03/08/2026
What inspired the insanity in DISASTER! THE MUSICAL?
Here’s the fourth of five films that inspired the insanity in DISASTER! THE MUSICAL.
EARTHQUAKE is a 1974 American ensemble disaster drama film directed and produced by Mark Robson, starring Charlton Heston and Ava Gardner. The plot concerns the struggle for survival after a catastrophic earthquake destroys most of Los Angeles.
Directed by Robson with a screenplay by George Fox and Mario Puzo, the film starred a large cast of well-known actors, including Heston, Gardner, George Kennedy, Lorne Greene, Geneviève Bujold, Richard Roundtree, Marjoe Gortner, Barry Sullivan, Lloyd Nolan, Victoria Principal, and an uncredited Walter Matthau as a drunk. It is notable for the use of an innovative sound effect called Sensurround, which created the sense of actually experiencing an earthquake in theaters. Well-known Kansas City actor, Kip Niven, was also featured in the role of “Walter Russell”
The film was nominated for five Academy Awards, and while no actors received one this time, the film won Oscars for Best Sound and a Special Achievement Award for Visual Effects. The other nominations were for Art Direction, Cinematography and Film Editing. John Williams once again provided the score for the film.
The creators of DISASTER used EARTHQUAKE as inspiration in the following ways…
In EARTHQUAKE, massive destruction hits due to an unheeded disregard for geological stability; the musical mirrors this by setting its floating casino/discotheque (The Barracuda) directly over a dangerous, ignored fault line.
The 1974 film features characters trying to sound the alarm about impending seismic shifts. The musical pokes fun at this archetype through Professor Ted Schneider, a nervous disaster expert whose frantic warnings about rising temperatures in the ground samples are completely brushed off by the greedy owner.
EARTHQUAKE established the 1970s template of an ensemble cast facing monumental, earth-shattering destruction. DISASTER! expands this by combining the seismic destruction of EARTHQUAKE by simultaneously borrowing the disasters of a tidal wave (THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE) and a raging fire (THE TOWERING INFERNO) — infusing the high-stakes tremors with campy, over-the-top comedy.
DISASTER! THE MUSICAL opens Friday night and runs through August 16th in the Blackbox Theatre at the Johnson County Arts & Heritage Center.
Tickets are on sale now at...
https://thebarnplayers.vercel.app/tickets
