It's law and order time

There are plenty of pieces of Walt Disney World’s past that I would love to bring out of extinction. Up near the top of that list was show called Dick Tracy and the Diamond Double-Cross. This show, which ran in the original Theater of the Stars at Disney-MGM Studios from 21 May 1990 until 21 February 1991, featured many of the hit songs from the Dick Tracy film which starred Warren Beatty. With its stylized set pieces, the Balonian Diamond, and a cast of characters that included not only Big Boy and Mumbles, but also Flattop, Breathless Mahoney, and Crewy Lou, the Diamond Double-Cross captured the spirit of the film, but it also captured similar success.

After less than a year, the show, which also ran on the Videopolis stage at Disneyland, took its final curtain call. This had been a show that I begged and pleaded with my parents to see and, on more than one occasion, sat through alone. And yet, even years later I could picture the dancers hitting their marks as they sang in chorus, “Calling Dick Tracy!” This song, written by Tom Child and Don Harper, would sporadically find its way back to the front of my memory and I would sing or hum it for a day or two before fading back into the recesses of my memory.

The show presented below, from You Tube user filmfreak11, is the version that could be seen in Disneyland, but is virtually indistinguishable from the Disney-MGM Studios show. Perhaps one of the best moments in the performance comes when Dick Tracy asked Breathless why should would get wrapped up with the criminal racket. Here response? “I guess I’m just a material girl.”