Dancing with the Stars is only a few episodes into Season 32 in the 2023 TV schedule, but the show has already delivered some fun themes with Latin Night and Motown Night. The next will be a celebration of Disney's 100th anniversary, which should be packed full of nostalgia for Disney days gone by as well as thrills with the new dances that the stars and pros have in store. Looking ahead to what ABC is calling "Disney100 Night," I also find myself reflecting on one star's fun suggestion for another theme night.
First things first! Disney100 Night will celebrate Disney's huge milestone with performances from the eleven remaining couples to tunes from soundtracks for some of Disney's most beloved films (and hopefully fewer boos). While Dancing with the Stars fans watching on ABC or via Disney+ subscription will have to wait until the episode on October 17 to see how the celebs and their pro partners deliver the Disney magic, the songs for each pair have already been announced (via Twitter):
- Alyson Hannigan and Sasha Farber: "Be Our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast
- Mira Sorvino and Gleb Savchenko: "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes" from Cinderella
- Ariana Madix and Pasha Pashkov: "Into the Unknown" from Frozen 2
- Lele Pons and Brandon Armstrong: "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from The Lion King
- Charity Lawson and Artem Chigvintsev: "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid
- Jason Mraz and Daniella Karagach: "A Whole New World" from Aladdin
- Adrian Peterson and Britt Stewart: "Baby Mine" from Dumbo
- Harry Jowsey and Rylee Arnold: "You've Got a Friend In Me" from Toy Story
- Barry Williams and Peta Murgatroyd: "He's a Tramp" from Lady and the Tramp
- Mauricio Umansky and Emma Slater: "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" from Fantasia
- Xochitl Gomez and Val Chmerkovskiy: "Un Poco Loco" from Coco
The movies of the Disney Renaissance era will be represented well on DWTS' Disney100 night, with Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, and Aladdin all having songs included. Alyson Hannigan, who opened up about being called a "drama queen," will undoubtedly need to bring the energy for "Be Our Guest," especially after Beauty and the Beast was just ranked as CinemaBlend's best Disney movie from 1984-1993.
I'm particularly interested in seeing Alyson Hannigan, Mira Sorvino, and Charity Lawson's numbers, as all of their songs were included in Disney Night back in Season 29. That 2020 episode also included songs from Aladdin and The Lion King. Plus, Mauricio Umansky and Emma Slater will be performing a famous Disney song without lyrics, which will set it apart from the others in Disney100 Night.
It seems safe to say that Jason Mraz and Daniella Karagach have something special in store, as they've been dominating Season 32 so far... despite Mraz having low expectations for the experience. Xochitl Gomez has been high in the scores as well with Val Chmerkovskiy, and she had a fun suggestion for another theme night when speaking with CinemaBlend.
Xochitl Gomez's Idea For A Theme Night
Marvel star Xochitl Gomez, who shared her reaction to her "Little Marvelette" nickname from judge Bruno Tonioli, will do her first paso doble of Season 32 with partner Val Chmerkovskiy for Disney100 Night. "Un Poco Loco" from 2017's Coco is bound to be a fun part of celebrating Disney's 100th anniversary, and is also the newest song of the night behind "Into the Unknown" from 2019's Frozen 2.
When I spoke with Gomez earlier in Season 32, I took the chance to ask what kind of theme night she'd choose for DWTS if she had the choice, and she immediately responded:
Ooh! Musical. Musical night where someone has to pick a song, a classic song from a musical and perform that. Perform a piece like that. I mean, I feel like there's a lot of variety there, like you could do different kinds of waltzes. You could do all kinds of stuff. They should do that!
Gomez's pro partner Val Chmerkovskiy was also in the room during our interview, and she consulted her partner – who has been part of DWTS as a pro dancer going back to Season 13 – about whether that has been done before, and he shared that the closest thing was Broadway Night. While the teen Marvel star realized "that's kind of similar," she had a pitch for a particular performance that I, as a musical theater lover, would love to see:
Les Mis! Perform a ten-minute piece.
Is there a world in which DWTS would devote ten minutes to a piece from a musical with a title that translates from French to The Miserable Ones? I highly doubt it, but it's fun to imagine! Besides, not every song from Les Miserables is about misery. Some of them are in between the miserable portions of the story!
In all seriousness, I would love to see a Musical Night of Dancing with the Stars sooner rather than later, but only time will tell. Alyson Hannigan previewed that a Taylor Swift Night is a possibility, and I can only imagine how many viewers would tune in that week.
For now, you can look forward to Disney100 Night celebrating the company's 100th anniversary on Tuesday, October 17 starting at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+. If you miss the live broadcast and/or don't have a Disney+ subscription, you can always catch the episode after it airs via a Hulu subscription.
