The Dapper Dans are a
barbershop quartet
A barbershop quartet is a group of four singers who sing music in the barbershop style, characterized by four-part harmony without instrumental accompaniment, or a cappella. The four voices are: the lead, the vocal part which typically carries t ...
that performs at
Disneyland
Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney in ...
in
Anaheim, California
Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...
(since 1959), at the Magic Kingdom at the
Walt Disney World Resort
The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake, Florida, Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando ...
(since 1971), and at
Hong Kong Disneyland
Hong Kong Disneyland () (local nickname ''HKDL''; also known as HK Disneyland) is a theme park located on reclaimed land in Penny's Bay, Lantau Island. It is located inside the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and it is owned and managed by Hong Ko ...
in
Lantau Island
Lantau Island (also Lantao Island, Lan Tao) is the largest island in Hong Kong, located West of Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula, and is part of the New Territories. Administratively, most of Lantau Island is part of the Islands ...
,
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
(from 2005 to 2008). A quartet (from the UK) also performed at
Disneyland Paris
Disneyland Paris is an entertainment resort in Chessy, France, east of Paris. It encompasses two theme parks, resort hotels, Disney Nature Resorts, a shopping, dining and entertainment complex, and a golf course. Disneyland Park is the origin ...
from the opening in 1992 until 1995 and were known as The Main Street Quartet.
The Paris quartet, known as “Nickelodeon” before joining the park, comprised Martin Baker, Mark Grindall, Steve Green and Jim Mullen. The quartet continued together after leaving Disney and still sing together from time to time. The Bass, Mark Grindall, still works extensively in Barbershop as a successful vocal coach and choral director.
In the 1993 ''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...
'' episode ''
Homer's Barbershop Quartet
"Homer's Barbershop Quartet" is the first episode of the fifth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on September 30, 1993. It features the Be Sharps, a ...
'', The Be Sharps' singing voices were partly provided by the Dapper Dans. Before working on the episode,
Jeff Martin had seen one of the quartet's performances and enjoyed it. When the episode's production began, he contacted the quartet, and they agreed to make a guest appearance in the episode. The Dapper Dans' singing was intermixed with the normal voice actors' voices, often with a regular voice actor singing the melody and The Dapper Dans providing backup.
Members of the Dapper Dans have included the
Barbershop Harmony Society
The Barbershop Harmony Society, legally and historically named the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America, Inc. (SPEBSQSA), is the first of several organizations to promote and preserve barbershop ...
international collegiate quartet gold medalists Aaron Stratton, Paul Hesson, Chad Bennett, and Eric Monson; film and TV actor-comedian Monty Jordan;
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
winning
Audio Engineer
An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...
Tom Knox.
References
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts entertainment
Disneyland
Magic Kingdom
Hong Kong Disneyland
Barbershop quartets
Main Street, U.S.A.
Musical groups established in 1959
1959 establishments in California
Disney people
Vocal quartets
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