“Harmonious Live” is a slickly packaged extravaganza that presented Epcot’s fireworks show in a new way on the Disney+ streaming service. The one-night-only affair added live performers, some glitz and unique angles to the usual evening spectacular.
“Harmonious” debuted Oct. 1 as part of the 50th anniversary celebration of Walt Disney World. It features pyrotechnics, water walls, fountains, lasers, projections, 15 Disney songs with international flair and the large ring/portal, standing in World Showcase Lagoon that some fans find to be, well, distracting, particularly in daylight hours. The show also must fill the legacy of its long-running predecessor, “IllumiNations.”
Here are a few notes made during the show from comfort of couch as opposed to figuring out which was the wind is blowing at Epcot.
Menzel moments
Host Idina Menzel looks happy to be there, enthusiastically setting the scene, interviewing musicians, throwing to a pretaped piece with “Frozen” co-star Kristen Bell and not getting tongue-tied in the slightest when introducing Auli’i Cravalho (“Moana”), who serves as “Harmonious” narrator for the evening. That’s a pro.
Menzel also carries a bedazzled mike. Everyone is gussied up like they’re on their way to the Golden Globes ceremony.
Lots to look at
Disney goes ultra-visual for the night. There’s a countdown clock on Spaceship Earth. The orchestra and some singers are stationed on a curvy, lit, tiered stage on the north shore of World Showcase Lagoon. The costuming is international and very Epcottish. There are singers in white suits and vocalists wearing choir robes. At one point we briefly see a performer perched atop American Adventure. Behind the stage are more screens, shaped like the half-moons that appear to emerge from the water.
All this atop the usual fireworks display and Disney animation.
The director hops between all these elements, so observers have things to look at beyond the usual “Harmonious” show, where the equipment literally looms at center stage. This makes the experience less mechanical.
Live … from Epcot
How is the night unlike any other Epcot night? Tuesday’s production included about 90 live musicians. We see instruments from around the world, including a sitar, a bagpipe and an accordion in the mix.
A series of soloists mine the emotions of the “Harmonious” soundtrack, including “How Far I’ll Go” from “Moana,” “Go the Distance” from “Hunchback of Notre Dame” and “Reflection” from “Mulan.” There are lighter moments from “The Jungle Book” and “The Lion King.”
There are brief hops over to Mexico pavilion for mariachi and to Italy pavilion for a “Princess and the Frog” gospel segment.
Quibbles and bits
There’s a lot going on, but sharing the names of performers (and titles of songs) would be great. (The artists names fly by in the end credits, naturally. That’s showbiz?) There was a teeny bobble when we could see stacks of bottled water behind Menzel at one point, but that also made it real and, of course, hydration is important.
The company made the resort attractive without trying to sell Disney Vacation Club memberships or saying “the transformation of Epcot.”
The production is still available to Disney+ subscribers.
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