“Princesses” Doing It For Themselves

Coral Drouyn talks to the dynamic duo behind the success of the Disney 100 concert.

They could easily be Disney princesses themselves; and not just because they are blonde and beautiful (though that doesn’t hurt). Mid-last century ‘Disney Princesses’ were vulnerable, often victims, waiting for a prince to rescue them. But then the world changed – and Disney changed with it. In the 21^st Century a Disney Princess is feisty, independent, pro-active, and certainly doesn’t need rescuing by anyone. Each is her own person. Which brings us to the amazingly talented Amy Manford and Genevieve McCarthy. They are the brains behind MM Creative Productions, which in turn is the brains behind Disney 100, a fabulous live concert celebrating 100 years of Disney magic with a full symphony orchestra and guest stars plucked from the top branches of the Musical Theatre tree, all accompanied by big screen footage from the Disney films we love.

So how did two talented young women from Perth come together and become novice producers, winning the approval of one of the largest, and most loved, entertainment conglomerates on the planet?

Amy tells me, “People always assume that our friendship stems from WAAPA – but it goes further back than that, to our childhood. I was doing rhythmic gymnastics and Gen’s sister was in my class. Some people actually think we are sisters, and perhaps we are even starting to believe it.”

Both are blondes, both Sopranos, both petite, both highly experienced and award nominated/winning musical theatre performers. But by the time Amy was involved with gymnastics, Gen was already appearing in Parallax, a Sci-Fi children’s show produced TV in Perth by Paul Barron, and when Amy went to WAAPA, Gen had already qualified as a lawyer. Amy would go on to find fame playing Christine in The Phantom of the Opera, including in London’s West End, and Gen, after leading roles in a spate of musicals whilst still juggling practising law, was accepted into London’s Royal Academy of Music to gain her master’s degree in musical Theatre Performance.

“We were having coffee together in London,” Amy tells me, “and we got talking about how much we loved doing concerts with a full symphony orchestra, and how there simply wasn’t enough of that in Australia”

Gen chimes in, “And we said…’we should change that, maybe form a company and produce something ourselves’. It’s something we believed in because, as much as we both love Musical Theatre we know that the next best thing to singing with a full symphony is being in the audience listening to it …it really can be a life-changing experience. But it was just an idea without a solid plan.”

And so MM Creative was born – not named for their surname initials as many supposed, but because both their dads are called Michael. But it wasn’t until Covid hit in 2019 – forcing both of them back to Perth, that the pipedream turned into a reality.

The girls (no…they don’t object to being called girls) explained. “We knew from our own experience that we got hooked on music while we were still kids, and so we wanted to do something which was suitable for young people that their parents would also love. The obvious answer was Disney…we all grew up with Disney and so many of the musicals have wonderful songs that we wanted to sing. So we decided to contact them.”

And just like that Disney said, ‘Hey, go for it’!

Well no. After all, it’s Disney – and they’re just….

“They didn’t know us, and they’re very protective of their product,” Amy explains. “So we started by sending emails, dozens and then hundreds of emails.”

“We just got bounced from department to department,” Gen adds. “I’m sure they thought eventually we’d just go away.”

“But we didn’t.” Amy chimes in determinedly.

“NO, we didn’t.” Gen concurs, “and eventually we were passed to the creative arm of the Disney Concert division. They admired our perseverance and our ideas. We found someone who took us seriously…far more seriously than the people we were dealing with here at home.”

The result was their first production, The Magic of Animation – a 50 minute concert performed to great acclaim in their home city of Perth.

“It was nowhere on the scale of Disney 100,” they tell me. “But it was huge for us. We’ve always believed in diving in head-first and don’t allow anyone to tell you NO.”

How difficult was it for them to persuade people they were serious producers?

“VERY!” They echo their reaction. “We passed muster with Disney, though they kept a creative input presence at every stage, but it was here at home that we met with the most resistance. We would turn up for meetings and often get treated as a joke, or asked who were the REAL producers behind us – and who was putting up the money? We knew we were green but we also knew our level of commitment. Mostly we chose not to be offended, because it’s counter-productive, but some people were really quite insulting. We just kept moving forward, refusing to be talked down to.”

Some even went so far as to suggest that this was just a hobby for them, something to do between shows instead of waitressing in coffee shops. “That was the most galling of all,” they concede. “The only company that never doubted us was Disney. Once they committed, they treated us as creative producers and with great respect.”

And now Disney 100 – the Concert, is a reality. Featuring both Amy and Genevieve with a full orchestra and guest stars it is a magical experience as far removed from a hobby as you could imagine.

It has already played 3 packed Sydney concerts, and will play 3 shows in Perth in April with more cities hopefully added as the year goes on.

Disney 100 will make its mark in the open air theatre at HOTA on the Gold Coast this weekend. “The open air theatre is amazing, but it will be a first for us and the show.” Gen and Amy concede. “But it is a family show and we hope people will bring picnics and make a special occasion of it. There are no Disney characters on stage, but there are huge screens full of Disney film clips and many of our most talented friends alongside us and the full Queensland Pops Orchestra. We want children to be inspired by the music. We hope they will come for the Disney content, but leave as fans of the music and concerts in general. Just as we did when we were young….well younger!”

HOME OF THE ARTS (HOTA), GOLD COAST, OUTDOOR STAGE - 2 PERFORMANCES FROM FRIDAY 31 MARCH – SATURDAY 1 APRIL, 2023