Aladdin on Broadway

[Disney Duster]

I'm really glad you finally saw the show, and loved it! I saw an understudy for Aladdin first, and he was cute, but the original actor I saw next and he was cuter and better! I never felt like he was exactly like the animated Aladdin, though, like Mena, so good you saw one like that! I saw the original Jasmine and personally loved her the most of any Jasmines. She had that very pretty voice to her, and she was kind of sweet. But I'd love a Jasmine like the animated one and the live-action one bridged! I wonder if tbe live-action Jafar could have been like yours and worked. I loved Iago when I saw him, he wasthe original, and he was actually my favorite character in the show. I didn't miss how things were less amazing and eventful in the show versus the animated film as I guess I expected a difference with a live show, but you're right, Jafar hardly used magic and maybe the moments supposed to be important could have been more amazing. Interesting idea about Anastasia's projections for "A Whole New World" though I haven't seen Anastasia so I can't know. I loved the use of "Proud of Your Boy" too!

[JeanGreyForever]

Oh wow, you've had the chance to see the show multiple times then? I guess the Aladdin I saw wasn't exactly 100% like the animated Aladdin, because that would be hyperbole, but his singing sounded very much like the animated Aladdin. I also felt that way about Mena because his singing was very similar to the animated Aladdin. Ironically enough, the Aladdin I saw on stage reminded me of Mena a lot as well.

Yeah, I really liked how the Jasmine I saw on stage reminded me both of the animated Jasmine and the live-action one. She felt like a nice hybrid of the two. Iago was hilarious so I'm not surprised that he was your favorite!

I guess I was a little spoiled with the live-action remake so I assumed that yet another Aladdin adaptation would be as filled with magic and effects for the climax scene and Prince Ali sequence which was unfair for a stage show. I remember even in the Hyperion Aladdin show, the ending was pretty anticlimactic so it's no surprise that the final battle isn't easy to stage. I guess we should just be thankful there's never been a Sleeping Beauty musical on stage or a ballet based off the Disney plotline because they would never be able to work in Maleficent as a dragon.

[Disney Duster]

Yes, I saw the muscial three times! Once with a friend who used to go here, and then I was suppose to go with him and another friend from here, but I accidentally got tickets to the wrong day and couldn't change it, so I got tickets for the right day and used the wrong day tickets to go with two other friends.

I am glad he sang like the animated Aladdin.

I could see them doing Maleficent as a dragon on stage as they have achieved such things with King Kong. Also, I heard there was a Sleeping Beauty ballet production with the evil fairy becoming a giant spider.

[JeanGreyForever]

That's so great that you got to see it three times! I'm glad that you were able to work your little mishap with getting tickets for the wrong day into an opportunity to see it again.

Is there actually a King Kong musical adaptation lol? I'd love to see the Sleeping Beauty ballet with the giant spider. That would be a great idea for any future witches Disney might ever adapt.

[Disney Duster]

Yes, it was good enough to really enjoy it three times!

The King Kong musical is currently playing! I encourage you to check out the puppet online.

[JeanGreyForever]

Never would have imagined there would be a King Kong musical lol but then again, Spider-Man and Spongebob both got one so I shouldn't be surprised at all. Will have to check it out!

[rodrigo_ca]

After closing in the West End, apparently they brought Ainsley Melham as Aladdin, Isabelle McCalla, Jonathan Freeman, Don Daryl Rivera and Trevor Dion-Nicholas to film the show.

[Sotiris]

I'm assuming they filmed it for Disney+. I wish they had brought back all the original Broadway cast like they did with Newsies, but I guess this is better than nothing.

http://www.filmedonstage.com/news/44-we ... de-release

[JeanGreyForever]

I'm glad Jonathan Freeman is in it at least.

[Sotiris]

Photos from the shoot.

http://www.filmedonstage.com/news/45-ga ... erformance

[ChrisLyne]

This has to be the worst kept secret in the West End. Guess it's hard to keep it secret in the Instagram age


It was an amazing performance to watch though. Its been a few years since I saw the show on Broadway and it was so good seeing Jonathan Freeman and DDR again. Was really nice to see some of the original cast reunited and to see others like Ainsley and Isabelle who I wouldn't have seen otherwise. On a purely personal level it did feel a little strange having so many of the original cast without Adam and Courtney, but the entire cast was fantastic. Can't wait to see the finished product!

[rodrigo_ca]

Hey ChrisLyne, glad you got to watch it! May I ask if the entire stall was closed off for cameras or if they had people sat in the back? Did they performed it all at once or they stopped once in a while or did reshots with an audience? (I'm sure there will be reshots without an audience, though)


Was there an special program/playbill for the evening or the ticket is all the memory left? haha

[ChrisLyne]

Officially I'm not sure if I'm even allowed to say it was filmed, just that there was a special performance that evening, but no point in denying it given all the pictures that have come out

Without going into detail about the filming I think I'm safe to say the stalls were open and they performed it straight through (occasionally with a camera on stage, that was surreal!).

No special playbill, here in the UK we have bigger programmes that you have to purchase so, as far as I'm aware, they didn't do them for this performance. They did do a cast sheet with "at this performance", like you sometimes get when understudies go on, and I did get pictures with the cast at stage door so that was awesome!

[ChrisLyne]

Sorry for double post but Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle performed A Whole New World at the Broadway show's curtain call on Monday!

https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/cult ... d-65516155

Hopefully the full video will be released soon. Twenty seven years and they still sound incredible.

[JeanGreyForever]

Thank you for posting that! I always loved the original rendition they did of the song and it was wonderful to see them come back together and sing it again all these years later.

[Disney's Divinity]

I was never quite as fond of Bryson's "A Whole New World" as his and Celine's cover of "B&tB," but nice to see them performing it again.

[ChrisLyne]

Full performance is up;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l650xTOOXOA

And since Broadway World is reporting on the filming now I think I can say a bit more about it. Principal cast was;

Ainsley Melham as Aladdin (Original Australia)
Isabelle McCalla as Princess Jasmine (Original US Tour)
Trevor Dion Nicholas as Genie (Original London)
Jonathan Freeman as Jafar (Original Seattle/Broadway)
Don Darryl Rivera as Iago (Original Seattle/Broadway)
Brian Gonzales as Babkak (Original Seattle/Broadway)
Brandon O’Neill as Kassim (Original Seattle/Broadway)
Robert Tripolino as Omar (Original Australia)
Irvine Iqbal as the Sultan (Original London)

The show was filmed for a week in a closed theatre (which is when the pictures of that massive filming set up are from) then performed for an audience on the Saturday. For the live performance the front two rows of the stalls were replaced by a camera on a runner and they had cameras in the dress circle (the theatre has some seats sort of just below the actual circle that tier down, cameras were set up there on both sides).

Casey Nicholaw did the warm up/intro! They wanted to make sure they got laughter and applause, etc. before they did the show. You can see where the show gets it's energy from.

It was probably the purest (for lack of a better word) I've seen the show since opening. They (obviously) took out all the regional tweaks they'd made for London, but other stuff too (Trev didn't sing "I'm a Genie in a bottle baby", and "let's get down to business" was spoken rather than sung, basically most of the adlibs). And they made some other changes (big one is the arrangement of Proud of Your Boy, it has a bigger ending now). It was really interesting to see. Can't wait to see how it all comes together.

[Sotiris]

Full performance is up.

Wow, they still sound incredible after all these years!

It was probably the purest (for lack of a better word) I've seen the show since opening. They (obviously) took out all the regional tweaks they'd made for London, but other stuff too (Trev didn't sing "I'm a Genie in a bottle baby", and "let's get down to business" was spoken rather than sung, basically most of the adlibs). And they made some other changes (big one is the arrangement of Proud of Your Boy, it has a bigger ending now). It was really interesting to see. Can't wait to see how it all comes together.

That's very interesting. Thanks for all the details Chris! I hope it becomes available soon for all to see.

A representative from Disney confirmed that the show was captured on film - and that there will be more details on the broadcast following soon!

Source: https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/D ... w-20190911

[DisneyFan97]

I hope Jade Ewen get do do the voice of a feture animated heroine in some Disney animated movie or show !

[Sotiris]

The company, which around the world had 29 shows either running or in preproduction earlier this year, has already cut short a North American touring production of “Aladdin” because of the pandemic, closing it six weeks early after a nearly three-year, 41-city run. [...] The company is working on a new, smaller, touring production of “Aladdin.”

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/14/thea ... virus.html