Broadway News Round Up 22

James Monroe Iglehart as Genie, Photo by Cylla Von Tiedemann

Welcome to another Aladdin Broadway news round up!  Sorry this one is a few days late, I was away visiting family this weekend and didn't get time to post.

First this week, a quick vacation alert - James Monroe Iglehart is currently away living any Genie's dream vacation at Walt Disney World.  Whilst he's enjoying the magic, the incredible Michael James Scott will be making some on stage as Genie.

Talking about James Monroe Iglehart, remember a few weeks back when he took part in Celebrity Karaoke?  Well If/Then's James Snyder has captured some of the event in a special episode of his Broadway.com Vlog.  Check it out!

Just a quick reminder that tickets for Kids' Night on Broadway are now on sale.  Running from 9-15th January 2015 Kids' Nights allow anyone age 6-18 to see a participating show for free when accompanied by a full paying adult.  There's a fantastic range of shows, including Aladdin, so if you're going to be in NYC next January and want to see a show then it's a brilliant chance to save some money and introduce the younger generation to the magic of theatre.  More details and the full range of shows can be found at the link above.

Last Sunday saw a fundraiser being held at the Uptown Theatre in Grand Prairie to benefit Mama's Party and Gideon's Feet.  Whilst this isn't directly Aladdin related, Gideon's Feet is a non-profit organisation dedicated to helping theatre artists in need that was set up by Ashley Puckett Gonzales in memory of her first son, Gideon.  Ashley's husband is Brian Gonzales who plays Babkak in Aladdin.  Like I said, this isn't directly related to Aladdin but I wanted to highlight a good cause.

Broadway.com are reporting that Don Darryl Rivera will be one of the stars taking part in Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol on December 15th at the Gerald W. Lynch Theatre.  This one night only concert is being held to benefit the Actor's Fund.  Tickets can be purchased here.  And whilst you're looking at the Broadway.com link make sure to watch the video of Josh Gad (Frozen's Olaf) trying to convince Jimmy Kimmel to dress up as Olaf for Halloween).

Last week James Monroe Iglehart and Adam Jacobs took part in Seth Rudetsky's Broadway Chatterbox.  The episode should be available soon on SethTV (guess it's time I got a subscription).

I'll be honest, I thought I gave the show a pretty good review but this kid has me beat;

If that doesn't make you want to take your whole family to see Aladdin then I don't know what will!

And on the subject fan reviews, here's another favourable fan review with an honourable mention of Adam Kaokept's debut as Iago.

Also this week Disney released the full version of ABC's Backstage Pass to Aladdin to their YouTube channel.  I know parts of this have been released before (and I think the full thing was released in 4 parts by ABC before as well) but here it is in full;

Halloween may be over but I'm going to conclude the Aladdin section of this news round up with some Halloween items.  Broadway Buzz rounded up Broadway's scariest villains, including Aladdin's Jonathan Freeman, to take part in a Halloween photo shoot and to discuss their villainy.  Broadway World lists Aladdin (or more specifically Prince Ali) as one of their Top 10 Broadway themed Halloween costumes.  And it looks like Adam Jacobs agreed as he teamed up with Aladdin's costume designer Gregg Barnes to create the perfect Halloween costumes for his two little princes (more pictures at Theater Mania);

And now from Agrabah to Paris!

 

 

With The Hunchback of Notre Dame now in it's second week at San Diego's La Jolla Playhouse there has been a lot of favourable comments on message boards and social media, along with plenty of spoilers too.  Yes, there's the odd criticism but for the most part it actually seems to be (mostly) constructive rather than the usual chorus of "I don't like the changes" from people who haven't even seen the show.  If the reviews are equally as favourable then Hunchback could potentially become Disney Theatrical's best reviewed show since The Lion King.  I really hope so as that can only add to the show's already considerable chances of a Broadway transfer and, from what little I've heard, this show deserves a run on Broadway.  It sounds glorious.

 

The show's villain, Patrick Page, spoke with Playbill on the day the show opened about bringing Notre Dame's conflicted Archdeacon to life.

 

And if spoilers are what you want you can read all about the production and the changes here and here.  Sounds like audiences are really loving it!