Disney’s Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue is back, presenting its hoot and a holler style of entertainment after an absence of more than two years at Fort Wilderness.
The six cast members of the Western-themed show burst into the Pioneer Hall dining area to loud applause Thursday for the first Hoop-Dee-Doo since Walt Disney World’s pandemic shutdown began in March 2020.
Much of the production is the same as when the show debuted in 1974, but there were modern references and asides worked in Thursday. The Six Bits Slocum character asked the crowd if they were ready for the show, but the applause wasn’t as loud as he expected. He resorted to what modern audiences recognize as a “make some noise” taunt, Hoop-Dee-Doo style.
“It’s been two years,” he said. “You gotta do gooder than that.”
As the production was revived, the revue was reviewed for content and staging, said Tom Vazzana, creative director with Disney Live Entertainment.
“You won’t notice. You know, that’s the beauty of looking at the script and making some thoughtful choices about words,” Vazzana said. “It’s the same show, the same heart, the same jokes. Everything’s the same, and those same six characters that are comedic archetypes in American theater history are all still there.”
Those characters — Jim Handy, Flora Long, Johnny Ringo, Claire de Lune, Dolly Drew and Slocum — sing, dance and incorporate audience members into the show. The vibe is high-energy Americana sprinkled liberally with quips punny dad jokes.
But there are quiet moments, too, such when Jim and Flora move to the middle of the dining hall for a medley of “Shenandoah” and “Red River Valley,” although even that turns into a rollicking rendition of “This Land Is Your Land.” The troupe presents “Clementine” as both sad and humorous.
“Another little thing we worked on is in the show, there’s a point we call dinner entertainment. That’s where people get to sing a song. Well, that used to always kind of be a secondhand fun thing,” Vazzana said.
“I decided that that should be as important and as artistic and as fun as the rest of the show,” he said. “We picked songs – some of them are Disney songs that resonate with a period and some of them are more established musical theater songs, like from famous Broadway shows that take place during this time.”
There’s a roster of songs the performers use, so shows vary at points. A sort of dueling banjo/ukulele number, was featured in Thursday night’s first show.
“A lot of you were concerned about changes,” the Slocum character said on stage. “Unfortunately, we kept the banjo player,” he cracked.
There have been changes with the technology for the show and to the set.
“We have a whole new scenic package that is popping and colorful and beautiful and pays tribute to the American West, like we never had before. We had an opportunity to change out all the lighting to update that,” Vazzana said.
“It’s not always just the stage show and the choreography and the words but all the backstage and support for all of the technical elements to update that took a lot of time, a lot of research,” he said.
Changes were subtle to the Hoop-Dee-Doo menu, too. The ribs and fried chicken are back, and strawberry shortcake still tops off the evening. Visitor feedback played a role, chef Julie Hrywnak said.
“We saw that mac and cheese was a huge request. I know pre-closure, it was going to almost every table but it wasn’t on the menu,” Hrywnak said. Now it’s brought to everyone, automatically.
“We took this as an opportunity to perfect our mac and cheese recipe,” she said. “We’re doing a cornbread croutons crust on it and really making it a Hoop special.”
Also new to the table is a creamy coleslaw. And there are six locally brewed beers as options.
“We also have our specialty beverage, the Giddyup. So that is a blend of Tito’s vodka, lemonade, and our own brewed sweet tea,” Hrywnak said.
At show’s end, which included a parade through the hall as audience members bang on washboards, the cast took a bow as the crowd roared again.
“I think people want funny. And I think that people like musicals, right? And this is a funny musical,” Vazzana said. “And, you know, we need this kind of thing right now.”
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