Show Response (pt. 1): 21st Century Princess
by Joey Merlo
Disney has billed itself as “The Happiest Place On Earth” — I wonder if that phrase is trademarked*. Mickey Mouse is and when his copyright expired I think that Disney fought to get it extended—and they won. Because Disney always wins. Because Disney has as much power as a blue genie played by Robin Williams and then some.
It holds a special place in your imagination, doesn't it? What was/is your favorite Disney movie? Who is your favorite Disney Princess or Prince or Villain? Have you been to Disney Land? Have you been to Disney World? Have you Been to the one in Paris and wasn’t there one in China that maybe closed? Disney is very American. Disney is USA. People who have lots of flags on their property love Disney and so do gay people.
Images are rehearsal photos from The Barn at Lee, 2025. Rosemary Quinn, La Daniella, Zach Donovan, Andrew Hardigg, Misha Brooks, Jess Barbagallo, Eliana Mullins, Pauli Pontrelli
As I got older I realized that a lot of the Disney villains are queer coded—I wonder if this is why Ursula and Cruella and Maleficent were my favs. I had a cartoon crush on Aladdin with his little midriff. I played Puma in a Disney concert when I was ten during theater camp. Hakuna matata.
I remember looking up at a statue of Walt Disney holding Micky’s hand when I was around the same age—behind them towered the Magic Castle. Is that what it’s called? The Magic Castle? Remember that tune that would play at the beginning of all the movies? A shooting star would spread across the blue Magic Castle image and that same old tune would play?
My Dad told me that Walt Disney’s severed head was frozen at the top of that castle and I believed him because science is magic and magic is what Disney is all about. I believed because I wanted to believe in something bigger than myself. I wanted to believe that a visionary like Disney had the power not only to create but to extend his life into the future—that he alone had access to cryogenic technology us mer mortals could only dream of. Disney was a Sagittarius—and some say, a nazi.
But I digress.
Keyana Hemphill, Rosemary Quinn, Zach Donovan, Pauli Pontrelli, Jess Barbagallo, Sebas Alarcon, Andrew Hardigg
I’m supposed to be writing about Jordan Baum’s exquisite new play 21st Century Princess opening at The Collapsable Hole in NYC on May 20th, 2026. I saw this play in 2024 and I’m excited to see it again — BTW this will be a two part Staff’s Pick Special — with the second part coming your way in early June…
So what do I remember of Jordan’s sprawling, funny, heartfelt play and why is it my Staff Pick?
The first thing I remember is the smell of waffles — mmmm — Micky Mouse shaped waffles. I remember these strange but whimsical and elegant hanging shapes (made by Amanda Horowitz) that hung around the space and did, in fact, make me think of It’s A Small World (has anyone else been stuck on that ride?).
Andrew Hardigg
The set was a big open space that made me feel giddy with anticipation. There were no bells or whistles or magic carpets but who cares! The real spectacle happened in language that was like Tinker Bell’s Pixie Dust and with the supercalifragilisticexpialidocious talents of a truly herculean cast that includes Misha Brooks (who was just uncanny in Cherry Lanes production of You Got Older), Jess Barbagallo and Paul Pontrelli (two of my favorite actors who you may have seen together in The Trees at Playwrights Horizons and who always bring equal parts heart and charm to whatever they do), Rosemary Quinn who left me more spellbound than a fairy godmother turning mice into horses.
Oh! And there’s Andrew Harding too who last stole my heart and made me lol at Nurit Chin’s, Godbird at The Brick and who I somehow remember as both Prince Charming and a lost child with high socks and a tiny backpack? That can’t be right. Anyway!
left: Rosemary Quinn, Keyana Hemphill, Emily Davis, Zach Donovan, Andrew Hardigg, Misha Brooks, Jess Barbagallo, Pauli Pontrelli. right: Pauli Pontrelli and Keyana Hemphill.
The play was truly a wandering, mesmerizing, dazzling dream of a wish my heart made — with gadgets and gizmos a plenty and objects that come to life. There’s love. There’s romance. There’s enchantment — there’s humor and heartbreak and cigarette breaks in the back of a never-ending Goofy parkingklot. There are Cast Members stuffed into small cars and an old lady who kind of gets seduced?
My Disney-colonized-memory may be failing me but like the best Disney rides, Jordan’s show is worth the wait for another go-around.
21st Century Princess will run May 21 - 30, 2026 at The Collapsable Hole.
This show response is the first of two; the second will feature Joey’s thoughts after seeing the work.