DVDizzy Forum

TsWade2 wrote:miserable people, Homosexuality, and etc.

Eh? This is about as stupid as complaining about, 'black people' being in musicals. Besides, musical theater is the gayest thing ever, dude. And if it weren't for Howard Ashman, a *gasp* homosexual, we wouldn't be talking about Aladdin, period. He was the one who brought up the idea of doing the film at Disney. Even before Beauty and the Beast.

ProfessorRatigan wrote:

TsWade2 wrote:miserable people, Homosexuality, and etc.

Eh? This is about as stupid as complaining about, 'black people' being in musicals. Besides, musical theater is the gayest thing ever, dude. And if it weren't for Howard Ashman, a *gasp* homosexual, we wouldn't be talking about Aladdin, period. He was the one who brought up the idea of doing the film at Disney. Even before Beauty and the Beast.

Well, no offense on homosexualty, and as for miserable people, I mean miserable people on Once that beaten Newsies that should of won last year.

I just want Aladdin to win a Tony Award for best musical, which sadly DIsney will always be a Tony loser. The Lion King will be the only Disney musical that won a Tony for Best Musical. And Broadway will always hate Disney.

This is more like it

http://arts.nationalpost.com/2013/11/22 ... the-stage/

"Staging, lighting and design come triumphantly together when the hero takes his Princess for a breathtaking ride on a magic carpet with no visible means of support. I don't often find myself applauding a special effect, but this one is really special. Beautifully, stunningly done, it has the benevolent side effect of taking our minds off the accompanying song A Whole New World, the score's one real dud with lyrics so dumb they can only have been supplied by Tim Rice after Ashman's death."

Thank god someone finally said it.

One thing, though, that makes me angry about these reviews is how they DON'T SEEM TO UNDERSTAND that Chad Beguelin DIDN'T write ALL of the 'new' songs... This reviewer, in fact, credits him for Howard Ashman's original Arabian Nights reprises, with, "they are worthy of the Ashman tradition." D'oh! Also, he calls Jonathan Freeman a 'petty soundalike.' D'oh! Again, does he just not KNOW? Is this all it takes to be a professional reviewer these days? Even CASUAL Disney and theater fans should know this stuff... Is it too much to ask of a professional?

ChrisLyne wrote:This is more like it

http://arts.nationalpost.com/2013/11/22 ... the-stage/

Dang it! You beat me to it! But that's okay. At least that critic has manners. The other critics are jerks. Those Broadway judge mental critic jerks better behave or I'll retaliate them with...........rap music. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcaHVJw79jo

ProfessorRatigan wrote:One thing, though, that makes me angry about these reviews is how they DON'T SEEM TO UNDERSTAND that Chad Beguelin DIDN'T write ALL of the 'new' songs... This reviewer, in fact, credits him for Howard Ashman's original Arabian Nights reprises, with, "they are worthy of the Ashman tradition." D'oh! Also, he calls Jonathan Freeman a 'petty soundalike.' D'oh! Again, does he just not KNOW? Is this all it takes to be a professional reviewer these days? Even CASUAL Disney and theater fans should know this stuff... Is it too much to ask of a professional?

Well to be fair the Arabian Nights Reprises in the show are by both Howard Ashman and Chad Beguelin. Reprise 1 is all Ashman, Reprise 2 and I think 3 (there wasn't a reprise there in the earlier productions and Ashman's reprise 2&3 demo lyrics wouldn't fit there) are both Beguelin, the final reprise is a mix of Ashman's original and some new lyrics by Beguelin (or at least was in previous productions). The important thing is they obviously blend together well so Beguelin has done a great job.

I thought the same thing about the "Petty soundalike" on first reading, but he's not saying Jonathan Freeman is a soundalike of himself Ross Petty does a lot of pantos in Canada and he's saying Jonathan's Jafar sounds like a villain in one of Petty's pantos.

ProfessorRatigan wrote: One thing, though, that makes me angry about these reviews is how they DON'T SEEM TO UNDERSTAND that Chad Beguelin DIDN'T write ALL of the 'new' songs... This reviewer, in fact, credits him for Howard Ashman's original Arabian Nights reprises, with, "they are worthy of the Ashman tradition." D'oh! Also, he calls Jonathan Freeman a 'petty soundalike.' D'oh! Again, does he just not KNOW? Is this all it takes to be a professional reviewer these days? Even CASUAL Disney and theater fans should know this stuff... Is it too much to ask of a professional?

It seems like a running theme that the reviewers aren't sure of what source material came from where! Like the Star reviewer who claims Beguelin turned Jasmine into a feminist cliche with his new material, which the almost all of the "feminist cliche" ( ) material came straight from the movie. The Star reviewer also implied that the movie Aladdin was crooked, when he's just as kind-hearted as the stage Aladdin.

With that said, I think the show is going be more along the lines of Wicked. A crowd pleaser, something most people walk out of the theater enjoying, but not critically praised. Whether the criticism is deserved or not.

rubyslippers wrote:

ProfessorRatigan wrote: One thing, though, that makes me angry about these reviews is how they DON'T SEEM TO UNDERSTAND that Chad Beguelin DIDN'T write ALL of the 'new' songs... This reviewer, in fact, credits him for Howard Ashman's original Arabian Nights reprises, with, "they are worthy of the Ashman tradition." D'oh! Also, he calls Jonathan Freeman a 'petty soundalike.' D'oh! Again, does he just not KNOW? Is this all it takes to be a professional reviewer these days? Even CASUAL Disney and theater fans should know this stuff... Is it too much to ask of a professional?

It seems like a running theme that the reviewers aren't sure of what source material came from where! Like the Star reviewer who claims Beguelin turned Jasmine into a feminist cliche with his new material, which the almost all of the "feminist cliche" ( ) material came straight from the movie. The Star reviewer also implied that the movie Aladdin was crooked, when he's just as kind-hearted as the stage Aladdin.

With that said, I think the show is going be more along the lines of Wicked. A crowd pleaser, something most people walk out of the theater enjoying, but not critically praised. Whether the criticism is deserved or not.

Well, I just hope it'll win a Tony Award for Best Musical. In fact, Kinky Boots won a Tony Award for Best Musical this year. It was a crowd pleaser and not a critical success. Those critics are anti-Disney jerks if you ask me.

rubyslippers wrote: But just because something isn't a critical success doesn't mean it can't be a success. Wicked received mixed to poor reviews from critics, it didn't win the Tony award for best musical, and yet it's one of the most popular shows in the world.

Success and quality aren't, and shouldn't be, measured in Tony Awards.

Yeah agree with this so much. It's way better for the audience and crowd to love it and enjoy it than a bunch of critics whom have their noses up in the air.

Who cares if it doesn't win some shiny block of thing ? As long as the audience loves it.

Wicked lost to Avenue Q which made a pretty big splash in its own right. It's no Wicked but it still got a good amount of attention and is currently the 23rd longest running musical on Broadway. It was also deserving, much better than Wicked. But I understand the main point.

The idea that the Tonys have an anti-Disney bias is absurd though The Lion King won and Disney isn't the only producer of good musicals And several have been mediocre at best. There may also be a problem if all of the best songs in the musical are still the ones from the movies, which could be unexciting to critics after hearing and knowing them for years.

And Newsies did win for the choreography and the score, which were probably its strongest elements.

Lady Cluck wrote:Wicked lost to Avenue Q which made a pretty big splash in its own right. It's no Wicked but it still got a good amount of attention and is currently the 23rd longest running musical on Broadway. It was also deserving, much better than Wicked. But I understand the main point.

The idea that the Tonys have an anti-Disney bias is absurd though The Lion King won and Disney isn't the only producer of good musicals And several have been mediocre at best. There may also be a problem if all of the best songs in the musical are still the ones from the movies, which could be unexciting to critics after hearing and knowing them for years.

And Newsies did win for the choreography and the score, which were probably its strongest elements.

So what you're saying is no matter if it win or lose Disney will always a Tony Award winner and the Tony voters will always respect Disney?

"The movie’s songs — One Jump Ahead, Friend Like Me and, best of all, Diamond in the Rough — come up fresh and sparkling." Eh, Diamond in the Rough was in the movie? And I thought I knew my Disney movies and Menken scores?;P Clearly this reviewer in National Post knows things I was not awear of...

Btw, does anyone know: Have the list of songs changed? Have there been any new changes to the songs recently? Are the list of songs now the final list as it will appear on Broadway? No more songs for Jafar?:/

The only big song featuring the villain ("Diamond in the Rough") seems to get praised, that should indicate that some more songs ("Why Me" for example) for the villain would have been meet with enthusiasm as well. I want & need more Jonathan Freeman on the Broadway cast recording!:P

Is this the working stage, like Mermaid had ? So the show is subject to changes and tinkering before the Broadway debut ?

TsWade2 wrote:

Lady Cluck wrote:Wicked lost to Avenue Q which made a pretty big splash in its own right. It's no Wicked but it still got a good amount of attention and is currently the 23rd longest running musical on Broadway. It was also deserving, much better than Wicked. But I understand the main point.

The idea that the Tonys have an anti-Disney bias is absurd though The Lion King won and Disney isn't the only producer of good musicals And several have been mediocre at best. There may also be a problem if all of the best songs in the musical are still the ones from the movies, which could be unexciting to critics after hearing and knowing them for years.

And Newsies did win for the choreography and the score, which were probably its strongest elements.

So what you're saying is no matter if it win or lose Disney will always a Tony Award winner and the Tony voters will always respect Disney?

Dude, yes!!!!! If the Tony voters like something better for personal or political reasons, they would vote for the other show. That's show business. This year is very competitive. Unlike this year with Kinky Boots/Matilda, and Billy Elliot/Next to Normal, Once/Newsies, and Wicked/Avenue Q, there's no locked-in winners so far. For now, anything goes. Aladdin still could win. But, something like Big Fish or If/Then (which was really good) could still beat Aladdin. Like how Matilda was locked for pretty much EVERYTHING (minus Direction, Costume, and Featured Actress) until Kinky Boots came along. Wicked was expected to win, so it was a huge shock that it lost. So, anything can happen with this. And keep in mind: If Once wasn't up that season, Newsies would defientely have won like the other 2 musicals mentioned. So, don't say that the Tony voters hate Disney because it's untrue, ok? They just like other shows better. But, they can be very snotty though.

atlanticaunderthesea wrote:Is this the working stage, like Mermaid had ? So the show is subject to changes and tinkering before the Broadway debut ?

It has premiered in Toronto after about three weeks of previews, so it is "locked" until the end of the Toronto run. (They may make minor changes, but nothing major, for the safety & sanity of the actors!) It has another round of previews, this time on Broadway, from end of February to the end of March.

I'm not sure, out of town runs are basically big extended preview runs for Broadway. They make tweaks before opening based on audience reactions, opening night gives them critics reactions, now they can make any changes they feel necessary (if any) based on that before bringing the show to Broadway. Isn't that how it works? The Little Mermaid got a whole new ending during its preview run and I think that was after it officially opened.

ChrisLyne wrote:I'm not sure, out of town runs are basically big extended preview runs for Broadway. They make tweaks before opening based on audience reactions, opening night gives them critics reactions, now they can make any changes they feel necessary (if any) based on that before bringing the show to Broadway. Isn't that how it works? The Little Mermaid got a whole new ending during its preview run and I think that was after it officially opened.

During a traditional preview run, a show still has to be locked eventually. That's why the official Facebook page for the Aladdin musical congratulated an opening night on the 21st--the previous 3 weeks of performances were the previews of the out of town tryout, but opening night means the show is more or less frozen. Tweaks aren't unheard of, but ordinary any major changes (removing numbers, reworking the script, etc) would have to be saved for the Broadway previews in February.

Granted, I don't know that much about the Little Mermaid musical's production history, so they may have altered the TLM ending after it officially opened in Denver--but it's unusual for a production to do so! I know there's at least two versions of the finale from Denver, the one with the "sailing forward/standing steady/starting life completely ready" verse and then another where they said something like "sailing onward, happy hearted, never after to be parted." I think the "never after to be parted" is what they used after the opening (so September) but I don't know about the other.

So I haven't really been following this closely - any news as to when we might expect an album recording of the show?

SWillie! wrote:So I haven't really been following this closely - any news as to when we might expect an album recording of the show?

There hasn't been any news yet, but probably May or June.