'Descendants' star Kylie Cantrall awaits Madison Square Garden debut

UPI

16 hours ago

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- Kylie Cantrall says she fulfilled a dream by performing at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles as part of Disney's Descendants/Zombies: Worlds Collide tour in June. Now, she's anticipating the tour's Aug. 21 date at Madison Square Garden in New York.
In a phone interview with UPI during the tour's stop in Kansas City, Mo., Cantrall, 20, said she expects to create the memories of a lifetime at the famed New York venue. The tour performs in the Midwest through August.
"Madison Square Garden is the most iconic venue ever," Cantrall said. "Legends of legends have played there, so I'm just excited to set foot and add that to the list of most incredible places I've ever played at. It's going to be a cool story to tell my kids one day."
Just being on tour fulfills a dream for Cantrall, who played Red in the 2024 Disney Channel film Descendants: The Rise of Red, the fourth film in the series based on children of Disney villains and princesses.
"I've been manifesting to go on tour for a really long time so it feels like it was kind of kismet," she said.
Cantrall performs the film's title song, "Red," on stage, backed up by dancers wearing red helmets and carrying red shields. Crowds have been singing along and chanting to "Red."
"I feel like there's nothing that gets you used to that," Cantrall said. "Every time I hear them chanting it and chanting all the words, it's so special."
The stage choreography differs from the movie. On film, Red could run around the kingdom, so choreographer Scotty Nguyen adapted the moves for a finite stage.
"There's a lift and this moment where I interact with the screen behind me and I'm graffitiing my heartbreak logo on the screen," Cantrall said. "It just feels really big and it feels like exactly what you would think the stage version of 'Red' would be like."
Rise of Red costars Dara Reneé, Malia Baker and Joshua Colley are also part of the Worlds Collide tour. They collide with Zombies 4 cast members Freya Skye, Malachi Barton and Mekonnen Knife, who represent that franchise.
The group also performs songs from the first three Descendants and Zombies films. Cantrall said she used to sing "Rotten to the Core," "Ways to be Wicked, "Set It Off" and other songs in her bedroom before joining the franchise.
"I pretty much already knew all the songs since I was such a giant Descendants fan growing up," Cantrall said. "When I started learning songs I was like wait, I actually know all these lyrics. I feel like subconsciously I knew the songs so well already just from watching the movies so much as a kid."
Cantrall released her first single, "Truth is for Suckers," on her YouTube Channel when she was 10. Having practiced singing and dancing all her life, Cantrall feels she has put in the 10,000 hours of practice author Malcolm Gladwell suggests are necessary for mastery.
"I started dancing when I was two years old so I feel like that aspect is just muscle memory," Cantrall said. "It feels like second nature picking up choreography. My mom was a dance choreographer as well so I feel like that's helped me a lot for this."
Ten shows into the tour at the time of this interview, Cantrall said the choreography is familiar enough that the performers play games on stage within their dance steps. Future audiences can try to spot them.
"We play tag on stage," Cantrall said. "The dancers are in on it too so whenever we get the chance to pass by someone on stage we'll tag them."
Worlds Collide also allowed Cantrall an opportunity to perform a medley of original songs she released on her May EP, titled B.O.Y.
"I created them with the intention of performing them live one day," she said. "When you play the EP from top to bottom, it feels like you're front row at the Kylie concert. It has that hype, energy that it would in an arena. So the fact that I actually get to play the songs in an arena, it feels like the perfect place for them to be heard."
After the tour concludes Sept. 16, Cantrall has plans to create an entire album of music.
"I already have a couple songs that are kind of the bones of the album so far," she said. "I already have a concept for the album and a title. I can't say it just yet but it is in the works."
Prior to the concert, Cantrall also filmed Descendants 5. Disney will release Descendants: Wicked Wonderland next year.
"Red has a sister now," Cantrall previewed. "Her name is Pink."
Red is the daughter of the Queen of Hearts (Rita Ora), the villain in Disney's Alice in Wonderland. Cantrall said the new film includes more of Lewis Carroll's Wonderland mythology.
"We take a lot of inspiration from the original Alice in Wonderland with some of the magical creatures and the White Rabbit and Cheshire Cat," Cantrall said. " The dance numbers feel very nostalgic to the original three Descendants."