Aladdin on Broadway

[disneyboy20022]

Was Jonathon Freeman in the Aladdin A Musical Spectacular as seen in this video below

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxVqID1G7hA[/youtube]

[TsWade2]

But, something like Big Fish or If/Then (which was really good) could still beat Aladdin.

Well If/Then better not be controversial, but if it's going to win a Tony for Best Score and Best Book, they can have them. Alan Menken got his Tony anyway. But I want Aladdin to win. As for Big Fish, fat chance.

But, they can be very snotty though.

Well, the Broadway critics are more snottier than Tony Voters. Critics hate Disney! Except for The Lion King and Newsies. I bet when Broadway critics give Aladdin bad reviews, they'll go like this! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVY1-v97Mic


Those Broadway critics better like Aladdin. They can be honest, but better like Aladdin or else, I'll be thinking to write a mockery poem about how bad the critics are.

[Atlantica]

Ahh I see, thank you for letting me know about the trial run / changes. I just couldn't remember when Mermaid got its tweaking.

I would dearly love to have a Disney show come over to the West End - been such a long time since we had one. Mary Poppins was the last one I think ? We are overdue for a Disney injection. Personally, (I know I'm in the minority here) but I would love to have the altered version of Mermaid been put on stage here. With Sierra reprising her role. Fangirl dreams I know, but oh well

Is there a chance Aladdin will come over here ? I guess we have to see if it is a success first.

[ChrisLyne]

I couldn't finds it last night but Mermaid's big change was just before the official opening in Denver. Aladdin is having a longer preview run so there is more time for changes to come in (TLM only had about a week and a half to go after official opening) but rubyslippers is right, at this point there probably won't be any major changes (little tweaks, maybe).

Honestly though, this show has had a lot of time for them to make any changes they felt necessary. They did 3 weeks in Seattle (making changes up till opening night if I recall), revised some parts after Seattle, the revised production had 2 regional runs (a week at The Muny and 5 months at Tuacahn) and reworked the show again for this pre-Broadway run (more extensively this time, removing Why Me, adding new songs, changing the order of some parts). At this point I don't think we're going to see a Mermaid style big change, if we were they'd have done it before opening in Toronto. Maybe I'm wrong but I think they're at the point where they're pretty happy with it. It's been obvious since Seattle this was never going to be a critically acclaimed show, but it's been even more obvious that audiences love it and that's why it's coming to Broadway rather than being licensed out (which was Disney's original intent for the show).

Oh and Mermaid's ending went through a lot of changes. I was there opening night in Denver and again 2 nights later, the finale lyrics had already changed. I know they did the big change to the ending (Ursula's arrival at the contest through to her demise/Ariel becoming human and getting her voice back) just before the official opening, I assume they changed the finale lyrics again then because there were (at least) 3 different sets of lyrics for Denver!

atlanticaunderthesea - I would love them bring another show to the West End (it would sure save me money!!). There was talk of Newsies opening here next spring (they even had auditions this summer) but there's been no official announcement or even solid rumours since summer. I would love to see the revised Mermaid play over here (I really wanna here the new songs) and I'd love to see the Beauty and the Beast tour come back, it was getting a bit tired but now it's had a few years away I think a new production and new cast could breathe new life into it. More than anything I want Aladdin to come over and I would love them to do a pre-Broadway Hunchback here!

[thelittleursula]

Those Broadway critics better like Aladdin. They can be honest, but better like Aladdin or else, I'll be thinking to write a mockery poem about how bad the critics are.

Haha agree with this, then again biased Aladdin fan here

[ChrisLyne]

If you didn't buy them during the priority pre-sale tickets are now officially on sale.

http://www.aladdinbroadway.com
http://www.aladdinthemusical.com

No idea why they have 2 official sites. Aladdin Broadway was the original site but all the recent promo pieces are using the new Aladdin The Musical web address. Both appear identical so far.

[TsWade2]

You know what? I think Aladdin will be Disney's next Broadway hit, no matter what those stupid anti-disney critics will say.

[Lady Cluck]

WELL DUH. It was only made to make money from tourists/families visiting NYC

[rubyslippers]

WELL DUH. It was only made to make money from tourists/families visiting NYC

It was first mounted so that Disney would have a non-JR production of Aladdin to license out, and it was never initially intended to go to Broadway. But the show was popular enough with audiences that they've decided to take it to Broadway instead.

[Lady Cluck]

I'm not sure I believe that.

[Flanger-Hanger]

Finally saw the show last night and liked it overall. It has it's problems, but with more impressive staging on Broadway, it'll likely be a hit. The audience seemed to respond well, and the box office is what really matters when it comes to the show's success. Word of mouth on a few key elements should keep it afloat.

But more notes on the show:

- @SuperAurora They were selling pre-orders of the cast recording (for $25 CND), but nothing had a date on it. My guess is March or April at this point.

- Gotta plug Walt Disney World in the program, first page-full cover ad! Also a little strange to see certain preformers include their twitter handles or websites in the program, but not all. Must be a per-person request thing.

- The show is a shoe-in for best costumes and possibly best sets. Both are top notch and far from cheap (except maybe the buycostumes.com swords the guards had).

- Jafar does have a whole song "Diamond in the Rough", plus the reprise of "Prince Ali", so he did get to sing. Just hearring him talk though was a thrill and since I sat in the 5th row I had a great view of everything, despite being to the far left.

- How do you make Friend Like Me longer? Sing other Disney songs (I'm not kidding)! That number is pretty much the reason to go see the show. James Monroe Iglehart makes the role his own, and suits the story much better than Robin Williams frankly. He did make some pop cultural references, but like the California Adventure show, he can update them in real time so they don't get dated.

- Internet memes are now good enough for Broadway, I guess.

- Jasmine is pretty much the same as she is in the movie. The show won't change your opinion on her, but "Call Me a Princess" makes for a good comedy number.

- The three friends sometimes work, and sometimes don't. Depends on how much they actually move the plot. The dungeon scene ("Somebody's Got Your Back") felt like padding. But they were not without merit ("High Adventure" is their best moment, and easily the best "new" song).

- "Proud of Your Boy" doesn't work so well without having scenes and development with the mother. It feels more schmaltzy and forced without it. Especially since it's sung multiple times to make it a thing like "Part of Your World".

- The climax is over before it even starts. It goes from "Prince Ali" reprise to genie wish in about 30 seconds. No snake, no escape etc. The Cave of Wonders exploring is cut really short too. Makes the more superfluous songs seem even more like padding knowing those movie moments are eliminated. Jafar's first wish is to capture the Princess, then become Sultan, then Genie.

- Abu makes a cameo during "Prince Ali" as a sign representing the Persian monkeys.

- No carpet over the audience. They must be saving that for Boradway and not a 9 week run.

[rubyslippers]

I'm not sure I believe that.

Facts aren't hard to believe. From 2011:

http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Se ... 1-20110113

"Steve Fickinger, VP Creative Development and Licensing for Disney Theatrical Productions, said, "Responding to extraordinary demand from our licensing customers for a full length, two-act version of Aladdin, Alan Menken brought to us the idea of returning to the highly theatrical vision he and Howard Ashman had originally conceived but that had proved unsuitable for the film. Our goal with this pilot production of Aladdin at The 5th Avenue is to launch this title for inclusion in our innovative professional and regional theatre licensing catalog.""

[rubyslippers]

- No carpet over the audience. They must be saving that for Boradway and not a 9 week run.

Unless Disney is taking a major risk, I don't think they'd introduce a new stage effect like that just for Broadway. Unless the carpet is just not working (I've heard it hasn't worked at least twice, but I don't know if it's Spiderman levels of "things routinely break down" or Wicked levels of "once in a while, the flying effect doesn't work") it will more or less stay as it is on Broadway in Toronto. It wouldn't just be an artistic risk, but a risk for the actors and crew, who have to know that the carpet is working and working safely in order for them to use it. And since Broadway previews are only about 3 weeks, that isn't enough time to ensure a brand new effect's safety.

[Flanger-Hanger]

Unless Disney is taking a major risk, I don't think they'd introduce a new stage effect like that just for Broadway. Unless the carpet is just not working (I've heard it hasn't worked at least twice, but I don't know if it's Spiderman levels of "things routinely break down" or Wicked levels of "once in a while, the flying effect doesn't work") it will more or less stay as it is on Broadway in Toronto. It wouldn't just be an artistic risk, but a risk for the actors and crew, who have to know that the carpet is working and working safely in order for them to use it. And since Broadway previews are only about 3 weeks, that isn't enough time to ensure a brand new effect's safety.

The timing excuse I buy more than the safety one, since they have the carpet do that in California.

[rubyslippers]

Unless Disney is taking a major risk, I don't think they'd introduce a new stage effect like that just for Broadway. Unless the carpet is just not working (I've heard it hasn't worked at least twice, but I don't know if it's Spiderman levels of "things routinely break down" or Wicked levels of "once in a while, the flying effect doesn't work") it will more or less stay as it is on Broadway in Toronto. It wouldn't just be an artistic risk, but a risk for the actors and crew, who have to know that the carpet is working and working safely in order for them to use it. And since Broadway previews are only about 3 weeks, that isn't enough time to ensure a brand new effect's safety.

The timing excuse I buy more than the safety one, since they have the carpet do that in California.

I don't mean that it's not safe to go over an audience, I mean that it's not safe for the actors or crew to introduce a brand new mechanical effect like that 3 weeks before the show is supposed to be opening and running normally. It needs to be tested as much as possible and it needs to be consistent--by the time Broadway opens, the carpet will have been in use for about 4 months in all. Working on stage can be risky, and both actors and crew need to know what (set pieces, props, mechanical effects, etc) will be where and what it will be doing like the back of their hand. And with the recent injuries on Broadway due to Spider Man, I doubt Disney is going to take any chances on just throwing in a major new effect just for Broadway.

There's other reasons why I would be sincerely shocked if they decided to implement flying over the audience just for Broadway--money, for one, since it would mean they would need to pay people to redesign the mechanics of the existing set, build new set pieces, build safe rigging in the theater, pay the crew and cast extra time to test it out, etc. Another is that I can only imagine the annoyed tweets of people who paid $150++ to see Aladdin on the main floor only to get a view of a bottom of a carpet for one of the show's biggest numbers!

[Flanger-Hanger]

I don't mean that it's not safe to go over an audience, I mean that it's not safe for the actors or crew to introduce a brand new mechanical effect like that 3 weeks before the show is supposed to be opening and running normally. It needs to be tested as much as possible and it needs to be consistent--by the time Broadway opens, the carpet will have been in use for about 4 months in all. Working on stage can be risky, and both actors and crew need to know what (set pieces, props, mechanical effects, etc) will be where and what it will be doing like the back of their hand. And with the recent injuries on Broadway due to Spider Man, I doubt Disney is going to take any chances on just throwing in a major new effect just for Broadway.

There's other reasons why I would be sincerely shocked if they decided to implement flying over the audience just for Broadway--money, for one, since it would mean they would need to pay people to redesign the mechanics of the existing set, build new set pieces, build safe rigging in the theater, pay the crew and cast extra time to test it out, etc. Another is that I can only imagine the annoyed tweets of people who paid $150++ to see Aladdin on the main floor only to get a view of a bottom of a carpet for one of the show's biggest numbers!

Fair enough, but flight over audience or not, I did like how they created space on stage in the show for that scene.

[disneyprincess11]

Haters of Call Me a Princess: Great news! I just heard that it has been cut and Jasmine will have a new song. Idk what it is yet.

[rubyslippers]

Haters of Call Me a Princess: Great news! I just heard that it has been cut and Jasmine will have a new song. Idk what it is yet.

I'm shocked! It must be really poorly received for them to replace it when Toronto is supposedly locked in! I wonder if it will be entirely new or if they will rework To Be Free.

[Prince Edward]

If it's true that they still are changing the song numbers, then it's still a theoretical possibility that Jafar get's another song. I can't understand what they are thinking when they give Jonathan Freeman only 2 songs! (Or rather 1 and 1/2 song.)

[ProfessorRatigan]

Haters of Call Me a Princess: Great news! I just heard that it has been cut and Jasmine will have a new song. Idk what it is yet.

Why should anyone be celebrating the fact that yet ANOTHER Howard Ashman song has been gutted from this show?

Call Me a Princess is hysterical. God forbid they make Jasmine funny...