Disney Theatrical Celebrates Disney 100 on the Royal Variety Show Tonight!

It's time to celebrate in truly magical style tonight as Disney Theatrical bring the magic of Disney's 100th anniversary to the Royal Variety Performance!

The fabulous new cast of Aladdin's UK and Ireland Tour join the West End casts of The Lion King and Frozen alongside the German cast of the brand new production of Hercules for this once in a century performance at London's Royal Albert Hall!! And that's not all as the performance also sees the return of Samantha Barks as Elsa, ahead of her West End return next year, and Aladdin's own Trevor Dion Nicholas in a duet with Grace Swaby-Moore!

This promises to be a truly magical performance so don't miss it!!

The Royal Variety Performance airs in the UK tonight at 8pm on ITV.

Wishing a Magical Opening to Aladdin's First UK & Ireland Tour Tonight!

 

Cast of Aladdin UK & Ireland Tour

Tonight is the night! Four years after Aladdin closed in the West End, Disney's most magical musical is taking the flying carpet on tour and the first ever UK and Ireland tour opens previews in Edinburgh tonight!!

I am so happy to see this amazing show back in the UK and featuring an incredibly talented cast who I can't wait to see bringing this iconic tale to life on stage.

I just want to wish everyone involved, on stage and off, the very best of luck for tonight's first preview and for your entire run. You've all worked so hard for this moment, let that passion and energy shine on stage, but above all enjoy it. One of the things I love most about Aladdin is that you can feel that joy just radiating from the stage and it's infectious. So have fun, and make some magic!

I can't wait to see you all soon!

Aladdin Celebrates 9 Years of Granting Broadway Wishes

 

Today is the 9th anniversary of Aladdin's official Broadway opening. After 9 incredible years of granting wishes the show has played over 3000 performances and is now one of the twenty longest running shows in Broadway history with no signs of slowing down.

It is, quite simply, a truly magical run. I am forever grateful to this amazing show and to the hundreds, if not thousands, of people who have helped bring Agrabah to life every night these last 9 years.

I have said it before, but the sheer joy that this show brings means so much to me and, I'm sure, countless others in New York and around the world. It's a much needed light in uncertain times. An escape to a land of magic and romance that I will always treasure no matter how many times I see it. And if you haven't been yet? Well, we can fix that!

Thanks for all the high adventures Aladdin, promise I'll be there for the 10th!

The Magic is Back! Aladdin Announces UK and Ireland Tour!

 

"Let's make some magic!"

The magic is back!! Disney's Aladdin returns to the UK this year with the first ever UK and Ireland tour!

Announced this morning, the tour will premiere this October at the Edinburgh Playhouse where it will run from 24th October to 18th November. From there it will move to the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff (7th December 2023 to 14th January 2024), the Theatre Royal in Plymouth (17th January to 11th February 2024), the Sunderland Empire (15th February to 10th March 2024), and the Milton Keynes Theatre (24th April to 19th May 2024) with move venues to be announced.

Tickets go on sale Friday, 31st March, but you can sign up for priority access now via the official Disney Tickets website.

In a statement released this morning Thomas Schumacher, president and producer of Disney Theatrical Productions, said:

"As Aladdin approaches its second decade on stage, we are thrilled that the 11th production of the glorious Broadway show will soon be seen by audiences throughout the UK and Ireland.

Thanks to Casey Nicholaw's direction, Alan Menken's music and the peerless design team of Bob Crowley, Natasha Katz and Gregg Barnes this show is a powerful tonic, an irresistible lift for every audience who sees it.

The musical theatre performers in the UK and Ireland rival any on the planet and we look forward to presenting the best of them in this joyous new production."

I am so excited as the show has been absent from the UK since the West End production closed on 24th August 2019 (and we're still waiting on that live recording). And speaking of that live recording, check out this teaser that Aladdin's official UK social media accounts have been sharing:

✨‘Shining, shimmering, splendid’ news… ✨ Disney’s spectacular Broadway and West End musical, ALADDIN, is set to fly into a city near you as it embarks on a UK & Ireland tour from October 2023! To discover more and to get early access to tickets visit: https://t.co/laOXcQVkN9 pic.twitter.com/bBpl2OK0Vo

— Aladdin The Musical (@AladdinOnStage) February 24, 2023

Yes, that's London's Genie Trevor Dion Nicholas, only I've never heard him deliver that line like that in any previous promotional material so I'm guessing it comes from that long awaited live recording! So that's a cool promo for the tour and (hopefully) a little tease at the live recording as well!

One more cool teaser - this one promoting the first venues for the tour!

Disney’s spectacular Broadway and West End musical, ALADDIN, will be flying into @EdinPlayhouse, @theCentre, @TRPlymouth, @SundEmpire and @MKTheatre!

Tickets go on sale soon - sign-up now to get early access to tickets https://t.co/laOXcQVkN9 pic.twitter.com/3QiH3dpZAC

— Aladdin The Musical (@AladdinOnStage) February 24, 2023

Aladdin will be taking audiences to a whole new world, one city at a time across the UK from October. See you there!

New Year Round Up - 3000 Shows, Shoba Narayan Leaving for New High Adventures, Sonya Balsara is Broadway's New Jasmine & EPCOT's Festival of the Arts Returns

 

The cast of Broadway's Aladdin, Photo from Disney

It's been a busy time in Agrabah! Shortly before the end of last year the show celebrated 3000 magical performances on Broadway!

To celebrate this milestone achievement the cast and at the New Amsterdam receive an incredible 3000 cake in the show's signature colours. It looks too good to eat but I bet it tasted amazing!

Shortly before this milestone, Aladdin joined The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast in the top 20 longest running shows on Broadway, overtaking Hello, Dolly!'s original run of 2844 shows!

Shoba Narayan as Princess Jasmine, Photo by Matthew Murphy

As this year comes to a start, Aladdin is bidding goodbye to its princess, Shoba Narayan.

Shoba, who has played Jasmine since the show re-opened in September 2021, will take her final bow next Sunday, January 15.

I was fortunate to see Shoba bringing Jasmine to life when we visited New York not long after the show re-opened and she was simply incredible. I wish we could have seen her more, but I am beyond grateful that we got to see her in the role twice. She is truly one of my favourite Jasmines and I am excited to see where she goes next.

Shoba was also the first South Asian Jasmine, and has been an incredible role model and force for change. Even as she leaves the show, she leaves behind the new Jasmine doll, which she helped to design to make more representative.

Shoba, I wish you all the very best for the future, thanks for all the high adventures!

Sonya Balsara as Princess Jasmine, Photo by Matthew Murphy

And please give a royal Agrabah welcome to Sonya Balsara, Broadway's new Princess Jasmine!

Sonya made her Broadway debut as Jasmine last year, whilst Shoba was starring in Come Fall in Love (which also starred Aladdin's Irvine Iqbal!), and will be returning to the role from Thursday, January 19.

Sonya, I wish you a long and magical run with the show!

Whilst we're talking Jasmine, I just want to take a moment to say a massive congratulations to the original - the one and only Courtney Reed on her engagement!! So, so happy for you and Nick. Jane and I wish you both all the very best. You truly deserve every happiness.

Last but by no means least - EPCOT's Festival of the Arts is back this month and with it the Disney on Broadway Concert Series!

This year's concerts run from January 13 through to February 20 and feature stars from all of Disney's Broadway shows, including Aladdin.

Kicking things off on the Agrabah front are Adam and Arielle Jacobs. Broadway's original Aladdin and Australia's original Jasmine will be performing on January 14, 17, 18, 21, and 22.

Then the legendary Michael James Scott will be leaving Broadway behind for sunny Florida as he joins Ashley Brown (Beauty and the Beast, Mary Poppins) for a series of performances on February 6, 8, 9, 12, 13, 16, and 17, with an extra special finale performance on February 20 where they will be joined by Josh Strickland (Tarzan) and Kissy Simmons (The Lion King).

I am insanely excited for this as we will actually be there for Adam and Arielle's run! I haven't seen Adam live since we saw Aladdin on tour in LA back in 2018 and I have never seen Arielle live so this is going to be one of the highlights of our trip for me!

It's the start of another magical year in Agrabah! And Hercules is about to hit the stage as well! This year promises to be full of theatrical magic!