QuaranTune #16: "Go the Distance" from Hercules

A show tune a day keeps the quarantine blues at bay...

Following last Friday's premiere streaming of Disney on Broadway's 25th Anniversary Concert (which can still be viewed at youtube.com/BCEFA, courtesy of Broadway Cares), our #QuaranTune of the day is "Go the Distance." The Disney show tune was not only one of the highlights of that particular concert but has also become somewhat of an anthem for our current times.

Written by Alan Menken and David Zippel, the song debuted in the Disney animated classic "Hercules" in 1997, performed by Tony Award winner and Broadway favorite Roger Bart, and went on to be nominated for an Oscar for 'Best Original Song' at The 70th Academy Awards.

In the summer of 2019, a world premiere stage adaptation of Hercules played the Delacorte Theater in Central Park to great acclaim, produced by Public Works by special arrangement with Disney Theatrical. The cast was led by original Frozen star Jelani Alladin as the titular character, supported by such Broadway standouts as Krysta Rodriguez (as Megara)​, Tony Award winner James Monroe Iglehart (as Philoctetes), and the aforementioned Roger Bart, now graduating to the role of Hades.

The Broadway future of Hercules is currently waiting for the stars and planets to align. So, until then, enjoy today's #QuaranTune, performed by Jelani Alladin...

Jelani was also joined by several other Disney on Broadway stars, including original and current stars from The Lion King, Aladdin and Frozen, for a special rendition of "Go the Distance" for Good Morning America earlier this month...

And I won't look back, I can go the distance. And I'll stay on track, no I won't accept defeat. It's an uphill slope, But I won't loose hope, 'till I go the distance, And my journey is complete.
(Hercules, Hercules)

^{(Header photo by Joan Marcus)}