Update: Upcoming Stream of Disney On Broadway’s 25th Anniversary Show Cancelled

Last November, Disney celebrated it’s 25th anniversary on Broadway with a one-night-only show to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

Earlier this week, Disney announced they would be streaming the event for one night in April to raise money for another cause. But unfortunately, it looks like those plans have been interrupted.

The show, titled Celebrating 25 Magical Years of Disney on Broadway, was originally scheduled to stream on April 13th. Proceeds from the event were to benefit the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS’ COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Fund, which provides assistance for entertainment workers hurt by the pandemic.

But unfortunately, the charity was unable to reach a deal with an industry labor union, so the stream has been cancelled. While both the Actors’ Equity Association and SAG-AFTRA labor unions had agreed to allow the concert to be streamed without fees, the American Federation of Musicians pushed back.

As reported by The New York Times, the union’s president, Ray Hair, stated, “During the height of this crisis, Disney Theatrical has come to us asking to stream media content without payment to the musicians involved in the production. Especially now, with zero employment in the entertainment sector, the content producers should care enough about the welfare of those who originally performed the show to see to it that they are fairly compensated when their work is recorded and streamed throughout the world.”

Both Disney and Broadway Cares have expressed their frustration. Disney Theatrical Productions issued the following statement, “Disney wholeheartedly supported the request from Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS to AFM to waive fees for this fund-raiser, just as many unions and guilds had happily agreed to do. It’s disappointing that in this case, due to AFM’s decision, much-needed funds will not be raised. We are fiercely proud to be advocates for Broadway Cares and will continue to be, especially at a time like this.”

Broadway Cares determined it couldn’t afford to pay the musicians for an already recorded concert without also paying the other unions. Thus, it decided there was no choice but to cancel the stream, which had been scheduled for Monday evening.

We were looking forward to checking this out, so we were disappointed to hear about the cancellation, but we’ll keep an eye out for any other Disney on Broadway content you can enjoy at home!

Have you seen any Disney on Broadway productions? Let us know in the comments!

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