In the summer of 1990, Disney-MGM Studios staged a bold experiment: a live-action musical based on the upcoming Dick Tracy film, starring Warren Beatty. The show, titled Dick Tracy Starring in Diamond Double Cross, opened weeks before the film’s theatrical release, making it one of the earliest examples of Disney leveraging its parks for cinematic synergy.
Performed at the original Theater of the Stars, located near the Brown Derby restaurant, the show ran for approximately 28 minutes and featured a cast of colorful characters, 1940s-inspired costumes, and a stylized cityscape drenched in the film’s signature primary color palette. The production was helmed by Jess Ross (director), Tom Child (writer), Stan Meyer (art director), and Matt West (choreographer), with original music including Calling Dick Tracy.
The plot unfolded like a comic strip come to life:
- Big Boy Caprice tasks his henchmen Flattop and Mumbles with stealing the Balonian Diamond to win the affections of Breathless Mahoney, who refuses to marry him without it
- The theft takes place at a museum, triggering a musical number and a call for help: “Calling Dick Tracy!”
- Tracy appears dramatically from an elevated platform, then meets Tess Trueheart at Mike’s Diner, where he tries to propose but is interrupted by a call on his two-way wrist radio
- The chase leads to the Club Ritz, where Breathless performs Sooner or Later and More, interwoven with snippets of Hey Big Spender and I Won’t Dance
- A chaotic dance-fight ensues, with the diamond changing hands multiple times until it’s recovered by Crewy Lou Brown, a disguised cigarette girl and Flattop’s accomplice
- The finale features Breathless and the Ritz girls storming Big Boy’s hideout with pink machine guns, just as Dick Tracy, Tess, and the Queen of Balonia burst in to restore order
The show was fast-paced, tongue-in-cheek, and visually striking—an ideal fit for the early days of Disney-MGM Studios, when the park leaned heavily into live entertainment and behind-the-scenes storytelling. An identical version ran at Videopolis in Disneyland from June to December 1990, but the Florida production lasted longer, closing in February 1991.
Though short-lived, Diamond Double Cross remains a cult favorite among fans of the film and Disney’s theatrical history. It captured a moment when Disney was experimenting boldly—bringing comic book noir to the stage with choreography, camp, and a Tommy gun.
