Aladdin on Broadway

[ChrisLyne]

Thanks for all the great comments everyone!

Sotiris - I'm afraid that when I interviewed Adam the other week he said whilst he'd love to do a cast recording he didn't think there would be one unless the show went to Broadway as cast recordings don't sell as well as they used to

Tsom - Courtney gives the context for the song in the interview after her performance and I have to say it works really well!

I'm certainly not expecting any free tickets for the show. In all honesty the first thing I said when I got in contact with 5th Avenue to ask if they could include me on the press mailouts was that I was't after anything like free tickets or anything that would cost them money. They've been incredibly good to me, going way further than they had to in providing things like the Jafar message.

In all honesty even if they offered me the tickets I would have to politely decline or request permission to give them away via the blog as there's no way I can go to the show. I get married 15th July and I'm going to Disney World for my honeymoon in September/October and there's no way I could afford to fly to the US twice in one year (to quote Genie "I know, I've looked"). But then if I had been able to go then I may never have started the blog, which has proved to be an extremely rewarding experience for me, so I've just about made my peace with not see the show... I'm just praying for an official tour with as much of this cast as possible next year!

[tsom]

Haha, I guess I was right (about the song)!

Oh, and I'm pretty sure the show will be available ilegally somehow...

Congrats on your upcoming wedding! July 15th is my birthday

[PatrickvD]

This has to come to Broadway. It's such a more obvious and natural piece for Broadway than Little Mermaid or Tarzan.

And "Call me a Princess" works wonderfully as a 'snarky act' by Jasmine to get her suitors to back off. Unlike Mermaid, this could actually be a big hit. And I had no idea it was directed by the guy that co-directed "The Book of Mormon"... another fabulously awesome show.

[ChrisLyne]

Thanks, I'm really looking forward to it. Just got in from a dancing lesson (my fiancee's dance teacher offered to help us with the dance) and I totally have 2 left feet! Hope you have a great birthday!

I'm pretty certain that most (if not all) of the songs will be on youtube before the show even has it's official opening night, but I certainly won't be posting any links on the blog. 5th Avenue has been too good to me and I wouldn't want to repay that by linking to pirate videos (at least, not without getting permission first, not sure what their policy is with stuff like that, Disney seemed pretty strict when TLM came out, but looking at youtube I don't think Wicked even cares).

Plus even if people do see some or even all of the show that way, it's not the same experience. That's one thing I don't understand about Disney - why they won't release the shows officially on DVD? I know they worry about it affecting ticket sales, but as far as I'm aware no other Broadway show that's released the show on DVD (as a movie, a direct stage recording or a concert version) has lost seat sales because of it. If anything they've probably had a net gain in sales! I mean look at Wicked - how many pirate videos are there on youtube for that show? It certainly doesn't look like they've hurt sales!

Beauty and the Beast, Tarzan and The Little Mermaid aren't even being performed anymore! They (currently) have no plans for Aladdin after this pilot production (hopefully sales and reviews will change this). So there's even less to loose! And even if they released the show in perfect Blu-Ray quality it could never completely capture the experience of being there and seeing the live performance. People know this, and if they've like a $20 DVD they may be more likely to pay the $70+ per ticket to see the show live. To give an example - hearing Sierra Boggess belt out Part of Your World on the TLM Cast Album is one thing, but nothing compares to seeing her do it live and feeling the hairs on your neck stand up as she hits those notes.

[Prince Edward]

That Jafar message was funny^^ It would be a shame if Disney don't release a cast recording with Jonathan Freeman as Jafar. I can't believe why Disney don't see the potential in Aladdin as a Broadway musical... It has the famous music and characters "everybody" knows, and a entertaining and adventerous story. Aladdin would be perfect! If Mary Poppins can do it, then Aladdin certainly can!

[ChrisLyne]

Who's he? Why ME!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dZCJrzGc7E

Watch and enjoy!

I really need a flying carpet, a magic lamp, or a winning lottery ticket! And I think I'd have more luck with the carpet or lamp than with the lottery!

[Elladorine]

Watch and enjoy!

I always loved the demo of this! So cool to hear a new version as well as see him performing it!

[Sotiris]

Who's he? Why ME!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dZCJrzGc7E

Watch and enjoy!

Nice! Thanks!

[bruno_wbt]

Do you know if Jasmine is going to sing “To Be Free” or another song apart from "Call me a Princess" and "A Whole New World"?

[ChrisLyne]

Not yet...

Adam teased that he is part of 11 songs (only a line or 2 in about half of them) so I'm pretty sure Jasmine will have more songs.

Courtney has very kindly agreed to an interview and I just sent the questions to her yesterday, so hopefully we'll know a bit more very soon (just don't expect confirmation of specific songs, like To Be Free, until the show opens).

[Disney Duster]

Jasmine's new song doesn't fit very well with any of the other songs from the movie. I know the character will be different and the show will be a little different but songs should at least...fit together, and this one doesn't for me.

[ChrisLyne]

Two big updates tonight!

Firstly I'm very happy to be able to present an interview with James Monroe Iglehart (Genie);

http://aladdinmusical.blogspot.com/2011 ... -lamp.html

And secondly 5th Avenue have released the 2nd preview song from their Spotlight Night;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Inaty6TP ... ideo_title

Hope everyone likes them!

[Sotiris]

Thanks for the updates!!

Btw, do you know where I can find the costume sketches for the show?

[ChrisLyne]

I'm afraid not.

I used to have images/links on the blog but 5th Avenue asked me to take them down as they weren't approved for release.

[tsom]

Interview with Chad Beguelin. Apparently, he and Alan Menken have written three new songs for the show.

http://broadwayworld.com/article/EXCLUS ... l-20110623

[Sotiris]

I wish they'd get Tim Rice to write lyrics for the new songs for continuity's sake if not anything else.

[ChrisLyne]

Before TLM I used to feel the same (about Tim Rice), but I thought Glen Slater did a fantastic job with TLM, so I'm optimistic that Chad will do a great job on Aladdin.

Sorry I didn't post this earlier, I was in a rush so couldn't post it before work;

http://www.youtube.com/user/5thAvenueTh ... SL2AXviUNY

A behind the scenes peak at the show! Our first glimpse at the dance for Arabian Nights, brief interviews with Courtney Reed (Jasmine), James Monroe Iglehart (Genie), Don Darryl Rivera (Iago) and Sean G Griffin (Sultan).

James also confirms another new song (this time a duet between Aladdin and Jasmine!!)

[Sotiris]

Before TLM I used to feel the same (about Tim Rice), but I thought Glen Slater did a fantastic job with TLM, so I'm optimistic that Chad will do a great job on Aladdin.

I wouldn't say a "fantastic" job; more like an "OK" job, IMO. Some songs were better than others lyric-wise.

But that's besides the point. In TLM (the film) no one else but Menken and Ashman had worked on the songs so getting any good lyricist for writing the new songs for the Broadway version would be just fine.

But with Aladdin, Tim Rice had also worked on the film, writing two songs that made it into the final film (One Jump Ahead, A Whole New World--with the latter winning an Oscar) and at least two deleted songs (My Time Has Come, Why Me). So, since his songs will be included in this stage version, it's just a shame that they didn't get him involved, having him writing lyrics for the new songs instead.

I'm not questioning whether the new lyricist they hired for the show will be good enough, he probably will, I'm just objecting Rice's lack of involvement. I feel that just out of respect for his work on the original film and for contunuity's sake they should had invloved him.

James also confirms another new song (this time a duet between Aladdin and Jasmine!!)

Agh! This show just begs for a Cast Recording CD release! If "Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular" got one, why can't they release one for the new stage version?

[ChrisLyne]

Well I don't mind admitting I'm a little bias on TLM as I loved the show, and my first impression (not counting the leaked demos) was the very first preview in Denver, so it really had a big impact on me.

Maybe they asked Tim Rice and he either couldn't do it due to schedule/work load or didn't want to do it? No idea whether or not they did, but like you say it does feel like he should have at least been approached.

I might be wrong, but from the Jim Hill interview a few months back it appears that Disney approached Chad Beguelin (who did the book for the Californian Adventure show) to create a 2 act version of Aladdin that they could license out. It was Chad who then went to Alan Menken and asked for his blessing to do the show, at which point Alan suggested they go back to Howard's original vision of Aladdin.

However, with Chad being a lyricist as well as a writer, and Disney offering him the job before even Alan Menken got involved, I can also see why they may not have approached Tim Rice (it would be a bit unfair to the guy for Disney to hire him, him to do the decent thing and get Alan Menken's blessing, only for people to then say let's hire another lyricist).

Tricky situation all round really!


I would LOVE a cast alblum. It seems very unlikely right now as the show is only running for a month and a full studio recording costs a LOT and the sales of cast recordings is a lot lower than it used to be. A live recording is probably the only viable option, but I doubt they'll go that route.

It just seems strange that they're not doing one. I mean this production is being done to license out the show to regional/international/amateur groups, surely there must be some kind of demo CD included in the literature that gets sent out to show how the show should sound? And this is also Howard Ashman's last work, it deserves the proper treatment!

At this point I think (sadly) our most likely chance of a CD is if there's an unofficial back track set done (like there was for BATB and TLM) where disc 1 is a professional singing the song and disc 2 is the backing track. The only problem with these is they almost never cover the full show (especially if there's a lot of reprises) and they're generally sung technically rather than in character.

[Sotiris]

Well I don't mind admitting I'm a little bias on TLM as I loved the show, and my first impression (not counting the leaked demos) was the very first preview in Denver, so it really had a big impact on me.

Off-topic: Do you know where I can find those leaked demos? I bought the official CD but I want those demos too!