Disney Theatrical, working with director and choreographer Casey Nicholaw, has brought Disney’s animated hit Aladdin to the great white way of New York, New York – Broadway. Tony Award winner Alan Menken composed the music and Howard Ashman and Tim Rice’s original lyrics are augmented by new songs from Menken and Chad Beguelin.
While elements of the show will look familiar to Disney California Adventure and Disney Cruise line guests who’ve seen the respective theme park musical version, from what I’ve seen and read, the production team has worked hard to make the show more entertaining for an adult audience. For instance, they dispensed with the Genie’s blue-makeup and even made a few additional casting updates.
You can see how well the story works on the big stage in this new preview released by Disney:
It’s funny how one Broadway show can get such different reviews. Disney’s Aladdin appears to be generating that sort of split reception. The NY Times is impressed with the new songs, sparkely costumes, and performances. Unfortunately, those same things failed to impress Variety’s reviewer.
I suspect that if you’re reading this blog, you’ll probably enjoy the Broadway musical version of Aladdin. The big question for Disney is, how will main street America feel? If you’re heading to New York you can get your tickets at AladdinTheMusical.com.
(Photo courtesy Disney. Photographer: Cylla von Tiedemann)