Disney stars jazzing up classic tunes at Downey Theatre

Garret Clayton is one of seven special guest singers announced to perform at the Downey Theatre on Sept. 29. He played “Tanner” in the 2013 Disney Channel Movie “Teen Beach Movie.” (COURTESY PHOTO)

DOWNEY - Some of Disney’s classic tunes will be jazzed up by some of the voices behind the entertainment company’s famous characters at a show coming to Downey in September.

“Swingin’ with the Mouse” will take the stage at the Downey Theatre on Friday, Sept. 29 at 8 pm.

Producer and musical arranger Pablo Rossil described the project as an “independent Disney Jazz collective.”

“Basically, we take Disney music and we write completely new arrangements in order to present them in a new light, as sort of a genre bend,” said Rossil. “This show specifically is a larger version of what we have done in the past in cabaret spaces.”

Singers will be accompanied by a six-piece band.

“Within jazz, much like in Disney, there is a varied group of styles you can do. We have swing, we have Latin rhythms like bossa, salsas, and cumbias. We have straight aheads, we have stuff in traditional time signatures, different keys. We switch up the tempos of things, so a little faster, a little slower,” said Rossil. “If you think about it, Disney is an American company, jazz is an American artform, and it just blends so well together.

“The same successes and problems that came with the birth and the life of jazz as we know it now are similar to the ones that Disney went through as a company. That may be a private company and jazz is a genre, but there are so many parallels to be found between two American artforms.”

Audiences will not only enjoy refreshed versions of some of their favorite Disney tunes, they’ll be hearing them from a handful of familiar faces and voices.

“The special thing about this show is we’re going to have some really cool guests that are actually originators of certain characters in shows and movies in the Disney canon,” said Rossil.

Garrett Clayton played surfer boy heartthrob “Tanner” in Disney Channel’s Teen Beach Movie. He is one of seven special guest singers that have been announced.

Clayton said that the show is “going to be beautiful.”

“Even if you jump into a previously stenciled piece of material, the thing that real jazz lovers know is that if there’s not freedom in, maybe there’s a scatting moment, or you’re allowed to change the notes a little bit, or if you’re on one of the instruments there’s built out breathed moments where it’s your turn to fly,” said Clayton. “I think that’s my favorite part of it, is everybody is allowed to shine in this, and after the first time I did this, I fell in love with that aspect because collaboration, and healthy collaboration is one of my favorite things.”

He said that he looks forward to seeing the audience’s reactions to “all these new surprises in the music for them.”

“I love the rendition of ‘Cruella De Vil,’ it’s always a smash hit with the audience. Even with ‘Poor Unfortunate Souls', the way that they’ve been almost taken apart and restructured, I think it’s such a cool way to approach these songs and no one has heard these songs this way before, which is why I always love seeing people’s reactions when they see,” said Clayton. “You know, they open it up and you see them and they’re like, ‘Oh yeah, I know what this is.’ But when they see what you’ve done to it and how it’s really like its own, it’s like a love letter to it, people’s eyes light up and they get really excited.”

Joining Clayton will be Keith David (“Dr. Facilier” in The Princess and The Frog and “Goliath” in Gargoyles), Deedee Magno Hall (The All-New Mickey Mouse Club), Leah Lewis (“Ember” in Elemental), Kaitlyn Robrock (the voice of “Minnie Mouse”), Jennifer Stone (“Harper” in Wizards of Waverly Place), and Richard White (“Gaston” in Beauty and the Beast).

Rossil said that the show is “unifying.”

“It’s finding a common denominator, something that a lot of people enjoy, and letting them celebrate it for two hours,” said Rossil. “It’s like a convention. Honestly, I’ve never thought of it this way, but it’s like a convention. You’re gathering a lot of people that care about a certain subject, you’re giving them content that is exclusive to those two hours in life, and someday, somebody is going to be able to say ‘I saw the guy that was a Disney star in the 2000’s and that was a Disney star in the ‘80s in the same room at the same time, and they made history – maybe not for the company – but they made history for me.’”

He said that “there’s always a connection to that material.”

“Kids that grew up in the ‘90s had Toy Story, had Lion King, had the Disney renaissance. People who grew up in the ‘60s had those princesses. Even grandparents and great-grandparents now had Mickey Mouse in the ‘20s and ‘30s,” said Rossil. “It’s always been around. Of course, Disney always comes with that tag of ‘kid,’ but in reality, we’re all kids.”

For ticket information, visit www.downeytheatre.org or www.broadwestentertainment.com.