Created and written by three-time Emmy Award nominee and Grammy Award nominee Seth Rudetsky and Jack Plotnick, Disaster! parodies and pays comedic tribute to the genre of 1970s disaster films.
In the musical, according to press notes, a “group of New Yorkers attends the opening of a floating casino and discotheque that quickly succumbs to multiple disasters. These calamities correlate with plots of various disaster films of the 1970s such as earthquakes or killer bee incidents echoing situations from the films Earthquake, Towering Inferno and The Swarm.” Songs include such ’70s hits as “Knock On Wood,” “Hooked On A Feeling,“ “Sky High,” “I Am Woman,” “Hot Stuff” and “I Will Survive.”
“I loved being in Disaster!, but I think I'd love being in the audience even more,” stated co-author and actor Rudetsky. “It's all the best songs from the ’70s (pop, rock and disco!) and non-stop comedy for two acts. And what makes me happiest is that all ages loved the show on Broadway...the older generation used to dance to the music in the ’70s, the middle generation grew up listening to it and the young kids thought the score was original and loved seeing things like an earthquake making a chandelier fall on a woman in a party dress! I'm constantly running into people who tell me they saw the show three times or more! They would see it once and then come back bringing their friends and family.”
“I did not know what to expect going into the show and what I got was an evening of great music and hilarious fun. Most importantly, it was clear that everyone in the audience would have joined the cast on stage if given the opportunity. Clearly both the audience and the performers were having the time of their lives,” added Drew Cohen, president of MTI Worldwide.
The Broadway production was directed by Plotnick with choreography by JoAnn M. Hunter. Jennifer Simard received a Tony nomination for her performance in a cast that also included Adam Pascal, Faith Prince, Rachel York and Kerry Butler.
The Disaster! cast recording will be available by Broadway Records on September 9, and the musical will be available for licensing (with regional restrictions) in the fall.
For more information about MTI and licensing, call (212) 541-4684 or email [email protected].
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Music Theatre International (MTI) is one of the world's leading theatrical licensing agencies, granting schools as well as amateur and professional theatres from around the world the rights to perform the largest selection of great musicals from Broadway and beyond.
