DWTS Meets Broadway in D23’s Disney Night Photo Gallery
D23’s new ballroom and backstage gallery revisits a Disney Night featuring eight competing couples, Broadway performers and guest judge Cynthia Erivo.
The short answer: D23’s new ballroom and backstage gallery revisits a Disney Night featuring eight competing couples, Broadway performers and guest judge Cynthia Erivo.
Eight couples took the floor, Disney on Broadway performers joined the evening, and Cynthia Erivo took a seat at the judges’ table. Dancing with the Stars brought ballroom competition and musical theater together for its November 2, 2026, Disney Night—and D23’s new photo gallery follows the festivities beyond the televised routines.
Published November 4, D23’s exclusive gallery gathers images from the ballroom and backstage, featuring contestants, their professional partners, Erivo and DWTS alumni. The Broadway focus also marked a change for the show: in D23’s pre-show interview, its costume designers described dedicating Disney Night to Disney on Broadway as a first for DWTS.
Erivo’s Broadway connection runs through Celie in the revival of The Color Purple, the performance that earned her the 2016 Tony Award for leading actress in a musical. Speaking to The Guardian in an interview published October 27, she described how that role changed her career.
The Color Purple was one of those moments where I went from a jobbing actress and just pleased to be there to someone who was known for this particular piece. My life looked different after that. Cynthia Erivo, speaking to The Guardian
The stage connections behind the guest lineup
For Heather Headley, the evening’s announced music included a direct link to her own stage career. ABC’s advance lineup paired her live vocals on Aida’s “Easy As Life” with Tatyana Ali and Jan Ravnik’s contemporary routine. Headley won the 2000 Tony for playing Aida and originated Nala in Broadway’s The Lion King. She was also scheduled to sing Tangled’s “I See the Light” for Connor Wood and Rylee Arnold’s waltz.
Michael James Scott’s announced number took him from Aladdin to another Disney story: “Under the Sea” from The Little Mermaid, accompanying Ezra Frech and Daniella Karagach’s samba. In his Broadway.com interview about leaving Aladdin, Scott recalled getting up at four in the morning during a high-school theater trip to secure a standing-room ticket to The Lion King. He would later play the Genie at that same theater, the New Amsterdam.
Kyra Belle Johnson’s announced appearance offered another stage-to-ballroom connection. Her professional biography lists her as Belle in the North American tour of Beauty and the Beast, while ABC’s lineup paired her with Harry Shum Jr. and Jenna Johnson for a jazz routine to Mary Poppins’ “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.” Beauty and the Beast also figured in Rodney Ingram’s announced appearance: “Be Our Guest,” accompanying Jenna Dewan and Val Chmerkovskiy’s quickstep.