We wished, we hoped and we dreamed — and the Royal Castle Stage has come back to life! Given the kiss of life for the ongoing Christmas season, show director Katy Harris (Disney’s Once Upon a Dream Parade, Winnie the Pooh and Friends Too) has prepared a new enty in the park’s successful line of character “happenings”.

After Mary Poppins and Sleeping Beauty, Jérémie Noyer finds out what happens behind-the-scenes of a Happily Ever After…

Tell us about this brand new Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs event!

It’s what we call a “happening” that takes place at Castle Stage, where we presented Winnie the Pooh and Friends, Too some years ago, and Le Livre Magique de Mickey at the opening of the park. The idea is to celebrate our princess as Walt Disney’s classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs has just been released on Diamond Edition Blu-ray disc.

Since our show is 8 minute long, it’s not about re-telling the whole story. I rather selected highlights of the film that I interpreted in a spirit of celebration. So, we enjoy the greatest songs and scenes of the movie such as Heigh-Ho, Someday My Prince will Come and Whistle While You Work. It’s really a show about music, dancing and singing!

Where does the music of the show come from?

Actually, we made a new showtape out of arrangements that have been produced for the park in previous years.

How did you approach the choreography of the Seven Dwarfs?

I got my inspiration directly from the movie, and notably from the Dwarfs’ Silly Song sequence which we recreate on stage using the very same musical instruments: bass, cithar, flute and accordion.

I also played with picks and wheelbarrows. This “Waltz of the Wheelbarrows”, as we call it, is a brand new thing for me since I had never worked with such accessories before, and it was very interesting to set this up with the dance captains that are going to manage the show. Hence the choreography of the show is very diverse and fun, mostly because the Dwarfs play a lot with accessories.

As for Dopey, he also dances with Snow White, whom he’s secretly in love with… and then, there’s the finale with a big waltz — because the show is above all about a love story — danced by Snow White and her Prince, in which the dwarfs take part, in their own way, too!

Back in the late 1930s, the live reference model for Snow White was Marge Champion, who was a dancer herself, and who gave the princess all her grace. As a show director, choreographer and dancer yourself, how did you approach her movements?

To me, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the easiest of these films to adapt on stage since, as a dancer, Snow White’s movements are really characteristic. You recognize the steps, the style, the gestures taken from ballet. I watched the whole movie, focusing on key-scenes again and again to understand that corporal language fully, which I then integrated into my choreography and directing.

It’s such a pleasure to enjoy the Castle Stage — Le Théâtre du Château — again!

Because of the very nature of the show, we didn’t need any changes of costumes nor of scenery. So, this stage fitted perfectly. And most of all, I like its openness. We have a lot of space and an easy access. It’s a great stage to work on!

The show ends with a meet ‘n’ greet…

Indeed, so that our guests can meet Snow White, the Prince and the Seven Dwarfs. It’ll be a unique occasion for them to meet the whole Snow White family, all together!