Interview with Woody from Disney Live! Mickey’s Music Festival

• By supernovamommy
• 15 February, 2013
• Comments Off

Interview with Woody from Disney Live! Mickey’s Music Festival

I was honored to get the opportunity to interview Bartley Mullin, who plays Woody in the Disney Live! Mickey’s Music Festival produced by Feld Entertainment.  Bartley grew up in Vermont, and since his father owned lots of movie theaters, he was always interested in performing.  He convinced his parents to let him study performing arts at the University of New Hampshire, where he also worked full time as a barista.  The talented Bartley was noticed, and he has been traveling with Feld Entertainment since 2009, performing in Playhouse Disney Live!  and Disney’s Phineas and Ferb: The Best LIVE Tour Ever!  

Read my interview with Bartley below:  

Describe what goes into a typical day of practice for the show.

We’re always trying to keep the show fresh and at its best. Before every show we have a notes session where our performance director gives us feedback on our execution of the choreography, blocking, and characterization from the previous performance. If something doesn’t look quite right, we get on our feet and our director or dance captain help us fix it so that everything is clean and enjoyable for the next audience. It’s an ongoing process because we always want to make the show bigger and better. 

I read that you grew up in the New England area, do you have wish to return? Do you have a favorite area of the United States that you have traveled to?

I love New England and could see myself returning to the area after I am finished touring. I really enjoy experiencing all of the seasons, whether I’m skiing in the winter or running along the seacoast in the summer. If I had to pick a favorite area of the United States that I’ve traveled to, I would choose the Pacific Northwest because of the beautiful mountains and rocky seacoasts. It’s similar, but still very different to where I’m from.

What do you hope families take away from Disney Live! Mickey’s Music Festival performance?

I hope that families will take the opportunity to escape reality with us when they come to see the show. We have many popular characters that you will see in Mickey’s Music Festival so there really is something for everyone. I believe that the retelling of these stories and interactions between these larger than life characters can help both older audiences relive their childhoods and encourage younger generations to let their imagination and creativity go wild.

As a mom of two boys, Woody is a favorite Disney/Pixar character in our household. Have you had any funny encounters with young fans?

Portraying Woody in the show is a huge responsibility since he is such a beloved character. Most of the young fans just seem star struck. We get a lot of little ones dressed up as Woody or Buzz in the audience and when you take a second to wave or nod your hat to them, they can’t believe you’ve acknowledged them. Of course mom and dad usually seem more surprised than the little ones!

Patriot Center

(4500 Patriot Circle, Fairfax VA 22030)
Sunday, February 24^th – 1:00pm & 4:00pm

Ticket Prices: $50.00 / $33.00 / $22.00
To order tickets by phone: 800-745-3000
Online:            www.ticketmaster.com