ENCANTO
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / Courtesy Everett CollectionThere’s nothing like the magic of live theater, and no one translates that magic to the Broadway stage quite like Disney.
Ever since the curtain raised on the stage adaptation of Beauty and the Beast back in 1994, the House of Mouse has dominated the Great White Way with family-friendly hits like 1997’s The Lion King, 2012’s Newsies and 2014’s Aladdin.
All in all, there have been 17 Disney musicals that have made it to Broadway (no, Hamilton doesn’t count just because it was filmed for Disney+), though at the current moment, only The Lion King — the highest-grossing show in Broadway history — and Aladdin are playing in the Minskoff Theater and New Amsterdam Theatre, respectively. Meanwhile, 2018’s Frozen was sadly the first Broadway show to fold due to the pandemic, though its national tour is currently playing in regional theaters across the country.
This week, Lin-Manuel Miranda hinted that he could see his latest hit Encanto making the leap from screen to stage — he even has a seven-minute Act II finale number ready in his back pocket — but we want to know what you think. Which untapped Disney film should get the Broadway treatment?
Of course, there are plenty of memorable movie musicals to choose from, chief among them 2010’s much-loved Tangled and 2017’s Coco. Miranda himself questions how the oceans of Moana could be translated onto the Broadway stage, and maybe you think Disney should give that a shot! After all, “How Far I’ll Go” did just hit one billion streams on YouTube…
While pandemic-era hit Luca isn’t technically a musical, its themes and sweet storyline are practically begging for original music. And with the coming release of Disenchanted coming sometime late this year, fans who loved Princess Giselle are about to get the perfect reminder of how much fun it would be to hear the songs from 2007’s Enchanted — looking at you, “That’s How You Know” and “So Close” — live in a Midtown theater.
Cast your vote and wish upon a star in Billboard‘s latest poll.
NEWS
There’s a high probability that Jorja Smith has new music coming this summer. The British singer revealed plans for her What Are the Odds LP on Thursday (July 2), with the album set to arrive on Aug. 21 via FAMM.
Smith reunites with producer P2J — who served as a primary collaborator on her 2023 album Falling or Flying — for the entirety of the project. J Money and P2J will continue to build on the inventive U.K. garage sound Smith has been exploring, alongside a mix of grime and house.
“This album came together really naturally. There was never a big plan; it was just me making music that felt right in the moment,” Smith tells Billboard. “Working with P2J, we started experimenting with different sounds, pulling from U.K. garage, grime and house (funky house, Afro house) and it all grew from there.”
She continues: “The music feels uplifting, but the lyrics can be a bit sad at times. They’re about growing up, love, loss, friendships and figuring things out as I go. I trusted my instincts with this one, and I think you can hear that throughout the record.”
Smith kicked off the album’s rollout in May with the self-assuring “What’s Done Is Done,” and it continues on Thursday (July 2) with a second single, “Alive,” which finds the R&B singer joining forces with Afrobeats pioneer WizKid. The duo basks in the love-drunk euphoria of the honeymoon phase of a bubbling relationship and heads to Paris for the visual.
“Making this with P2J and WizKid felt really easy,” Smith adds of the collab. “We wrote and recorded it together in London. I think we captured that feeling when you’re at the beginning of something with someone and everything feels exciting. I’ve always loved WizKid’s music and the way he’s opened so many doors for Afrobeats around the world, so it feels really special and a big honor to have a song with him.”
What Are the Odds serves as Jorja Smith’s third studio album and contains 12 tracks. Outside of WizKid, the only other feature comes from grime artist Devlin.
When the project lands on Aug. 21, Smith will hit the stage later that night at London’s All Points East, as she’ll be co-headlining the Victoria Park show with Tems. 2026 has already been a busy year for J Money, who served as a musical guest on the debut season of Saturday Night Live UK in April.
The 29-year-old also collaborated with Mobb Deep’s Havoc for a remix of her “Blue Lights” classic and lent “Price of It All” to Amazon MGM Studios’ Bait soundtrack.
Find the What Are the Odds cover art and tracklist below.
What Are the Odds tracklist:
