WHAT IS DIS-TOPIA?

Before he died, Walt Disney had one final dream: to build a city in Florida, where Walt Disney World sits today. This city would have been called “EPCOT” (the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow), and Walt wanted to have complete control over every aspect of its citizens’ lives. The land was bought, the plans were made; the only thing that stopped Walt was death. However, not even that was enough. Dis-topia takes place in the near future, when the frozen head of Walt Disney has been successfully revived by the Walt Disney Company. The only thing on his mind: EPCOT.
The city is built and populated. Nearly five years later, an optimistic, self-proclaimed “Disney adult” named Vera moves to EPCOT with her father, Kevin. She is thrilled to live in a city run by Walt Disney, but her happiness is short lived. It isn’t long until she is unwittingly roped into a scheme from The Lost Boys, a group of anti-Disney revolutionaries led by the cynical Kats. On the run from the EPCOT Police, Vera must try to hold on to her worldview as she comes into conflict with the Lost Boys and reckons with the man her hero has become... and may always have been.

Dis-topia is a full-length 2-act musical theatre show with libretto by Matthew Deegan; music by Robby Good, Matthew Deegan, and Abigail Torrence; lyrics by Matthew Deegan and Robby Good; and orchestrations by Robby Good. The show features 18 original songs with a sound that combines a sense of classic Disney-esque nostalgia with a punctuated rock style, and an overall tone that maintains the absurd, darkly comedic nature of its premise while finding opportunities to ground itself in genuine drama.

The show experienced multiple workshops and smaller performances of earlier drafts by multiple university theatre groups, including Chapman University’s Players Society and UCLA’s School of Theatre, Film, and Television, after its conception in 2021. On February 17th and 18th, 2024, Dis-topia was premiered in its final state to an audience of over 900 attendees, independently produced and directed by the show’s creators. The premiere featured a cast of 16 actors from across the Southern California area, and an orchestra of 27 musicians.

The show is now available to watch on YouTube, and an EP of the studio recorded soundtrack is on all streaming platforms! The full cast album is coming soon, and will release in early 2025.