This blog is dedicated to Disney's Aladdin: Broadway's New Musical Comdey. Following a successful Pilot Production at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre in 2011, and regional and international productions in 2012, Disney announced that Aladdin would be coming to Broadway in 2014. Aladdin had it's pre-Broadway engagement at Toronto's Ed Mirvish Theatre and opened on Broadway 20th March 2014.
Ainsley Melham, Michael James Scott, and the Australian Cast of Aladdin, Photo by Deen van Meer
It's about to be all change in Agrabah asBroadway's Aladdinbids salaam to three principal actors and welcomes some new and some familiar faces.
First up, Clinton Greenspan will take his final bow as Aladdin this Sunday! Clinton, who took over the title role last September, will pass the fez back to Rodney Ingram for a limited run starting on Monday, February 17th. Rodney of course is a familiar face at the New Amsterdam Theatre, having made his Broadway debut in Aladdin and being one of the original understudies for the role.
Rodney's limited run will last roughly a month before another familiar face returns to Agrabah in March. The date is still to be confirmed but Ainsley Melham will once again be bringing Aladdin to life on the Broadway stage. Ainsley of course originated the role in the Australian production before joining the Broadway production for a six month run last year.
Broadway's Genie, Major Attaway, is also taking his final bow this month, bringing his three year run to a close on Thursday, February 27th. Taking over as Genie (again!) will be another familiar face as Michael James Scott returns once more to Agrabah! Michael originally ended his international run on Broadway last year, but even before he took that final bow a brief encore was already planned for his home town of Florida earlier this month. And now he's heading back to Broadway! You just can't keep that man away from the lamp!
And finally, Arielle Jacobs will fly beyond these palace walls as she takes her final bow as Princess Jasmine on Sunday, March 22nd. Depending on the date of Ainsley's return it's extremely likely that Arielle will get to take her final bow alongside her original Aladdin and Genie which is really nice to see.
Making her Broadway debut Marina Pires (On Your Feet! national tour) will take over as Princess Jasmine from March 23rd through May 31st. Playbill notes that a permanent successor for the role will be announced at a later date.
Welcome (back) to Agrabah everyone! And congratulations on your fantastic runs to all those preparing to take their final high adventures!
Hello and welcome to the first Aladdin musical news post of 2016! (Last week's 2015 round up totally doesn't count!)
With this being a new year and Aladdin soaring to international success I figured it was time to make a few changes to the way I've done things before and make these posts a bit more organised than they've been in the past... or at least try to!
So let's start on some fantastic news! Aladdin rang in the New Year by breaking the New Amsterdam house record for the 11th time, taking $2,398,110.00 and beating the previous record, set only the week before, by over $300,000! Aladdin's record breaking run made it the 3rd highest-grossing show of 2015! Massive congratulations to the cast, creative team and everyone at the New Amsterdam Theatre who bring this magical show to life! What an incredible way to start the year!
And New Year, new cast member! Please give a warm Agrabah welcome to Giuseppe Bausilio who joined the cast on 6th January!! Welcome to the show Guiseppe, I wish you a fantastic run!
As well as looking forward, New Year is also a time to look back and reflect on the year that was. And that's exactly what Disney Theatrical did with this video of their Best Moments of 2015;
Aladdin Broadway - Cast News
This section will feature everyone's favourite citizens of Agrabah! The amazingly talented cast of Broadway's Aladdin! Here you'll find links to interviews, news about upcoming performances and maybe even a few videos!
Adam Jacobs sang the National Anthem at the Brooklyn Nets V. Boston Celtics game earlier this month. Sadly it's not turned up on YouTube yet but I'll keep looking! Congratulations Adam!
Courtney Reed as Princess Jasmine, Photo by Cylla Von Tiedemann
Aladdin's Nathan Lucrezio has released tribute video to Michael Flatley showcasing his incredible dancing skills!
As someone with two left feet I wish I could move like that! Absolutely amazing!
And if you need any more reasons to love this totally crazy, but totally amazing, cast then just check out these pictures and videos from Courtney's Instagram showing just when the cast get up to in their rehearsal breaks! Here and here!
Aladdin Broadway - Creative Team News
Want to know what Aladdin's incredible creative team did next? Well this is the section for you. Expect lots of Alan Menken updates to dominate this section!
Speaking of Alan Menken - you are watching ABC's Galavant, right? If not then check it out! It's hilarious!! A weekly dose of Menken/Slater music can't help but make you smile!
And Alan was also Lin-Manuel Miranda's special guest for the first ever digital #Ham4Ham performance! You can check out their brilliant Little Mermaid medley below;
On Tuesday 19th January the Metropolitan Room will be host to Gone to Soon - Now and Forever an evening of Howard Ashman celebrating the life and music of the musical genius who helped inspire generations. You can read more about the event and purchase tickets here.
Hot off the success of Aladdin in 2014 and Something Rotten! last year, Casey Nicholaw is bringing Tuck Everlasting to Broadway this Spring!Tuck also reunites Casey with his original Omar, Andrew Keenan-Bolger (Newsies, Submissions Only), who starred in the successful Atlanta pilot last year. Previews are due to begin 31st March with Opening Night set for 26th April. If his previous shows are anything to go by then this will be a hit!
Aladdin Broadway - Old Friends
They may no longer be with the show, but they'll always be in our hearts. This section is for news and updates on those who have left Agrabah behind for new adventures.
Brian Gonzales, James Monroe Iglehart, Andrew Keenan-Bolger, Adam Jacobs and Brandon O'Neill in 5th Avenue's Aladdin, Photo by Chris Bennion
Genie & Babkak's former Stand By Michael James Scott is currently starring in Casey Nicholaw's latest smash, Something Rotten!, and took some time out to talk with Broadway Box about why he loves the show and why Casey Nicholaw is his Broadway Genie!
Last week original Aladdin cast member Marisha Wallace and Nick Rashad Burroughs sold out their 54 Below show Baptized by Broadway! Due to the overwhelming response Marisha's even hinted that they could do another show! Congratulations both!!
Aladdin International
After becoming "the surprise hit of the season" on Broadway Aladdin has continued to soar to a whole new world of success. Last year saw productions open in Tokyo and Hamburg and this year will see new productions opening in London and Sydney with more still to be announced! This section is all about the international productions of the show. And I'll admit right now that it'll probably have a pretty heavy London bias as I can't wait to see that show!!
The Wall Street Journal this week posted an interesting piece on how Disney Theatrical is subtly tweaking the international productions of Aladdin to appeal to their national audiences (like renaming Kassim to Kasser in Germany as nothing rhymes with Kassim!)
You can check out footage from the Tokyo production right here;
The Hamburg production;
And finally, some interviews and footage from Hamburg's Opening Night last month;
With Aladdin due to open in London in a few short months, London Theatre Direct took a look at some little known facts about the animated classic and the Broadway sensation. You can read Part 1 and Part 2 right here.
Other Disney Stuff!
And finally this section. With the cast album coming up next week (so hyped!) I'm expecting this section to be mostly about The Hunchback of Notre Dame for now, but we'll just see what happens in the future. After all, I'm sure Disney Theatrical have lots of exciting projects coming up and there's a live action Beauty and the Beast movie coming next year.
And now for something very special. Last weekend saw the curtain fall for the final time on Disney's Californian Adventure's Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular. The Orange County Register was there to talk with fans as the magic carpet soared away for the last time. This is one of those shows I always wanted to see. It was one of the reasons I wanted to go to the original Disneyland one day. My friend posted this to my Facebook page this week (they know me so well!) so now I'm going to leave you with the full last ever performance of Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular!
This week Aladdin welcomed two new ensemble members to Agrabah as Kathryn Allison and Rodney Ingram joined the cast and made their Broadway debuts in the process!! Kathryn will be playing Jasmine's Attendant, the Fortune Teller and be a member of the ensemble and Rodney will be a member of the ensemble and understudy for Aladdin. Congratulations to you both and welcome to the Aladdin family!!
