I presented this show proposal at Disney's Creative Idea Forum to Show Directors, Producers and Comcast Managers from Disney's Creative Entertainment Department. At the end of my presentation, despite not having accepted a show idea in years, several producers and managers informed me that my idea was so well received that it would be proposed in future meetings as a potentially viable show for Disney's EPCOT Park.

 

 

Proposal:

We introduce authentic forms of traditional African storytelling to the Africa Pavilion at EPCOT (and possibly Disney’s Animal Kingdom), both year-round AND for the Holidays.

Establishing Criteria:

I asked a number of guests, informally, what made Disney truly special for them. The overwhelming response was: Rides are great. Stage shows are fun...but what REALLY makes Disney come alive is when the Magic spills out of the Building into the 'Real World.' So I looked at areas of the parks that we could better utilize in terms of guest flow and where we could create familiarity. From this, I developed four criteria:
 

The Show must -

1. Bring guests to less used areas of the parks (to use the space more efficiently)

2. Introduce new content that creates familiarity and adds value to that area

3. Create new performance opportunities for our cast

4. Challenge the "Fourth Wall" (the imagined barrier between actors and audience)

Solution:

We do this by introducing an authentic character from African tribal life: "The Griot." A Griot is the keeper of stories in African culture. More than just a bard, the Griot advises tribal leaders, transmits wisdom and preserves the culture of a tribe, making him a type of leader as well. Three to five times a day, in the Africa pavilion at EPCOT, the Griot immerses families in African fables, myths and, for a longer show, fairy tales.

Show Logistics:
A regular non-holiday fable might start like this -

- A Conductor enters with a drummer and a thumb piano player. The conductor organizes the audience and performers. He says, “The Griot is coming! The Griot - keeper of stories and wisdom, advisor to Kings is coming!”

- For a fable, he picks volunteers to be different animals, each with his own mask or headdress - typically children, but the "bad guy" is always an adult.

- Then he teaches the audience calls and responses, as well as what movements the volunteers go through.

- When the Griot enters, he begins by yelling Crick! And the audience yells "Crack!" Then the Griot asks, “Are you ready?” And the audience responds, "We are ready!"

- The Griot then begins his story, with the volunteers going through simple movements (guided by the conductor) that add emphasis and comedic value, while the musicians create background and sound effects. The audience choruses certain lines and movements so that they become part of the story by creating the magic.

- At the end of the story, there is applause for the volunteers, and there can be an opportunity for them to keep their masks or at least make their own versions.

- Then as people exit, the Griot leaves while the musicians play. Finally, the musicians and conductor exit.

 

Example:

Anansi and the Strange Moss-Covered Rock

For this example of a fable, when the conductor raises his left hand, the audience shouts, "What a strange moss covered rock!" When the conductor raises both hands up, the audience claps as they yell, "KA-BOOM!" The drummer bangs his drum at the same moment as the clap and the volunteer onstage falls fast asleep!

 

The Griot tells the story of Anansi the Trickster – the lazy, selfish spider who discovers a magic rock. When an animal stands before it and exclaims, "What a strange moss covered rock!" – "KA-BOOM!" – down goes the animal, out cold for an hour.

 

Realizing he could use the rock, Anansi leads animals to it one-by-one and gets them to exclaim, "What a strange moss covered rock!" – and "KA-BOOM!" – down goes each animal, out cold for an hour, allowing Anansi to sneak back to their houses and steal their food - food he likes but is always too lazy to collect himself.

 

While this happens, one animal - the Little Deer - watches Anansi play his trick. To teach him a lesson, the Little Deer collects some coconuts, lets Anansi see them, and then lets him lead her out to the rock. But every time Anansi tries to get Little Deer to say the magic words, she cleverly avoids saying them, until Anansi becomes angry and shouts, “You’re not saying what you’re supposed to say!” The Little Deer replies, “What am I supposed to say?” Anansi shouts, "You're supposed to say, ‘What a strange moss covered rock!’” – and "KA-BOOM!" – down goes Anansi, out cold himself! Little Deer then goes to Anansi’s house and returns all of the stolen food to the other animals.

Benefits:
The venue and the show itself afford several benefits to the guests:

 

1. They present an incredibly broad, deep, and rich culture that many guests may never have seen before, making something very exotic more familiar.

2. The stories themselves teach values to children that parents want them to learn: be generous, not selfish; be hardworking, not lazy. More importantly, the stories transmit these values in a way that is entertaining. Children have a strong sense of justice; they want to see the “bad guy” get his comeuppance. This creates ownership of the story because the children are the ones creating the magic that allows this retribution to happen.

3. It's a beautiful form of performance art that allows us a number of different mediums, including audience participation, ritual, song, dance and even puppetry and stilt walking.

Conclusion:

The African Storyteller Show fulfills all of our criteria to make the Magic “spill out into the real world,” creating a positive guest experience.