A new nighttime projection show featuring a jazz score that may be set to music from “Soul” will play on the Rivers of America while Disneyland retools the “Fantasmic” nighttime spectacular following the inferno that consumed the show’s fire-breathing dragon.
The new “Heartbeat of New Orleans” nighttime projection show will debut Sept. 29 on the Rivers of America at the Anaheim theme park while “Fantasmic” undergoes an extensive makeover through Spring 2024.
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Disneyland describes the new nighttime projection show as a “living mural” set to a jazz score that tells a whimsical tale of a mischievous bayou frog lured to New Orleans by the music he hears in the distance.
The art installation projected on Tom Sawyer Island’s waterfront buildings along the Rivers of America will animate original artwork created by Disney Live Entertainment graphic designer Marcella “Marci” Swett.
Swett is best known for her sidewalk chalk art creations in Downtown Disney for the Celebrate Soulfully events during Black Music Month.
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The timing of the new jazz-centric nighttime projection show coincides with Disney Live Entertainment’s hiring of performers to portray jazz pianist Joe Gardner from Pixar’s 2020 “Soul” animated film.
Disney Live Entertainment is seeking jazz piano soloists who can engage with Disneyland visitors within the story of the “Soul” film, according to the Disney Auditions website. Musicians must be available for in-person callbacks on Sept. 12 in Anaheim for a role that pays $41 to $64 per hour.
In “Soul,” Gardner is a New York City middle-school band teacher who dreams of playing jazz piano professionally when he tumbles into the “Great Before” and gets a second chance at life.
The new “Heartbeat of New Orleans” joins Queenie and the Jambalaya Jazz Band as temporary replacements for “Fantasmic” while the popular nighttime spectacular remains on hiatus following the stunning fire that engulfed the show’s 45-foot-tall animatronic dragon in April.
The Jambalaya Jazz Band has been performing nightly aboard a raft on the Rivers of America since July.
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“The Heartbeat of New Orleans” and Queenie and the Jambalaya Jazz Band will run on select evenings in October during the Halloween season and nightly in November and December during the Christmas holiday season.
