They say Disneyland is the “Happiest Place on Earth.” What they forgot to mention was, “Disneyland is also the coolest place to work.” The reason for that is that the “Cast Members” every year gets to participate in a musical event called Flashback. This year is Flashback International 2009 and the event was this past week at the Hyperion Theater in Disney’s California Adventure.

“Throughout the past 11 seasons, over 2,250 Disneyland® Resort Cast Members have joined the Flashback family. We estimate that Flashback Cast Members have donated over 300,000 VoluntEARS hours and $210,000 to local charities. Beyond the Cast Members that you will see on stage tonight, there are also countless amounts of VoluntEARS behind-the-scenes that help bring this show to life. We thank everyone for their support, hard work, and sacrifices to help make Flashback successful.”
– Glynn and Sandee Alsup – Flashback Creators/Executive Producers

Flashback International 2009 is comprised of 4 different teams, each representing a continent. You’ve got the Blue Team (Asia), Red Team (Europe), Orange Team (America), and Green Team (Africa). When I heard that the Cast Members in the Entertainment department (they’re part of the Green Team) was also participating in the show, I thought it was unfair, since the Entertainment department’s job at the Disney Resort was to entertain the guests in shows and parades.

Before each act, we would be entertained by our pair of flight attendants. They were a perfect pair, one is an overweight female attendant, and her partner in crime is a tall gay sarcastic high class male attendant. I love these types of pairings. The gay flight attendant was really funny and his dancing is really good. Notable bits I’ve enjoyed from them were the Riverdance sequence and the “Money” (from Cabaret) sequence. They would make jokes about the airplane (which was really the theater we were in) not having a built-in restroom.

Act 1

Blue Team (Asia) – “Breaking Down the Wall”
BZ4, once a popular boy band, books a tour all over Asia. During their stay in China, the lead singer falls for the daughter of the Prime Minister of China. Now he has to choose between being with her and staying with the band.

This act reeks of bad stereotypes. The boy band was annoying with the feminine sounding lead singer, and his multicultural group. Their trip to China was embarrassing. I doubt that the Chinese would still be wearing their traditional dresses with straw hats in modern times at a boy band concert. Then you’ve got the Muses (Disney’s Hercules) showing up and as typical, the overweight black Muse shows off that she’s the best singer of the group, trying to overshadow the other Muses. The less I talk about this act, the better.

Red Team (Europe) – “Raiders of the Lost Artifact: The Musical”
Now this one I really enjoyed. We’re shown a little opening reel of the whereabouts of the lost artifact all around the world. I loved the fact that they used the Disney Resort to represent different places; for example, for India, they used the Temple of the Forbidden Eye; and for Hollywood, they shot it near the Hollywood Tower of Terror. You have Agent 0017 (That’s double O Seventeen) and his partner, Patty O’Furniture, on a quest to look for the lost artifact.

The Russians have sent two bumbling KGB agents, Morris, the pudgy agent with a mustache, and his sexy partner in skin tight attire whose Russian name is so long I can’t pronounce or remember it. These pair hates each other but they have to work together. Their interaction with each other is fun and hilarious.

Joining 0017 and Patty are Professor Rendezvous and his Swedish girlfriend Inga. The professor had some funny moments when he was trying to speak Italian to Mario, and Inga is a ditsy babe with her skimpy Swedish attire. Her best scene was when she mentions that she has an I-Yodel, similar to an I-Phone. She starts yodeling and starts to dance and sing to “Turn It Up” by Gwen Stefani. This act also has a gondola chase sequence to the music of the Super Mario theme and Morris singing “Back in The USSR” from the Beatles. I love Russian accents.

In the end, Morris finds the lost artifact that turns out to be Mary Magdalene’s hair brush. “With this brush, the Soviet shall rise again,” claims an excited Morris. It turns out that 0017 was searching for the wrong artifacts and was sent all over Europe by his boss to find his proof of birth so that he can go to Disneyland for free next month. The comedic timing is great and the story was fun. The cast did a great job of portraying these fun and unique characters.

Act II

Orange Team (America) – “Rhythm Nation”
This is an unfunny skit similar to Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. The story is about this one female assistant who wants to make a speech in Congress about having a special day for music. She’s accompanied with her partner, a snobby guy who acts feminine with a huge scarf around his neck that reaches down to his shoes. This guy was really annoying because he’s always whining to everyone and is a buzz-kill. The difference between him and the male flight attendant is that the flight attendant makes the crowd laugh by making the crowd a part of his snobby jokes, and plus, he really is all that.

The statue of Thomas Jefferson in Washington comes to life (in a funny and cheesy way) and takes the duo back into time from the signing of the Declaration of Independence, to Abraham Lincoln’s era (a jab at “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln” that grew old quickly), and to Martin Luther King Jr’s speech.

The only highlight for this act was the Sarah Palin character. The Cast Member who played her sounded really cute and can be a shoe-in for the real deal. Everything else was one huge boring history lesson. I already had to study for it in school; I don’t want to see it in my musicals. The guy in front of my row put it best when he made a motion with his hand of an airplane hitting the ground.

Green Team (Africa) – “Adventure by Oprah”
Out of all the pieces, this one felt the longest, but it was still entertaining. We have Oprah sending lucky winners on her show to a trip to Africa. Two cougars, a mother and daughter, and John and Michelle (the couple) were the lucky winners.

In this act, we have a cheesy accented Australian guide who’s guiding the tourists in Africa. The actress impersonating Oprah was funny too with her exaggerated words at the end of her sentences when she gets excited.

Since the Green Team is composed of mostly the entertainment department, it was no surprise that the dancing choreography was really good. The dance moves were great and everybody moved in great unison. I’d also like to mention that the custodial crew was also part of the Green Team.

Finale
This year, the Santa Ana Zoo (the monkey zoo) was the charity of choice and received around $40k in donations through ticket sales. Later on, they announced the winners, and Mike Wallengren (The Mark & Kristin Morning Show on KOST-FM) was one of the judges along with 8 other judges from different operations of the Disneyland Resort. Mike made a comment about Swiss Miss’ outfit (the sexy Swedish girl) on how lucky the people in the balcony seats (that’s us) have it because we’ve got a good view of her cleavage from high above. It was funny to me, but since it was a Disneyland production, some of the crowd felt uneasy, and that in turn made me feel uneasy, lol.

Best Choreography for both nights in a row was of course the Green Team (Africa), while the best of show was the Red Team (Europe), my personal favorite. They’ve finally broken their losing streak and made a funny musical skit. The Orange Team (America) didn’t win anything, hehe.

I highly recommend this for those who live in the OC area. For $9, you get 3 hours of entertainment that I find more entertaining than most professional Broadway musicals. So be sure to check it out next year. Do note that your best chance to get tickets is to find a Cast Member and demand them for one.

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