LOS ANGELES _ It has been Kenny Ortega's job for the past 37 years to make sure the musical numbers in a film or TV production were in perfect step with the story being told. The choreographer-director has always known that one false move can trip up even the most interesting of stories.
"We read a script, we break it down and then we say 'This could be a great opening into the movie. This could be a great moment to transition into music. This could be a great moment to break into song.' Then we want to make sure the composers � the lyricists and the songwriters � understand they we don't want to throw out the importance of story and content that was there. We just have to continue it with song," Ortega says during an interview at the Disney Channel offices.
Ortega's latest work for the cable channel is "Descendants 2," a sequel to the 2015 made-for-cable movie that was a ratings hit drawing more than 12 million viewers. As the director, choreographer and executive producer of the original film and its sequel, Ortega has used his decades of dance experience to stage the musical story of the offspring of some of Disney's most infamous villains.
Dove Cameron, Cameron Boyce, Sofia Carson and Booboo Stewart reprise their starring roles as Mal, Carlos, Evie and Jay for the cable film that debuts at 8 p.m. Friday, July 21 on Disney Channel, ABC, Disney XD, Freeform and Lifetime.
The "Descendants" films aren't the first work Ortega has done for Disney. He was the director and choreographer behind the biggest musical franchise for the channel with "High School Musical." Ortega also directed the Disney films "Newsies" and "Hocus Pocus." Those go along with his work on such films as "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," "Xanadu" and 'Dirty Dancing" plus the recent TV version of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."
Ortega has designed and created Michael Jackson's "Dangerous" and "HIStory" world tours along with creating and directing the "Best of Both Worlds" tour by Miley Cyrus. He's also worked with Cher, Elton John, Bette Midler, Barbra Streisand and Madonna.
Whether he's working on a new Disney Channel movie or doing the Emmy-winning work for the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Sal Lake City, Ortega approaches the work with one unwavering plan. The music and dance must move the story along.
"The production can't just stop for a number. It has to be part of the whole story," Ortega says. "With the songs, we have to find a new way to continue the development of a character, the growth of a character, a relationship, sets up a conflicts, raises the stakes on something.
"Whatever that moment is where we want to take a scene and musicalize it, we aren't throwing the scene out. The song has to work for the scene."
In the case of "Descendants 2," those songs help tell the story of the children of the Evil Queen, Cruella de Vil, Maleficent and Jafar as they try to adapt to a life less evil. Maleficent's daughter, Mal (Dove Cameron) is having a very rough time adjusting because of her relationship with the son of Queen Belle and King Beast. The four eventually end up facing their old lives on the Island of the Lost and a new foe in Uma (China Anne McClain), the daughter of Ursula.
The introduction of Uma is an example of how Ortega blends music and story. Instead of having his characters deal with a forced dialogue to explain Uma's past, the information is presented through a huge musical number to the tune "What's My Name."
"That number also lets us show her anxiety and frustration. She feels forgotten, left behind, and she's going to take matters into her own hands. If no one is going to invite her off the island, then by hook or crook, she's going to find a way to do it herself," Ortega says. "We could have done that in a scene. It could have been a group meeting. It was before we musicalized it.
"We read it and knew it would make a great musical number."
He learned the lessons about the importance of dance and sing to a story through one of the greatest dance storytellers to ever put on a pair of dance shoes in Gene Kelly. Ortega got the chance to work with Kelly on one of his first feature film credits, "Xanadu."
That was the foundation that Ortega has built upon to give him the skills to continue to grow as a choreographer. Ortega admits that if you break down his work there is a core element of classic musical theater there but it's always been his mission to take the familiar and make it fresh.
"My responsibility is to keep one foot in the street. To make sure I'm paying attention. I'm watching," Ortega says. "Then it becomes a matter of hiring dancers who have that versatility and range. I have to want it and wish for it then what I have to do is build a team to make sure we can do it."
And in the case of "Descendants 2" that team helped Ortega present some very small and intimate numbers plus several massive dance scenes featuring hundreds of performers. Big or small, Ortega loves all the scenes because he gets to tell a story that blends words, music and movement.
Ortega's chiefly known for his work with musical projects but he has directed numerous television episodes where there was not a single moment when the lead actors began singing and dancing their way through the scene. His non-musical credits include "The Gilmore Girls," "Ally McBeal," "Chicago Hope" and "Grounded for Life."
Those programs didn't have specific musical numbers but they do have a connection to all of Ortega's musical credits.
"No matter what I do, I'm always trying to find the rhythm of a piece," Ortega says. "In the end, those productions almost have a kind of music drive. That's because it's what I love to do."
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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