Tuacahn's Aladdin - First Review, First Interview and Even More Pictures!

Well the first review is now in and it looks like the Tuacahn has a hit on it's hands!  The Salt Lake Tribune says that "Tuacahn's 'Aladdin' flies high" and "strong comic acting, onstage chemistry and a live orchestra help ground a stage show packed with special effects."

The full review can be seen here.  If you are planning on seeing the show, make sure you book your tickets (at the Tuacahn's website) as quickly as possible because the Tribune's review goes on to state that this could be a "tough ticket this summer, as many of the shows are already sold out. Last year, some 20,000 people were turned away for Tuachan’s production of "Little Mermaid" and that could easily happen for "Aladdin" this year."  Indeed Aladdin's fundraiser premiere was held to help raise money towards the Tuacahn's planned expansion so that they don't have to worry about turning people away at future productions (such as next year's Mary Poppins).

Another key thing to note from the review is that those critics who were dissatisfied with the staging of "A Whole New World" in Seattle last year will be happy to know that in this production the carpet flies high over the audience.

The Tuacahn Blog has also been updated with their own look at the cast of Aladdin: The New Stage Musical and Hairspray, with the majority of the cast impressively pulling double duty and working on both shows!  And their Facebook album has been updated to feature new promotional images of all the core cast members;

Dan Domenech as Aladdin, Photo by Tuacahn

Haley Carlucci as Princess Jasmine, Photo by Tuacahn

Edward Juvier as Genie, Photo by Tuacahn

Michael G. Hawkins as Jafar, Photo by Tuacahn

Jeff Asch as Iago, Photo by Tuacahn

Paul C. Vogt as Babkak, Photo by Tuacahn

Randy Aaron as Omar, Photo by Tuacahn

Todd Dubail as Kassim, Photo by Tuacahn

Bob Walton as the Sultan, Photo by Tuacahn

The photos really show off the fantastic costumes that have been created for this production.  Some are closer to the movie than they were in Seattle, some are wildly different, but they all look amazing.

Shortly before the show opened Dan Domenech was interviewed by the Las Vegas Review.  You can read the interview here.  There's some really nice stuff in there, including that his first CD was Aladdin when he was a kid (kinda makes me feel old - I had it on cassette!), so make sure you check it out.

That's about it for this time (I will get The Muny cast article done, I've just been busier than expected as I've suddenly realised I'm going to Utah VERY soon and haven't even started to get anything ready!).  The only thing left to mention is that the Tony Awards were last weekend and there were some fantastic wins for Disney Theatrical with Newsies and Peter and the Starcatcher bringing home a combined total of 7 awards, including the award for Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics)Written for Theatre for Alan Menken and Jack Feldman for their work on Newsies.  I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate them both, all other award winners, and everyone involved with both productions.

Edit - Updated Already!!  Here's a short behind the scenes preview video at KUTV and that carpet ride does look like it has the potential to be amazing!