Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl arrives on Disney+ after it was filmed before a lively audience this past November at the venerable Los Angeles amphitheater. With an introduction by songwriter Lin-Manuel Miranda and featuring members of the film’s original voice cast, Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl recreates the Madrigal family’s casita for the stage, incorporates backup dancers, a full orchestra and a Colombian band, and includes appearances by Colombian superstars Carlos Vives and Andres Cepeda.
The Gist: There’s a packed house on hand at the Hollywood Bowl, where an animated butterfly and lush, blue-tinted lighting emulate the animation and color palette of Encanto, Disney’s Academy Award winner for Best Animated Feature that was still dominating families’ Spotify mixes for a year after its 2021 release with impossibly catchy songs like “The Family Madrigal,” “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” – a number that for awhile there became its own miniature cultural zeitgeist – and “All of You,” performed by Colombian singing legend Carlos Vives. Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote eight original songs for Encanto alongside composer Germaine Franco, appears at the Bowl to introduce the production, which he notes is the first time the original cast of Encanto has sung together onstage, since the film was made during the pandemic.
As spectacular digital and lighting effects combine to realize the casita and surrounding magical village of Encanto, Stephanie Beatriz appears as Mirabel Madrigal, complete with flowing skirt and rimless spectacles. And as she sings “The Family Madrigal,” the other cast members are introduced, including Jessica Darrow and Diane Guerrero as Mirabel’s sisters Luisa and Isabela, Carolina Gaitan and Mauro Castillo as Aunt Pepa and Uncle Felix, Olga Merediz as Mirabel’s Abuela (Merediz also performed the singing portion of the role in Encanto), and Adassa as Pepa and Felix’s daughter Dolores. Just like in the film, the “grand kid roundup” and “What about Mirabel?” call-outs in “Family Madrigal” are a big hit with the live audience.
A troupe of dancers and prop artists are a constant presence on the stage at the Bowl, which shifts in color from blue to yellow and orange while visual effects emulate brickwork and a large video screen plays snippets of the original film. Darrow performs an ebullient, lighthearted version of Luisa’s signature song “Surface Pressure,” Guerrero is often surrounded by digital and practical floral patterns as she sings, and “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” features Gaitan and Castillo in brilliant yellow, Adassa in red dancing through the audience, and dancers in fantastical rat costumes accompanying a giant Bruno puppet as it moves through the amphitheater.
What Movies Will It Remind You Of? In addition to Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl, Disney+ also features a few other productions that draw from film or recorded music, stuff like Elton John Live: Farewell from Dodger Stadium and Idina Menzel: Which Way to the Stage?
Performance Worth Watching: While the entire Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl ensemble hit their marks and keep the energy level high, this feels like Stephanie Beatriz’s show from the second she takes the stage to ecstatic cheers as the exuberant human form of Mirabel Madrigal.
Memorable Dialogue: “Colombia, te quiero tanto! Que siempre me enamora tu encanto!” It’s never a bad option to have one of Latin music’s all time greats on hand to close out your soundtrack and lively stage production, and for Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl, the one and only Carlos Vives adds a shot of joyous adrenaline to the finale, reprising his hit song “Colombia, Mi Encanto” as the stage is filled up with cast members and supporting players and he’s bracketed by US and Colombian flags.
Sex and Skin: What? Ay, dios mio. Not here!
Our Take: “This is a movie about family. So while we’re on that stage, we’re all one big family!” The cutaway midway through Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl is a little awkward, as Lin-Manuel Miranda delivers a video message to the Santa Monica-based children’s choir that will perform the ballad “Dos Oruguitas” with Colombian singer Andres Cepeda. It feels like a vestige of a longer program, a piece of background story that would have also included vignettes on vocal rehearsals and set design. None of those latter elements are included here, which means the detour into the choir’s practice room, complete with gushy interview bits from the young singers themselves, removes us from the lush production standard that’s well established by the time it appears. Encanto certainly is about family. But it’s also an immersive film that transports the viewer to the magical place where the Madrigals’ individual gifts enliven the quality of life in the village. In the Hollywood Bowl show, the music and performers help recreate that setting. But it’s also realized through a host of spectacular lighting and visual effects, dancers drifting through the amphitheatre’s aisles, and a pace that doesn’t let up, ensuring the attention of the children captured singing along as their favorite movie moments are realized in live action and sound. The brief interlude with the choir isn’t really a misstep. But it does feel like padding for an otherwise bright and energetic concert special that doesn’t really require this kind of filler.
Our Call: Stream It. Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl recaptures the spark of the Oscar-winning film in sound and vision, with lively takes on all of its major songs and a familial atmosphere that effectively encapsulates its themes of inclusion, culture, and quirky personalities.
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