Being a Seattlite, I was THRILLED to make it to the opening night world premiere of Aladdin: the new stage musical, last night at the 5th Avenue Theatre. I had a friend in the cast, and that made the night even more fun. I will post a more in depth review later. Some random thoughts off the bat:
-The costume design is STUNNING. Very true to the film, but with more elaborate embellishment. Lots of different textiles, prints and middle-eastern motifs. Gorgeous!
- It was such a treat to hear and see the cut songs being performed live! I particularly enjoyed "Proud of your Boy"
- Babkak, Omar, and Kassim were fun characters, and their presence helped fill the empty plot holes due to the lack of Abu and the Carpet in this version.
- James Monroe Inglehart is an AMAZING genie! Lots of flair, and a great actor who really did the character justice. (Super nice guy as well, I might add!)
- Jafar as Jafar? Epic. Enough said.
The sets were fairly simple, but I thought 'A whole new world' was handled well, with a beautiful multi-colored star drop.
Now, after the show I was waiting for my friend (a member of the ensemble) and I also had the pleasure of meeting a majority of the cast at the stage door. (pictures to follow!) after waiting for a bit, my fiance suggested we head back to our hotel, and I decided he was right.. thank God he did.. because as we were heading towards the street, we found ourselves stopped at a crosswalk a block or two from the theatre.
I stopped. I couldn't believe my eyes. Yes, I was sure. Alan Menken was standing in front of me. I am a HUGE Menken fan. I mean, I can (and did) refer to even his most obscure material. I said "yy.. you're.. Alan.. Menken.." (yeah I was kinda in shock). He turns and says, "yes, I am" and I introduced myself. He was with a couple friends and my fiance and I were the only other people there.
He shook my hand and gave me a hug, and I proceeded to tell him about how much I admired his work and how much I enjoyed the show, and what his music has meant to me throughout my life. He was so kind, and so friendly!!! I was really impressed. We talked for about 10 mins or so. And then, I started singing (Led by Alan!!) on the streetcorner. It was a dream come true. What really impressed me, was that once he reached the restaurant he was going to, his friends held the door for them, and he just waved them on and said 'hold on, I'll be there in a minute, I want to talk with them for a while' What a guy. So I got an autograph and some pictures, and then I said we'd be coming back again to see the show again, and that I had a friend in the cast, and he told me to 'stop by afterwards and say hi again'
Me and the legendary ALAN MENKEN!
With Courtney Reed, as Princess Jasmine
With James Monroe Inglehart and Adam Jacobs (Genie and Aladdin) and my soon-to-be-hubby
