung live. The only member of the 'movie cast' who has a microphone is the Governor. The rest of the 'movie cast' playbacks are sung/spoken by the three singers (who have very good voices). The director and his assistant also have a microphone so you can hear their directions. The lyrics are in English, so everyone can understand what is being sung/said.

Rating: It looks a bit silly when you see the 'director' walking around pretending to shoot the movie with a camera which doesn't even look real, but besides that the show is very good - especially the live singing. Note: because the theatre opens its doors just before the show begins, you'll have to wait outside in a queue in the sun, which could be quite annoying.

Update (22 August 1997): There has been a change in the cast, probably to reduce the cost of the show. At first the cast consisted of a "director", his "assistant", a sound-effects guy, three singers, a "sweeper" (who is to play the role of Ratcliffe), a group of Indians and a group of English people. This has now been reduced to a "director", one singer (who does the voice of Pocahontas), a sound-effects guy, a group of Indians and a group of English people - i.e. the two additional male singers have disappeared as has the "sweeper". Ratcliffe has become one of the English group, and doesn't have any live vocals anymore. The female singer has a bigger part in the show, partly "on stage", party to fill the gap of the "assistant".

Additional report by Peter Schouten:

Modelled after the style of the American Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular, we see the most brilliant director in the world telling us that we are not just an audience watching the filming of his latest project (Pocahontas) but in fact extras. A number of people will be selected to participate in the fun on stage during the comic scenes.

Special effects include a messy (but dry) interpretation of "Colours of the Wind" (that's why people get into the theatre so late - they have to clean up first!), burning water (the entire river), a bit of climbing and some fighting. Among the props is a very large model of John Smith's ship.

There is an actor who plays Kocoum, but there is no scene to explain who he is, and thus they have altered the lyrics of "Just around the Riverbend" from "Should I marry Kocoum?" to "Should I stay at home?". An early in-joke [now deleted] referred to needing someone to play Ratcliffe because the former actor has gone on to play in Hunchback (the real actor, David Ogden Stiers, was also a voice in Hunchback of Notre Dame).

Email