The Backstage Kingdom Podcast

Citizens of Hollywood

In Episode 9, Michael Saint Gregory begins a new multi-part series on streetmosphere performers in theme parks by looking at one of the most beloved examples of the form: the Citizens of Hollywood at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. More than a comedy troupe, the Citizens helped transform Hollywood Boulevard into a living, breathing world filled with gossip, glamour, chaos, and character. This episode explores what streetmosphere actually is, why it matters, how the Citizens grew out of Disney-MGM Studios’ original vision of old Hollywood, and the vaudeville, slapstick, radio, and classic comedy traditions that shaped their performances. It’s a look at how a patch of pavement can become a stage, how atmosphere can be performed, and why acts like the Citizens still set the standard for live themed entertainment. If you enjoyed this episode, follow the podcast, leave a rating and review, and share it with a fellow theme park and live entertainment fan.

Dis-topia: The EPCOT Musical - Part 3

In the final part of this three-part Dis-topia deep dive, Michael Saint Gregory explores the music of the show — from Robby Good’s score and orchestration to the use of leitmotifs, contrasting character sound worlds, and the way the music deepens the script written by Matthew Deegan. This episode looks at how Dis-topia blends Disney-inspired nostalgia, darker dramatic textures, and rock influence to create a sound world that supports the show’s themes of control, rebellion, memory, and hope. Michael also examines the rarity of what Dis-topia achieved as an independent production, including the scale of its orchestral ambition and the release of a full cast recording and studio album. If you’re interested in themed entertainment, musical theater, composition, or the craft of how music shapes storytelling, this episode is for you. If you enjoyed the episode, please leave a review and a five-star rating wherever your podcast platform allows, and follow The Backstage Kingdom everywhere online at @thebackstagekingdom for more.

Dis-topia: The EPCOT Musical - Part 2

In episode two of this Dis-topia deep dive series, Michael Saint Gregory moves from the history behind the musical into the script itself, taking a closer look at how Dis-topia is actually built as a piece of theater. This episode explores the show’s dramatic architecture, from its opening at Walt Disney’s funeral to the emotional and ideological roles played by Vera, Katz, Walt, Kevin, and the Executive Board. Along the way, Michael breaks down how the musical uses Disney mythology, labor tension, nostalgia, rebellion, and the language of corporate utopia to create something far more carefully structured than its outrageous premise might first suggest. This is a deep dive into the writing: how the show introduces its world, how it balances satire with sincerity, how Act One establishes its central conflicts, and how Act Two deepens them into something more human, more painful, and more revealing. Michael also examines why the script works as more than just a clever EPCOT concept, and why Dis-topia ultimately becomes a story about control, personhood, belief, and the struggle to remain human inside a future someone else has already designed. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review and a five-star rating wherever your podcast platform allows. You can also follow The Backstage Kingdom everywhere online at @thebackstagekingdom for more themed entertainment commentary, podcast updates, and additional content Support The Backstage Kingdom on Patreon! [https://www.patreon.com/c/TheBackstageKingdom] Evil March by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/] Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100727 [http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100727] Artist: http://incompetech.com/ [http://incompetech.com/]

Dis-topia: The EPCOT Musical - Part 1

Before EPCOT became a theme park, it was Walt Disney’s radical plan for a real city of tomorrow — a vision built on innovation, order, labor, and total design. In Part 1 of this Dis-topia: The EPCOT Musical deep dive, Michael Saint Gregory explores how that original EPCOT concept became one of the strangest and most revealing ideas in Disney history. This episode examines the real roots of Walt Disney’s Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow and why its contradictions still feel so powerful today. Michael looks at EPCOT not just as unrealized Disney history, but as a corporate utopia shaped by governance, control, performance, ideology, and the human labor required to keep a designed world running. He also begins tracing how that pressure point in Disney history became the foundation for Dis-topia, a musical that asks what happens when people actually have to live inside the dream. If you’re interested in Disney history, EPCOT, theme park history, themed entertainment, musical theater, immersive storytelling, and the tension between magic and machinery, this episode is for you. Follow the podcast, share the episode with another Disney or theme park fan, and send in your thoughts on Dis-topia and Walt’s original EPCOT vision. Follow everywhere online @TheBackstageKingdom for more content!

Never Built Attractions (Featuring JJ & Andrew of "Reedy Geeks Podcast")

Some theme park ideas don’t get built. They get buried, like a time capsule full of concept art, budgets, and dreams with a “DO NOT OPEN” sticker. In this episode of Backstage Kingdom, Michael Saint Gregory sits down with Andrew and JJ (Reedy Geeks) to dig up the most fascinating attractions that nearly happened, and the strange, practical, and hilarious reasons they didn’t. Follow the Reedy Geeks online everywhere @reedygeeks and subscribe to their podcast wherever podcasts are available!