This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:13] David Alpert: Welcome to E Ticket to Broadway, where Broadway meets Main Street.

[0:19] David Alpert: Here's your host, my pal, David Alpert.

[0:23] David Alpert: Uh-huh. Welcome to the 18th episode of E-Ticket to Broadway, where you and your fellow listeners are the only people to notice and celebrate the show tunes when you walk down Main Street. I hope this podcast has made you feel closer to both Broadway and the parks, and that it brings you joy.

[0:42] David Alpert: Please take a moment to follow the podcast on Instagram and consider becoming a supporter on Patreon to help support yours truly and also Gillana's Fund, helping to make the world a more accepting and inclusive place to be.

[0:55] David Alpert: I had a blast recording this episode with a fellow Disneyland cast member from the summer of 2005. After our time together at the happiest place on earth, he went on to star on Broadway in the original cast of Waitress with other e-ticket guests like Jesse Mueller, Kayla Settle, and Eric Anderson, and also appeared on Broadway in Jersey Boys and On a Clear Day You Can See Forever. Double check to make sure your mouse ears are securely fastened and get ready for Drew Gehling.

[1:30] David Alpert: Drew, thank you so much for joining. You know, this is we met six years ago, but only just learned that we both worked at Disneyland the exact same summer.

[1:38] Drew Gehling: I know it's pretty eerie. It's pretty eerie, the coincidence there. But thank you for joining on the podcast.

[1:45] David Alpert: So Drew, you're from North Carolina. Did you go to Disney World a lot as a kid?

[1:50] Drew Gehling: Yeah, um, I was born in North Carolina, but I spent the really early formative years living down in Southern Florida. My family lived in Fort Lauderdale, and so understandably then Disney World is a pretty integral part of everyone's life down there. It's just it's close, it's accessible, it's a part of the fabric of things that you do when it's not unbearably hot outside, and sometimes even when it is unbearably hot outside. So I went to Disney World pretty regularly as a kid, but had never gone to Disneyland until I worked there.

[2:31] David Alpert: And I know this and I love it so much, but what did you do when you worked at Disneyland?

[2:36] Drew Gehling: I uh it's really kind of crazy to—was it on a ride or, you know, at hideside? It would have been kind of great to have been on a ride because I feel like I never would have gotten sick of being on a ride. Not that I got sick of my job either because it was so quick, but I feel like being on a ride, you get that adrenaline rush kind of second hand from the people who are on the ride, you know, because you're just kind of watching these faces of people just totally gobsmacked as they get off and you're like nice, that's my day. I've played Prince Charming and The Huntsman, depending on what time you came to the performance in Snow White: An Enchanting Musical at the Fantasyland Theater.

[3:22] David Alpert: That's crazy.

[3:23] Drew Gehling: Isn't that nuts?

[3:25] David Alpert: It is nuts. And I saw the show I think the summer of maybe 2004, so before you were in it, and I loved it. I mean, my favorite movie of the Disney catalog is Snow White, and my favorite character is from the movie, and it was so fun.

[3:43] Drew Gehling: Mm-hmm. Had you did you get a chance to see it before you went into it or you just kind of rehearsed and went in?

[3:48] Drew Gehling: Yeah, it was weird because by that point it had been open for about a year and shows at Disneyland worked a lot like Broadway shows did in that there was definitely a machine. Whether or not you were there, the show was happening. So there was always a chance to kind of—and they really encouraged us going in and watching the show happen to just kind of get a feel for genuinely how hot it is in the theater and how many kids in the audience are screaming and making noise or just how loud it is and what it sounds like when the train goes by because the train would go by like clockwork. And it just kind of in all of these cases it was like just keep going. Just keep going. Just get through the show. So I'd seen it a couple of times, but had no idea what I was really in for until I strapped on the many layers of leather and rug in order to be on stage in it.

[4:57] David Alpert: Which was more distracting, the Disneyland Railroad or the ACE train under the Brooks Atkinson?

[5:03] Drew Gehling: You know what? We didn't hear the ACE at the Brooks that often.

[5:06] David Alpert: You didn't.

[5:07] Drew Gehling: Yeah. I don't know what they've done. Somehow, that theater is safe. However, I was doing a pretty raucous musical, so the quiet moments were pretty few and far between. So there it may have been really loud and I just didn't notice it, but it was nothing like when you're at the Lucille Lortel Theater down on Christopher Street, you can hear the PATH train, the one train, I mean, and it just shakes the whole building.

[5:39] David Alpert: The public?

[5:40] Drew Gehling: Yeah. Like if you're doing a show at Joe's Pub, that train shakes the building.

[5:45] David Alpert: Oh yeah. It rattles the ice in the glasses.

[5:59] David Alpert: What was the audition process like for Snow White: An Enchanting Musical?

[6:04] Drew Gehling: Well, I tell ya, Dave Clemens, who was the casting director for the project at the time, brought me in because he had just come to Carnegie Mellon and visited. As a casting director, a lot of times, you know, the musical theater programs and acting programs across the country will bring in casting directors to kind of just give the current students a taste of what it's like to audition for somebody. And so he came in and had auditioned all of us or essentially just said sing your sixteen-bar cut. And so I sang my cut or whatever, and he was like, "Hey, I think you might be right for this thing. If you're interested in moving to Los Angeles, would you want to come in and audition for this job? It pays pretty well," and I was like, at the time, I mean, I was twenty-one, so I was like, "Sure. Yeah, I'm in. Sign me up, dude."

[7:06] David Alpert: So and the prince, how long—I mean, was the prince in the show a lot? I mean, in the movie he's barely on screen.

[7:12] Drew Gehling: Yeah, I mean, he—no, never. I think he doesn't just—he first of all, the man just shows up and falls in love with Snow White. You know, he hears the song, you know he's into it, and from there he's on a nonstop train to win her back after never having gotten her in the first place. Wonderful, wonderful story. All the Gregory Maguire books had just kind of come out at the time, so the real purists in our midst were very much into it. But I had auditioned in New York and he pretty much just called the next day and was like, "Hey, they want to offer you this gig. Do you want to—would you be willing to do it?" And I said at the time it was like he was like, "Frankly, you'll go to LA and be there for a couple of months, and if you like it, you could stay, and if not, then you couldn't come back to New York."

And it turned out that the show didn't run past the summer of 2005, so when we finished at the end of the summer, they essentially shut down the show and they were gonna bring it back for the following summer for everybody that was still in town, but I didn't end up staying in town, so I didn't come back for the following summer, but a lot of people did.

[7:12] David Alpert: Do you remember any of your lines as the Huntsman?

[7:12] Drew Gehling: Oh gosh, yes, my queen.

[7:12] David Alpert: That's good. Yeah, I think that's gonna come across the radio really well.

[8:46] Drew Gehling: Yeah.

[8:46] David Alpert: We'll use that as a sound clip to advertise this. I'm gonna do it again just so we get it clean. All right, yes, my queen.

[8:56] Drew Gehling: Ooh, that's good. Because I strongly feel that the Huntsman is a pivotal role in Snow White. If he doesn't make that moral decision to not kill her, curtain.

[9:05] David Alpert: True.

[9:05] Drew Gehling: There it is. True. And you know what? The kids need to see that, that you know, it's not always gonna be clean cut and easy. It's you know, there's some moral quandaries in there. And also, I mean, honestly, it was way more fun to be the Huntsman than to be the prince because, you know, you're just kind of—nor as the prince, you're just, you know, you come on, you're singing your songs, and you got a little bit of an arc. However, the Huntsman shows up, arc complete.

[9:32] David Alpert: Arc complete.

[9:33] Drew Gehling: He gets given the task, he goes from being a servant of the queen to being a sympathizer with Snow White, and that is the extent of his journey. Then he's gone. He's like, "Uh, I'm done." We don't see him again.

[9:50] David Alpert: We don't, and what's funny is like, you know that he puts like a pig's heart in the box.

[9:54] Drew Gehling: Oh yeah. Do you think that like what happens, like what's act two for the Huntsman? Does he get a new job?

[10:00] David Alpert: No, he gets that attack. I think he flees the country, you know.

[10:03] Drew Gehling: He can't—he does what he's asked to do, but like I don't feel like the queen keeps the Huntsman on retainer, you know?

[10:12] David Alpert: Yeah.

[10:12] Drew Gehling: That guy just gets gigs as they come. And I think that he just found himself in a little over his head at this point. Being a Huntsman doesn't mean a hunter of men.

[10:21] David Alpert: What was that show? Like, the bounty hunter? Like, let's revive the bounty hunter show.

[10:24] Drew Gehling: Dog the Bounty Hunter.

[10:28] David Alpert: Oh god.

[10:29] Drew Gehling: But I think going to that, like the only characters in Snow White that have that arc are Grumpy and the Huntsman. Everyone else kind of stays consistent.

[10:38] David Alpert: Yeah, that's true. Do you have a favorite dwarf?

[10:42] Drew Gehling: Honestly, yeah. Sneezy is by far, by far the best dwarf. That guy has some savage hay fever.

[10:54] Drew Gehling: Nobody—it seems like maybe a mine is not the best place for him to work. Or in a house that's constantly full of dust. And then to combine off of that, all these animals come in from the woods. They clean up the house. I mean, his—it's gonna be worse. I mean, he's gotta be allergic to some kind of dander. I mean, this guy's got some serious problems. But you know what? Always a smile on his face. He could be the grumpy one, but he's not. Instead, Grumpy is Grumpy just for Grumpy's sake, you know.

[11:26] David Alpert: Who hurt him so bad?

[11:27] Drew Gehling: Who hurt Grumpy so bad? That's the story I work.

[11:30] David Alpert: Really wise.

[11:31] Drew Gehling: Yeah, that's good. I'm ready to create this spin-off series of every character in Snow White with you.

[11:36] David Alpert: Oh yeah.

[11:36] Drew Gehling: But you have to play every role.

[11:38] David Alpert: Oh, yeah. It'll be a real Rick and Morty kind of situation, you know. Like Justin Roiland style, I'll just be all of the characters.

[11:45] Drew Gehling: I think Dopey will be the biggest challenge because that's just an animator's dream. But Dopey, not only is my favorite dwarf, he's my favorite Disney character. I just love him so much.

[11:54] David Alpert: Explain why it's Dopey.

[11:56] Drew Gehling: You gotta clarify this.

[11:58] Drew Gehling: No, because for Dopey, he's everything I'm not. He's just so optimistic and happy and never has any problem with anything. He's just happy to be there. And I just admire him for that, that he's just consistently happy, and when the dwarfs are like, "Dude, you're the one that has to go see the monster upstairs," he's like, "Okay, okay." He does it. He's like, "Me? Oh yeah, yes."

[12:22] Drew Gehling: He's Chaplain. He's their Chaplain.

[12:24] David Alpert: He is their Chaplain.

[12:25] Drew Gehling: And actually, I remember watching a Marx Brothers movie earlier this year. I think it was Duck Soup. Is that it?

[12:30] David Alpert: Yeah.

[12:31] Drew Gehling: And I was watching with my friend Nick and I was like, "Gosh, that character really reminds me of Dopey." And then I did my research and was like, "Walt actually based Dopey off of that character."

[12:39] David Alpert: Really?

[12:40] Drew Gehling: Yeah. Incredible.

[12:43] Drew Gehling: So you know, it's funny. I always think like, did we pass each other out of Denny's or on the cash shuttle? But we didn't really meet until the years later. And didn't even put it together we worked at Disney until this past January at BroadwayCon.

[12:57] David Alpert: Bizarre.

[12:58] Drew Gehling: Because the thing is, you know, we probably took the tram together. We probably took that tram. Parked in the same lot.

[13:04] David Alpert: Yep.

[13:05] Drew Gehling: Right. Right. I walked in, have a car to clock in time.

[13:07] David Alpert: Oh, you didn't have a car when you were there.

[13:09] Drew Gehling: Yeah, I was a local. I was a local.

[13:11] David Alpert: Nice.

[13:24] David Alpert: So you said, Drew, that going to Disneyland the first time you went there was when you got the job. Do you have any rem—like what do you remember from your first trip? And as a—if you do say that the castle was small, I will hang up.

[13:37] Drew Gehling: Oh come on. We all know, we all know the castle is small.

[13:39] Drew Gehling: The castle is small. You know, but it's real stone. It's real stone. And you cannot re—it's—and you can't replicate the original. You know what I mean? It is the OG for all time. The thing that really struck me was because of the lack of space that they had on the property, you can see that the care and energy that was put into the best use of space possible. And I think the best example of this is Phantasmic because a thousand percent because I—and you can say the fireworks, fireworks are great, the fireworks are always great. World of Color, great, also great. It was built for the space, you know what I mean? But the idea that you can go out on Tom Sawyer's Island and you can dine at the Blue Bayou and then ride Pirates of the Caribbean and come outside and without even realizing it, all of a sudden the lights go down and an entire show complete with pyrotechnics, fireworks, flames on the lake just happens in a place that not two hours before looked completely innocuous and they were running the ships on like that. It's—I know it's magic.

[15:06] Drew Gehling: It's actually total magic. And to the point where I mean almost every day if people came to see me in the show because a lot of my buddies like that I had gone to school with had moved to LA were like, oh man, you can you can sign us in and I'm like, yeah, I can sign you in. And they were like, we're going to Disneyland and they would come and I would say just stay as soon as I'm done we'll go and we would always get VIP seats for Fantasmic and I watched it dozens of times. I just loved it. It just celebrated an anniversary and it's truly was my favorite show at Disneyland. And you know, they just updated a few years ago and I'm not a fan of the new one.

[15:47] David Alpert: Oh, interesting.

[15:48] Drew Gehling: Offline, I'll share my dramaturgical reasons why I prefer the original.

[15:52] David Alpert: Copy that.

[15:53] Drew Gehling: I mean, but hashtag bring back Peter Pan.

[15:55] David Alpert: Hashtag bring back Peter Pan.

[15:57] Drew Gehling: That's a, that's like come on choice. I just feel like, and I do want to work for Disney, so Disney, if you're listening, forgive me. I just feel like the villains haven't taken over yet, and Captain Hook doesn't strike us as a scary villain. But on Pirates when there's like zombies and skulls and you're like, what's this compass thing? I lose the story, and I just feel like Peter Pan is so classic. Yeah, and Captain Hook is such a purely driven villain with very clear hubris. You know what I mean?

[16:29] David Alpert: Yes, totally.

[16:30] Drew Gehling: You totally see both him and his greatest weakness in one package. And also, if you're gonna remove Snow White, which is not cool, it's not Rapunzel, and I love that song. But when you remove Snow White from the princess section, it doesn't quite make sense going into the evil queen.

[16:52] David Alpert: Oh.

[16:52] Drew Gehling: It's just a little bizarre. Anyway, more on that. I get that segue. Also, the evil queen from Snow White to this day might be the most terrifying villain transformation.

[17:06] David Alpert: Oh yes.

[17:07] Drew Gehling: She was horrifying.

[17:10] David Alpert: She was.

[17:12] Drew Gehling: And that ride, you know, they're changing the ride so it's not as terrifying. Do you know this?

[17:18] David Alpert: I didn't know this.

[17:19] Drew Gehling: Yeah, they're updating it. They're changing a few scenes so that it's not so freaking terrifying. I mean, it was terrifying as a kid, and now when I go on it as an adult, I'm like, oh yeah, I'm just playing pretend that I'm scared. But that witch, I mean, she comes at your boat, or your excuse me, she comes at your mine car a lot in that ride.

[17:37] David Alpert: Yeah, she's spooky.

[17:38] Drew Gehling: On that same note, I Mr. Toad's Wild Ride could not get any better. I love Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. That thing, it's unstoppable. It's just out of control. But and you're like this morally, I don't even know what is going on here.

[17:59] David Alpert: Yeah, I don't think anyone quite knows.

[18:01] Drew Gehling: But it's so weird to see as other stuff gets updated and altered and kind of modernized as it were. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride stays right there in the time where Mr. Toad goes to hell.

[18:18] David Alpert: He goes to hell.

[18:20] Drew Gehling: And like it's that moment when you're in the queue and you see like the ceiling fan on the exit part of the ride, and you're like, why is there a ceiling fan right there? And then when you're on the ride and you get through like the smoke and the heat, you're like, oh, that's why there's a ceiling fan. It's to clear the air. I mean, it is some crazy stuff.

[18:46] David Alpert: Drew, now that Disney owns Star Wars, I know that you're a Star Wars fan. Have you been to Galaxy's Edge?

[18:52] Drew Gehling: Yeah. I went to Galaxy's Edge over the summer when I was doing Almost Famous down at the Old Globe. And one of the women who was in the show, she and her fiancé did the Disney Cruise Line, and so we had our inn, you know what I mean? Because for you and I, I don't know if you still have a lot of buddies that still work at Disneyland, but I was kind of stuck. The only people that I really knew really well were also in Snow White with me, and when Snow White closed, it was hard to kind of they, you know, everybody kind of was scattered to the wind and ended up all over the place. But that being said, I still see and work with constantly people from the Snow White days. Like Squiggs.

[19:44] David Alpert: Oh.

[19:45] Drew Gehling: The Squiggs was a dwarf and I had no idea. Yeah, and now constantly, you know, has done illustrations of every Broadway show for the past decade and a half. I mean the man's work is great. Wildly prolific and is really him and Ken Fallon are making a run to just be the new Hirschfeld essentially like the stuff that he comes up with is so character driven and it's just like one of my biggest points of pride is when Squiggs draws you for something and you're like, oh this is great. But to your question about Galaxy's Edge, I went over the summer and I gotta say that the minute I crossed under the little tunnel way that you know their means of kind of separating it from the rest of the park and kind of came above ground, Kylo Ren walked by with like an entire bevy of stormtroopers and I just burst into tears.

Isn't that, it's really kind of weird but I it were somehow in this particular case and I maybe it was just how much I'd been looking forward to it and hadn't gotten the chance to go right when it opened, but it's like it was made for us. A bunch of like young millennials that want to finally get to live Star Wars in a place. I mean, because they had always had Star Tours and I'd loved Star Tours forever. I actually have not ridden the revamped version of Star Tours.

[21:31] David Alpert: Oh really?

[21:32] Drew Gehling: Yeah. I only, I've only ever gotten to go on the original, you know, which I loved. But this was something else. I got blue milk, I got green milk, I like the blue milk better. I did not manufacture my own lightsaber because it was so early in the day and I didn't want to have to carry it around all day.

[21:55] David Alpert: Sure.

[21:56] Drew Gehling: So you know, you can have Disney merch hold your stuff.

[21:59] David Alpert: Oh, they can?

[22:00] Drew Gehling: Oh, that's good to know.

[22:02] David Alpert: That's true. You know, I'm not a Star Wars fan, I'm actually watching the movies now for the first time, and my favorite thing about watching the movies is recognizing that music from Star Tours.

[22:12] Drew Gehling: I do not believe that you have not seen the movies.

[22:15] David Alpert: I'm catching up.

[22:16] Drew Gehling: But I'll tell you when they announced Galaxy's Edge, I was confused. I was like, that's a third park or third gate, excuse me. That doesn't quite, I don't want them to change Disneyland, but Disney released this film of Star Wars fans going to Galaxy's Edge right before it opened, and I was so moved by exactly what you're saying that the fandom for Star Wars loved it so much that I was like, okay, I get it. And they did something with the Smuggler's Run ride that was just, it's like they zeroed in on the idea that what is the one thing that every Star Wars fan has done, and it is picture yourself on the Millennium Falcon.

[22:57] David Alpert: Right.

[22:58] Drew Gehling: And the great thing about the waiting area on that ride is that, I mean, you can push all the buttons. I mean you are on the set. You are on the Millennium Falcon. Like you are getting ready to pilot it yourself. And it just captures the imagination so spectacularly for in a way that, I mean, let's be honest, all of their rides really do. And this just for them to kind of lend their expertise to something that I've always wanted, I mean, selfishly, was just great.

[23:52] David Alpert: What job do you think Dr. Pomatter would have if he worked in the parks?

[23:56] Drew Gehling: Probably a park medic. Sure. You know. Have you ever been there and had to see one of them?

[24:04] David Alpert: No, but I remember hearing, do you remember the traditions class?

[24:08] Drew Gehling: Yeah, of course.

[24:09] David Alpert: I mean, I hope we're not airing out any dirty laundry here because well, that's the thing. This is, yeah, this is all positive stuff too. You know, it's the details that there are no lost children, there are lost parents.

[24:19] Drew Gehling: Sure.

[24:19] David Alpert: And you know, that's the kind of stuff that I always liked. I think, but I think Dr. P would be a medic just because you would think that you'd want him as like a greeter or something, but I don't think he's, I don't think that would be his cup of tea. I think he might be a little overwhelmed by the guests.

[24:39] Drew Gehling: Yeah. I remember speaking of traditions, there was, you know, they talked that even though there's a Mickey in Fantasmic and then you see Mickey in the parade and you might see Mickey in Toontown, there's only one Mickey.

[24:50] David Alpert: Um, which is true.

[24:52] Drew Gehling: And I remember in Traditions we were all like, yeah, of course. Ha ha ha. And at the end of the day, they were like, okay, you're almost a cast member. You just need your name tag in here to present. And the curtain opened and it was Mickey holding our name tags and we all lost our minds. We're like, oh my gosh, it's Mickey Mouse and we were so excited. And but they give you the magic that's part of what they that and they're like and now you're in on it. Like it's, you're a part of it.

[25:17] David Alpert: Yeah.

[25:18] Drew Gehling: At San Diego this summer all of our crew guys at the Old Globe were wildly, wildly crazy collectors of the pins.

[25:29] David Alpert: Oh sure.

[25:30] Drew Gehling: Like these just massive pin collections that they would bring in and wear these sashes backstage with pins that would just catch all the light and be visible.

[25:40] David Alpert: Right.

[25:40] Drew Gehling: It was great. That kind of element of magic is what it's just one of the best parts about it. There's something for everyone to enjoy. Do you have a favorite ride?

[25:51] David Alpert: Hmm, I would say it genuinely depends on what day you ask me because I really like, I mean Space Mountain was and always will be the first roller coaster that I've ever been on and is the coaster by which I compare every other coaster in the world experience from like waiting in the line to riding it and my, you know, weird memory of riding it with my father for the first time when I was super, super little and you know and experiencing that ride as it's changed over the years and has been wonderful.

[26:31] Drew Gehling: I love that.

[26:32] David Alpert: I love that ride. Have you been on Space with the Star Wars overlay?

[26:36] Drew Gehling: Yes.

[26:36] David Alpert: Yeah.

[26:37] Drew Gehling: Yeah.

[26:37] David Alpert: And or Ghost Galaxy. Is that everywhere or is that just at Disneyland?

[26:42] Drew Gehling: I don't know, because I've only been to Disney World twice.

[26:45] David Alpert: Oh, interesting.

[26:46] Drew Gehling: Interesting. See, my girlfriend's only been to Disney World once, and it was when she was super, super young. So like my daughter and I are like, as soon as we can, we're like, we have to, she has to come to Disney World because it's just so, it's so massive.

[27:05] David Alpert: Oh, we'll be right back.

[27:08] Drew Gehling: Oh, what's the bad commercial?

[27:23] David Alpert: Fast Pass.

[27:29] Drew Gehling: Okay, Drew, so this is Fast Pass Answers. After I ask you the first question, I'm gonna put 30 seconds on the clock.

[27:35] David Alpert: Okay, so whatever comes to mind, shoot out the answer. Cool?

[27:39] Drew Gehling: Cool.

[27:41] David Alpert: Go. Okay, Drew. Name a song from Snow White.

[27:46] Drew Gehling: One song.

[27:47] David Alpert: Favorite snack in the parks.

[27:50] Drew Gehling: Churros.

[27:51] David Alpert: Favorite Disney movie.

[27:54] Drew Gehling: Treasure Planet.

[27:55] David Alpert: Name a ride in Fantasyland.

[27:59] Drew Gehling: Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.

[28:01] David Alpert: Favorite Broadway musical.

[28:07] Drew Gehling: City of Angels.

[28:08] David Alpert: Name an actress to play Jenna on Broadway.

[28:11] Drew Gehling: Shoshana Bean.

[28:13] David Alpert: Favorite Pixar movie.

[28:15] Drew Gehling: Time.

[28:17] David Alpert: I'll let you answer.

[28:18] Drew Gehling: Favorite Pixar movie would be Bugs Life.

[28:22] David Alpert: Bold.

[28:23] Drew Gehling: I love Bugs Life. Treasure Planet. It was either going to be Treasure Planet or the Black Hole.

[28:30] David Alpert: Have you seen the Black Hole?

[28:31] Drew Gehling: I have not.

[28:32] David Alpert: That's a deep cut.

[28:33] Drew Gehling: That's like 1979.

[28:35] David Alpert: Not Black Cauldron.

[28:37] Drew Gehling: No. The Black Hole.

[28:38] David Alpert: Live action.

[28:39] Drew Gehling: No idea.

[28:40] David Alpert: Spooky.

[28:41] Drew Gehling: That'll be our next podcast.

[28:43] David Alpert: Hmm.

[28:43] Drew Gehling: We talk about just like deep cut Disney movies.

[28:47] David Alpert: Like Darby O'Gill and the Little People.

[28:49] Drew Gehling: Yeah. You did very well, Drew. Well done.

[28:51] David Alpert: Ooh. That was exciting. I'm like, I'm a little like shaking from, there's been like meltdowns.

[28:58] Drew Gehling: People get caught up on book.

[29:00] David Alpert: Yeah, because it's not a lot of them are just, it's fine until suddenly you're like favorite Broadway musical, and I'm like, that's a huge field.

[29:08] Drew Gehling: What did you say?

[29:09] David Alpert: City of Angels.

[29:10] Drew Gehling: Oh yes. Hold on, you're thinking ears. It's trivia time.

[29:20] David Alpert: Oh boy.

[29:23] Drew Gehling: So clearly there's a theme to this episode, which is Snow White, because you mentioned it earlier, but Dopey truly is my favorite character.

[29:30] David Alpert: Oh yeah.

[29:30] Drew Gehling: He's a piece of work. My apartment is jam-packed with Dopey characters. I just love it because dude, I love how you view life.

[29:42] Drew Gehling: Like, how do you handle anxiety?

[29:44] David Alpert: He wears green.

[29:45] Drew Gehling: He wears green.

[29:46] David Alpert: I wear green sometimes, but okay.

[29:48] David Alpert: So Drew, here is her trivia, and because we're talking about Snow White, we're gonna stay in that lane. So the voice of Snow White, Adriana Casalotti, gave voice to another classic movie released just two years after Snow White in 1939. In which movie can you hear her voice?

[30:06] Drew Gehling: I don't know.

[30:11] Drew Gehling: I know how she got the part as Snow White, but I don't I don't know who I don't know. This is some deep trivia that I love. So give it to me.

[30:18] David Alpert: Well, name can you name a really very famous cult movie that came out in 1939?

[30:24] Drew Gehling: Would it be like not like Casablanca?

[30:26] David Alpert: No, but you're in the same, you're like hovering in the same world.

[30:31] Drew Gehling: Oh, 1939.

[30:34] David Alpert: So I'll tell you, like Gone with the Wind was around the same time. But like family MGM, big ol' musical, one of the most famous movies.

[30:46] Drew Gehling: Okay, where does it where does it take place?

[30:49] David Alpert: Well, in two places. One in the middle of America, and then in a fantasy land.

[30:57] Drew Gehling: She's not in the Wizard of Oz.

[30:59] David Alpert: Oh, she's in the Wizard of Oz.

[31:02] Drew Gehling: She's uncredited.

[31:04] David Alpert: Is she one of the munchkins?

[31:05] Drew Gehling: She's not. But in the song If I only had a Heart, the Tin Man Sings, Wherefore Art Thou?

[31:11] David Alpert: Or excuse me. Wherefore Art Thou, Romeo, that's not her.

[31:14] Drew Gehling: That is her.

[31:15] David Alpert: Is that really?

[31:16] Drew Gehling: It's totally her.

[31:17] David Alpert: Oh my gosh.

[31:19] Drew Gehling: She's blowing my mind right now. That's huge. That's huge. Yeah. No idea. I love it. It's because I definitely went through Wizard of Oz phase in middle school. Um it's a it's an incredible film.

[31:31] David Alpert: Oh yes.

[31:32] Drew Gehling: Also, I'm gay, but yeah.

[31:34] David Alpert: Well.

[31:35] Drew Gehling: That does come with the territory. But I just remember learning that and I was like, wow, you're taking two of my favorite films and overlapping it. That that that just that I'm shook right now.

[31:45] Drew Gehling: Now here's something else that I learned and kind of doing some research. In the early 1990s, when the Snow White Grotto was uh refurbished at Disneyland, she re-recorded I'm Wishing at the age of 75.

[32:00] David Alpert: Isn't that nuts?

[32:02] Drew Gehling: So wait, so the So that recording that then ended up they ended up using at Disneyland was 75 year old version of her?

[32:10] David Alpert: Yes.

[32:11] Drew Gehling: Oh man. That's incredible. I love it.

[32:14] Drew Gehling: Yeah. She only recently passed away.

[32:17] David Alpert: Wow.

[32:18] Drew Gehling: But she's my hero. It's time for some tough choices. Let's play Tweedledee or Tweedledum.

[32:28] David Alpert: Here is Tweedledee or Tweedledum. I'm gonna give you two options, and you can just tell me which one you prefer. Go. First one, Tweedledee or Tweedledum, Han Solo or Luke Skywalker.

[32:34] Drew Gehling: Han Solo.

[32:40] David Alpert: Wow. No hesitation.

[32:42] Drew Gehling: None.

[32:42] David Alpert: Okay. Teacups or Dumbo.

[32:45] Drew Gehling: Dumbo.

[32:46] David Alpert: Wow, classic.

[32:48] Drew Gehling: Both original attractions.

[32:50] David Alpert: Both original attractions.

[32:52] Drew Gehling: Teacups are um uh y it's tea teacups are like you gotta start that timer, and it's fun for exactly the length of time that it goes.

[33:02] David Alpert: Yeah.

[33:02] Drew Gehling: Anything beyond that, ooh, gets.

[33:05] David Alpert: Are you a spinner or do you just like sit and enjoy the ride?

[33:08] Drew Gehling: Absolutely spin.

[33:09] David Alpert: Yeah.

[33:09] Drew Gehling: Absolutely spin. Do you like while you're waiting in the queue, do you look and be like, I think the purple teacup is the fast one?

[33:15] Drew Gehling: I do. I I do try to like, you know, because you can make a break for it. You you get in there and you can definitely yeah, you go for the good one.

[33:22] David Alpert: Tweedledee or Tweedledum, Dole Whips or Churros.

[33:26] Drew Gehling: Uh, ooh, that's a good idea. I love churros. Those churros are so tasty. But Dole Whip is also very good. And apparently Disney has released the recipe for the Dole Whips.

[33:35] David Alpert: They have.

[33:36] Drew Gehling: Which I have not yet uh tried, but I'm I'm about to.

[33:40] David Alpert: I know you're doing tonight.

[33:41] Drew Gehling: Yeah, yeah, maybe it's but probably Yeah, that's the first one. You're watching Wizard of Oz.

[33:45] David Alpert: Watching Wizard of Oz and having Dole Whips.

[33:48] Drew Gehling: Spot in that voice. Um okay, final Tweedledeeer Tweedledum. The Enchanted Tiki Room or Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.

[33:55] Drew Gehling: Oh, great moments with Mr. Lincoln.

[33:56] David Alpert: Nice.

[33:59] Drew Gehling: Although the song from the Tiki Room, the Sherman Brothers. Sherman Brothers did no wrong in their life. Um, yeah, and also wrote the most catchy songs in the history of Americana. I mean, between It's a Small World, the entirety of Mary Poppins, the Tiki Room, all that stuff from Jungle Book.

[34:16] David Alpert: Everything.

[34:17] Drew Gehling: I got to I got to meet Richard, I believe Richard, in LA after an opening, and he's not necessarily recognizable, but of course I was like, oh my gosh. And I think all I could muster up to say was thank you for the soundtrack to my childhood.

[34:33] David Alpert: Because I mean, when you mean Was he like, get away from me, kid?

[34:36] Drew Gehling: No, he was so sweet.

[34:40] David Alpert: Yeah, yeah.

[34:41] Drew Gehling: Like smoking just like mad at me.

[34:56] David Alpert: Drew, because you played a prince at Disney, we've got the Princes of Disney quiz.

[35:02] Drew Gehling: Oh, oh. I don't know how good I'm gonna do at this one.

[35:05] David Alpert: I think you're gonna do what one of the ones who actually already answered for me throughout this podcast. So you're gonna do great. Bring it.

[35:11] David Alpert: Okay, Drew, here's her first question, and it's a multiple choice answer. So I'll read you the question and all the answers after that. First one. You played the Prince to Snow White. What is his real name? A Prince Flounder, B, Prince Florian, or C, Prince Frederick?

[35:31] Drew Gehling: It's B, Prince Florian.

[35:33] David Alpert: You are correct. I'll add it in a sound of like bells, it'll be great.

[35:38] Drew Gehling: Uh so good. In Aladdin, Prince Ali enters with a huge parade with many compliments thrown his way. The parade tells everyone to do what for Prince Ali? A, step aside. B, send praise, or C, make way?

[35:53] Drew Gehling: Make way.

[35:58] David Alpert: Make way. For Prince Ali.

[36:01] Drew Gehling: Come on. Yeah, there it is. Come on. You have to sing it. That's the only way. God, that that movie holds up.

[36:08] David Alpert: It's just so good. I mean, do you remember though, as as children of the eighties and nineties, as we were, um, when the original soundtrack came out and they had a lyric that then was changed?

[36:22] Drew Gehling: Oh yeah. Where they?

[36:34] David Alpert: Can we say that?

[36:35] Drew Gehling: I don't know. I'll beep it out or something.

[36:38] David Alpert: Okay.

[36:38] Drew Gehling: Yeah.

[36:39] Drew Gehling: But I remember as a kid being like, oh. That was my first indication of like how the world can change.

[36:45] Drew Gehling: Also, it was right out of the gate. It was like the it's like the first line in the film.

[36:51] David Alpert: Yeah.

[36:51] Drew Gehling: Third question for the princes of Disney quiz. Mm-hmm. And you're gonna nail this one. What is the name of the prince in Sleeping Beauty? Is it A, Prince Philip? B, Prince Pomoder, haha, or C, Prince Patrick?

[37:07] Drew Gehling: It's Prince Philip.

[37:09] David Alpert: Of course, it is. But the follow-up, what is the name of the horse?

[37:13] Drew Gehling: Oh gosh. I can see him.

[37:16] David Alpert: Mm-hmm.

[37:16] Drew Gehling: It's a biblical name.

[37:20] David Alpert: Is it like Isaiah or something?

[37:22] Drew Gehling: No, that's Guys and Dolls. Oh gosh. His name is.

[37:30] Drew Gehling: Oh man. I'm gonna I'm we're we're going yeah, we're going with Ezekiel.

[37:36] David Alpert: It's not Ezekiel.

[37:38] Drew Gehling: It's actually Samson.

[37:39] David Alpert: Samson.

[37:41] Drew Gehling: Oh, that's right. I was Samsonite. I was way off.

[37:45] David Alpert: Yeah, yeah, it was. They actually the original choice was Mordecai, and then they changed it to Samson.

[37:50] Drew Gehling: They were dark.

[37:52] David Alpert: Too dark.

[37:53] Drew Gehling: Too dark. Question number four. What kind of dog is Max, Prince Eric's dog? A, a terrier, B, a sheepdog, or C, a golden retriever.

[38:04] Drew Gehling: He's B a sheepdog.

[38:07] David Alpert: Yes, he is. He's gotta blow that hair out of his face.

[38:10] Drew Gehling: Yeah, no kidding. You are four for four. I mean, w except for the follow-up on on the horse, even though he's gonna feel the prince. I'm feeling a little I'm feeling a little bummed about that, but that's extra credit. You're okay.

[38:23] David Alpert: Oof. Okay. Final question for the Princes of Disney quiz. Can't wait. Which Broadway actor voiced Prince Hans in Frozen? Is it A. Santino Fontana? B. Will Swenson? Or C, Harvey Feierstein?

[38:43] Drew Gehling: Although Harvey would have been the obvious choice. And uh Swenson would have been the evil choice. I think um the uh the the actual correct answer here is a Santino Fontana.

[38:56] David Alpert: You're right.

[38:57] Drew Gehling: Yeah. I um it's so fun. It's so funny. I w we kind of moved to New York at exactly the same time, and uh I I it it still blows my mind that that he is a Disney villain and a Disney prince all at the same time.

[39:12] David Alpert: Is that the first Disney prince who's a villain?

[39:16] Drew Gehling: I think so. Right? Ever everybody else is is either an eligible bachelor or I and I guess Quasimoto isn't really a prince.

[39:26] David Alpert: Here's a bold thought. Is Mufasa the king? Would that make Scar a Prince?

[39:33] Drew Gehling: Yes.

[39:35] David Alpert: Maybe. I don't know how the royalty works at Pride Rock.

[39:38] Drew Gehling: That's true. Yeah, I I think so. But but then he becomes the king, so he's the evil, he's an evil king, right?

[39:45] Drew Gehling: But he was but when Mufas is alive, Scar is evil and he's a prince.

[39:49] David Alpert: Prince Scar.

[39:49] Drew Gehling: Yeah, I guess so. Technically, if you're the brother of the king or queen, you are a Prince. Prince, correct?

[39:55] David Alpert: Yeah.

[39:57] Drew Gehling: Wow. Wow. Oh gosh. Yeah, because Queen Elizabeth's sister is Princess Margaret, right?

[40:05] David Alpert: I don't know the answer to that. If it's not from Disney Parks or Broadway, I'm like, I don't know.

[40:10] Drew Gehling: I'm thinking the crown. I'm like, okay.

[40:11] David Alpert: The crown.

[40:12] Drew Gehling: Oh, yeah, I got that.

[40:13] David Alpert: You did it incredibly well, Drew. Good job.

[40:15] Drew Gehling: Five out of five. I'm really impressed with my with my uh with my trivial knowledge here.

[40:27] David Alpert: Drew, what's the first thing you're gonna do the next time you go to the parks?

[40:31] Drew Gehling: Uh I really, really want to ride Rise of the Resistance.

[40:34] David Alpert: I knew you would say that. That's a great one.

[40:35] Drew Gehling: I really want to. But also, um I I the first night that I'm there, we we've been doing this thing where we uh we w I have a six year old daughter and um my girlfriend and I like to load her into the laundry basket and watch virtual rides of um of the which as you know does not anywhere come close to measuring up to the actual live experience. But you know, sometimes you take what you can get when you really need your hankorn for Disney. But um I watched the new fireworks show at the Magic Kingdom, and it is ten out of ten amazing.

[41:00] David Alpert: Ten out of ten.

[41:10] Drew Gehling: So I have to go to that and I have to have a good seat.

[41:14] David Alpert: That's a key.

[41:14] Drew Gehling: Gotta be able to see. Last time we were there, I saw the Main Street Electrical Parade, which really crushed it.

[41:22] David Alpert: Yeah, totally.

[41:23] Drew Gehling: But fireworks. I need some I need I need some fireworks right now.

[41:27] David Alpert: Have you brought your daughter Annie to the parks?

[41:30] Drew Gehling: I I have. She uh she has been to Disneyland with her mom um uh uh once uh no actually twice. And uh but um for for Christmas this past year, or actually this the year before, um uh Santa brought a letter uh and surprised us with a trip to to Disney World. So just just her and I. So we go down and we stayed at the Grand Floridian, which if at Christmas time they decorate incredibly with like a life-size uh gingerbread house, and um we blasted through and rode every ride and hit all the parks miraculously. And this is before um Galaxy's Edge even opened, and it just blew her and my minds at at the same time, and I it it's the only place that has the power to be uh just she she's obsessed with princesses.

I mean, all she wants to do is dress up in in her in her like in her Elsa outfit and then her Anna outfit, and um like we're just super now the with the live action versions of the films coming out. I'm totally a purist, but I've never said no to anything. So it's uh um it it's great to be able to kind of give her um the experience of of exp of you know getting to take in these amazing works uh on on our own time and with Disney Plus that's suddenly possible to not only watch the features but but those tiny little animated shorts that we that we remember from when we were kids too that you used to really only be able to have access to when you were at the parks and you could watch it on like the park channel. So I I'm I'm a fan for life, she's a fan for life. We're you know I I I I can't ever imagine a time when that's not where I'm gonna run the minute I can.

[43:40] David Alpert: Drew, thank you so much for chatting with me today about Disney Parks and Star Wars and your your job in Snow White and enchanting musical. Can't believe it. You were wonderful, and the trivia was great too.

[43:52] Drew Gehling: Ah, nice. Thank you. You're a wonderful host, and thanks so much for having me on the podcast. And of course I I I really look forward to hearing who else you get to talk to and whether what other amazing stories come out of this.

[44:03] David Alpert: Yeah. Cool. Well we'll see you at the parks.