Broadway News Round Up 7

Adam Jacobs and Courtney Reed as Aladdin and Jasmine, Photo by Cylla Von Tiedemann

As the countdown to the Tony Awards reaches its climax it's been a busy week for the cast and crew of Aladdin as they rehearsed for their Tony Awards performance (believed to be the show stopping Friend Like Me) in addition to their regular 8 show week.  And with Aladdin up for 5 awards, including the much coveted Best Musical award, there's been plenty of news to keep up with as well!

Adam Jacobs and Courtney Reed are taking part in Broadway.com's Ask a Star so if you have a question for Broadway's Aladdin and Jasmine then this is your chance!  Click the link and ask away!

In the wake of last week's cast album debut, Broadway Direct have posted a short review of the album along with the albums of other new musicals from the 2013/2014 season.

Adam Jacobs was award the Fauxny Award for "Best Performance by Teeth in a Broadway Actor's Mouth" (I said in my review he had a winning smile!) and Aladdin also won "Best Magic Trick Stolen from Another Show that's been Open for the Last 25 Years" for the Magic Phantom Chair that's used in Friend Like Me and "Best Attempt at Making Totally Suspect Cultural References and Appropriation Like, Totally Not a Problem, Dude".  As you can probably tell the awards just for a laugh and aren't supposed to be taken seriously!

Adam Jacobs tells NewYork.com what he loves about the city, and so does James Monroe Iglehart.

James Monroe Iglehart talks with USA Today during an interval about the show and about Tony buzz!

Writer and Lyricist Chad Beguelin talks with Broadway.com about Aladdin's long road to Broadway and turning the show around from "cute" to Tony Award Nominee.

Entertainment Weekly reports that for the week ending 1st June Aladdin was the highest grossing of the new shows, "playing to full houses and nearly 88 percent of its potential gross in the cavernous 1,723-seat New Amsterdam Theatre" making it the only new show in the top 5 performers!

Broadway World Toronto looks at Toronto's connection to the 2014 Tony Awards, including Aladdin which played it's pre-Broadway run at Toronto's Ed Mirvish Theatre.

Deadline talks with Thomas Schumacher and Alan Menken about Aladdin, Tony Awards and Howard Ashman.

Broadway Spotted and Sioux City Journal have posted short reviews of the show and a new fan review can be read here.

USA Today offers their opinion on who should win and who will win the at the Tony Awards, Aladdin is mentioned a lot in the "should win" category, but for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical they had this to say; "James Monroe Iglehart, Aladdin's exuberant, show-stopping Genie, is this year's safest bet."  Also putting Aladdin in the "should win" category for Best Musical is NewsTelegram.com whilst the Daily Record gives JMI as their pick for the win as well as giving a nod to Casey Nicholaw for Choreography.

Disney's Official Blog talks with James Monroe Iglehart about living his dream as the Genie and he takes the Oh My Disney Quiz (I may have posted the quiz before!)

Jonathan Smith talks with City Pulse about being a substitute percussionist for Broadway's Aladdin.

Broadway World has reported that Aladdin's Marisha Wallace will be taking part in Broadway Sings for Pride later this month.

Simply Showbiz has posted an interview with Courtney Reed and Adam Jacobs (and it sounds like more interviews are coming up!)

And that's it for this week!  Tonight all eyes will be on the Tony Awards, hosted by Hugh Jackman and featuring performances by the casts of all of this year's Best Musical and Best Musical Revival nominees and more.  The show starts at 8pm ET on CBS with online coverage starting at 6pm ET with live footage from the Red Carpet arrivals on www.tonyawards.com.  You can find more information about the Tony Second Screen (including the Red Carpet and Pressroom Cam) here.  For international fans like me you can find broadcast information here or simply watch live on the Tony Awards website.  I'll be watching live and hopefully I'll have some great news to post in the early hours of the morning (the Awards start at 1am here, it's gonna be a long night)!