Disney's Mulan, Jr. - A Rising Stars Production

A Review by Patrick Witz
Staff Reporter

Let's be honest, small groups of children in a room have the tendency to act either cute and enjoyable, or become irritating little brats. Our experience on Saturday July 15, 2015 in a large room with sixty-four children between the ages of six and fourteen years-of-age was not only cute and enjoyable; they as well exhibited huge amounts of talent and were wonderfully entertaining. My wife and I had the pleasure to experience the opening night of El Dorado Musical Theatre's live performance of Disney's “Mulan Jr.” at the Harris Center For The Arts at Folsom Lake College. Photo: Emily Fritz (Mulan)

Having seen the Disney cartoon movie version several times, I have to admit, the children truly brought life to the characters both in idiom and in song. Not knowing what to expect of a live children's play, I have to salute Production Director Debbie Wilson for a brilliant job in bringing “Mulan Jr.” to stage... especially with all the actor's being young children.

The thing that stood out most on stage was the humorous interaction and superb singing ability by the individual primary characters and as well the beautifully choreographed large group chorus’... kudos to Choreographer Kat Bahry and Vocal Director Samantha Arrasmith. The stage lighting and image projections intensified the visual appeal, and the sound system efficiently carried the music/tune. The actor’s microphones nicely reinforced the children’s angelic voices. The main stage props were mostly simple, yet effective. Photo: Emily Fritz (Mulan) and the Mulan cast.

I have to say the horses and elephant entry caught the audience by surprise, wherein the entire audience giggled endlessly into huge smiles. Considering “Disney’s Mulan Jr.” is a Chinese tale, Costume Coordinator Christine Martorana's costumes and make-up were superb and rounded out the production in colorful style. To her credit, I heard a couple of the actor's parents sitting behind us just prior to curtain rising, giggling at how they had difficulty recognizing their child's co-actors during dress rehearsal. Photo: Liam Roberts (Fa Zhou).

I was mildly surprised to learn there were two casts of children performing in this production, the Dragon Cast and the Firework Cast. Knowing this was the Firework Cast's first live performance, a number of the youngest children seemed understandably nervous performing in front of an almost sold-out theater audience. However, those anxieties quickly melted away early on in the first act. Going through the program more closely during admission, I noted several of my favorite cast members were performing in both casting groups. This fact leaves me assuredly confident, after having just experienced one fabulous performance, that the other cast I had not personally seen were equally as wonderful. Photo by Patrick Witz

Impressed is a mild term when it comes to these children's performances. They were simply outstanding on stage. Having auditions in May, then practice three days a week from 3:30pm to 6:00pm, with live stage production in early July shows immense dedication to the performance by the children AND their parents (considering all the children are between six and fourteen years of age). Memorization of lines, songs, and timing of choreography on top of homework and school activities, including graduations for some, has to be tremendously hard work. Believe me; they earned a well-deserved, long resounding standing ovation at the end of the play! Photo: Maya Ribadeneira (Grandma Fa), Emily Fritz (Mulan), Isabella Dondershine (Fa Li).

Following the play, I made an effort to walk through the vastly excited crowd (understandably with opening night, many were gushing parents) to personally congratulate the still in make-up and costumed performers. I was pleasantly impressed with the talented lead lady, Emily Fritz (age 13, aka Mulan), happily signing autographs for a couple of wide-eyed young children. Near her, together for pictures, were a couple of my favorite characters, Nick Ribadeneira (age 13, aka Mushu Dragon), and Maya Ribadeneira (age 11, aka Grandmother), only later did I came to realize they were related. I tried, but couldn't get close enough to the fabulous singing Ancestors to congratulate them; Riley Price (aka Loazi - Honor), Laura Roberts (aka Yun - Love), Izzy Weaver (aka Lin - Loyalty), Maggie Enriquez (aka Hong - Destiny), and Taylor Walczykowski (Zhang - Strength), as they were being mobbed by friends and relatives for photos in their stunning costumes. Photo by Patrick Witz

Having never been to the Harris Center for the Arts at Folsom Lake College, I was in total awe at not only the grand size of the theater, but as well the aesthetic beauty, comfortableness, acoustics, ease of access and parking. To be honest, I live on the “other side” of the river and didn't know it was there... then made a point to pick up a brochure for future performances... as I will return! Photo: Harris Center Stage

El Dorado Musical Theatre's Production of “Disney's Mulan Jr.”, with music and lyrics by Matthew Wilder, David Zippel, Stephen Schwartz, Jeanine Tesori, Alexa Junge, and additional music adapted, arranged and lyrics by Bryan Louiselle, is from a book adapted by Patricia Cotter. “Disney’s Mulan Jr.” is based on the 1998 Disney film “Mulan” and the story “Fa Mulan” by Robert D. San Soucik, and is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International.
Photo: The Mulan cast.

To say the least, I was very impressed by EDMT's production of “Disney's Mulan Jr.” and highly recommend spending an evening with sixty-four young children, tweens and teens... as they are without a doubt, a bunch of cute, enjoyable, hugely talented and wonderfully entertaining children. BRAVO! El Dorado Musical Theatre's Children's Production of “Disney's Mulan Jr.” will continue through July 19, 2015 at the Harris Center for The Arts at Folsom Lake College. Group discounts are available as well. Harris Center (Three Stages) 10 College Parkway, Folsom, CA. 916-608-6888, www.harriscenter.net Season Tickets are available to purchase for future productions including “A Christmas Carol”, “Holiday Celebration”, “The Addams Family”, “Hello Dolly!”, and “Disney's Alice In Wonderland, Jr.”  Photos courtesy Rick Wilson, EDMT

About El Dorado Musical Theatre: EDMT is an award-winning regional theater company based in El Dorado Hills, CA featuring performers aged 6-22. EDMT was founded in 2001, is a Non-Profit Organization and produces four major productions per year. Additionally, EDMT produces an annual training show for performers ages 5-9; no experience is required. Performances take place at the Harris Center at Folsom Lake College. El Dorado Musical Theatre is located at 5011 Golden Foothill Parkway #4, El Dorado Hills, CA  (916) 941-SING  Photo: Harris Center
 

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