‘Not really a concert, not a vaudeville or a revue, but a grand mixture of comedy, fantasy, ballet, drama, impressionism, colour, sound and epic fury.” That is how Walt Disney described his film Fantasia shortly after its 1940 release. So the latest immersive experience to dig itself in at the Vaults has a lot to live up to.
Directed by Daisy Evans, who staged Janáček’s Cunning Little Vixen at the Vaults last year, this homage ideally requires familiarity with the film. But it is not a recreation. Mickey Mouse, whose misadventures with an enchanted mop made The Sorcerer’s Apprentice into a slice of animation perfection back in 1940, is not involved.
There are six installations, and a slight feeling of a work in progress. In a dimly lit cavern, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice gets a wet, splashy and sometimes menacing reworking in dance; the Nutcracker Suite brings a walk through glowing hothouse flowers, designed by Kitty Callister. Every theatrical illusion is close enough to touch. But the glowing volcanoes in the Rite of Spring room are less scary than Stravinsky’s music, and Mussorgsky’s Night on Bare Mountain gets an underwhelming video treatment that slights its driving rhythms.
The music, which plays through headphones, has been newly recorded by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra under Stephen Higgins – a relief, as the bombastic performances under Leopold Stokowski will for music buffs be what dates the original film most.
But this show is not really aimed at music buffs. Who is it for? Two likely types will be found lingering in the central room where Ponchielli’s Dance of the Hours plays, with four dancers cast as ostrich, hippo, elephant and an aerialist crocodile: on the mezzanine, where children can get creative with a costume mannequin and a whiteboard, or at the bar, ordering Instagramable cocktails.
There’s another reason to stay in that room. Along with The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, it’s the only installation involving real people performing live – and if there’s an unexpected message to take away from a show that’s a tribute to an animated film, it’s that humans trump a screen every time.
• Sounds and Sorcery: Celebrating Disney’s Fantasia is at The Vaults, London, until 30 September.
