 |
| Adam Jacobs & Courtney Reed as Aladdin & Jasmine, Photo by Mark Kitaoka |
But before that there's plenty to catch up on with our Broadway friends!
Aladdin Broadway - Show News
Are you a Disney Vacation Club member? If so then they have a magical treat in store for you! A special performance of Aladdin just for DVC members and their guests that will be filled with member recognition and fun surprises! To learn more and book your tickets go here!
Have you ever wondered how they make magic every night at the New Amsterdam Theatre? Well wonder no more as CNET goes behind the scenes of Broadway's Aladdin to show you just how much work goes in to making magic very day. And in case you're wondering - the carpet really is magic, even CNET can't tell you how it flies :o)
Aladdin's Mike Cannon and Jennifer Rias will be taking a short break from the show to star as Riff and Anita in West Side Story at the Schermerhorn Symphony Centre on June 3rd & 4th! You can read more details and check out the trailer right here!
The Knockturnal recently posted a great video interview with Adam Jacobs, James Monroe Iglehart, Courtney Reed and Jonathan Freeman (including a well deserved shout out for their cast mates and the most incredible ensemble on Broadway)
Adam Jacobs and James Monroe Iglehart recently sat down with some of their Lion King cousins to discuss their show with Madame Noire;
Aladdin Broadway - Cast News
 |
| Adam Jacobs as Aladdin, Photo by Cylla von Tiedemann |
And you can watch Adam's recent appearance on the always hilarious Tyler Mount Vlog right here;
And if you've not got your tickets yet to Adam and Arielle Jacobs' Sibling Disobedience concert at 54 Below you can now get 35% off using the code SIBLING35
And you can catch Broadway.com's interview with the siblings right here;
Courtney Reed recently appeared on Style Code Live and you can re-watch the episode right here! Plus Courtney was recently names one of Broadway's must follow SnapChatters! If you're not following her then you're probably a dinosaur like me who can't figure SnapChat out to save his life, but seriously, follow her!
JMI and DDR's scare war has progressed to a creepy smile war this month with the following photos on Instagram! DDR1, JMI1, DDR2, JMI2 Ain't it great to have friends like these! Love all the back stage antics at this show!
Aladdin's Daisy Hobbs recently took part in the Vanguard Theatre's Broadway Buddy Mentorship Cabaret, helping to teach and inspire the next generation of Broadway stars.
Aladdin's Ben Jeffrey is performing a one night only concert next month to benefit the Gateway Centre for Performing Arts and he will also hold two Master Classes and Aladdin KIDS! production camps! You can get more details of all these event at Broadway World.
Last month Kathryn Allison performed at 54 Below and Famous in NY was there to capture her performance!
Aladdin's Lauryn Ciardullo and all the fantastic Broadway stars who too part in the first Broadway Bee raised an incredible $33,000 for Broadway Bound Kids!
Aladdin Broadway - Creative Team News
To celebrate Casey Nicholaw's historic achievement of having 4 shows running simultaneously on Broadway Disney Theatrical held a special celebration for the awarding winning Director/Choreographer and invited the casts of Aladdin, The Book of Mormon, Something Rotten! and Tuck Everlasting to celebrate his success. Broadway World were there to capture pictures from the event. Congratulations again Casey on this fantastic achievement!
Book writer and lyricist Chad Beguelin chats with Broadway World about how he became a writer and the process he uses when creating a show. It's a fascinating read so make sure you check it out!
Aladdin Broadway - Old Friends
Andrew Keenan-Bolger hosted the Broadway Junior Student Finale last week and you can read a great interview with him about Tuck Everlasting over at Stage Door Dish. You can also check out a review of Andrew and Kate Wetherhead's latest Jack & Louisa book right here! And finally, here's Andrew and the rest of the Tuck Everlasting cast on NBC!
Aladdin's Giuseppe Bausilio is joining the Broadway revival of Cats as Carbucketty! Congratulations Giuseppe!
Aladdin International
 |
| Dean John-Wilson in rehearsals, Photo by Johan Persson |
As the Aladdin nears it's West End debut (tomorrow is the invited dress rehearsal for the show and previews begin on Friday) the interviews are starting to flow!
London Theatre stopped by the final rehearsals of the show to talk with our three leads - Dean John-Wilson, Jade Ewen and Trevor Dion Nicholas - and the result is a great interview!
Digital Spy spoke with Dean, Jade and Disney Legend Alan Menken about bringing Aladdin to the West End! And you can read solo interviews with Jade and Alan Menken here and here.
The Daily Express also has some comments from Dean and Jade on their reactions to landing the dream roles of Aladdin and Jasmine!
Our Broadway Genie may be in London but that hasn't stopped him and his band, Neighbourhood Goliath, from putting the finishing touches to their LP! Look out for it soon and follow them on Twitter!
The Financial Times has a great interview with Director/Choreographer Casey Nicholaw where he discusses his road from performer to creator and bringing Aladdin to the stage.
The Stage has a fascinating interview with Aladdin's fantastic designer Bob Crowley. It's a fantastic piece that offers some great insight into how Crowley works and offers reflections on where his work has gone wrong as well as gone right.
The Stage also has an incredible interview with Alan Menken that covers everything from starting out right up to bringing Aladdin to the West End! Check it out!
Aladdin's Ethan Le Phong and his Miss Saigon dressing room buddy share their latest updates in the latest Dressing Room 14 video;
The show hasn't even opened yet and already Aladdin's booking period has been extended! You can now book tickets for the show through to 11th February 2017 so grab some fantastic seats now!
The cast are all there;
Make way! We’ve arrived at the Prince Edward! Keep checking for glimpses behind-the-scenes as Agrabah comes to life! pic.twitter.com/2ugRaSRRGf— Aladdin The Musical (@AladdinLondon) 9 May 2016
On Friday the audience will be too! I can't wait!
Moving away from London for a moment (plenty more London to come this weekend!), Australia's Aladdin, Ainsley Melham is currently starring in Xanadu at Hayes Theatre (Broadway World's review here)! Here he is performing "Don't Walk Away"
And I just had to share this! It's really cool to see all the international stars together!
— きょむ (@k_arijprilm) 18 May 2016
Other Disney Stuff
Some potentially very exciting news came out of ABC's recent fall schedule announcement. In a call with Broadway World ABC President Channing Dungey revealed that the network is considering a live musical event following NBC and Fox's recent successes;
'Dungey told BWW, "we have some things we are currently in development on," but added the project must be one which, "speaks to the heart of who we are at ABC as part of the Disney family."'
So if you want to see your favourite Disney musical done as a live TV event then keep your fingers crossed as your wish may just come true!!
It's unlikely to be Aladdin as it's still a relatively young show and is only just being rolled out around the world but stranger things have happened and it would be great to do it now with as many of the original cast as possible. Personally I think Newsies is a good bet or even The Lion King as part of it's 20th anniversary next year.
And speaking of adaptations;
There are no words. If The Jungle Book is anything to go by then this is going to be very special.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame star Ciara Renee has written a new musical! Anything But Love will have it's concert premiere at 54 Below on June 26th.
Not content with playing one Disney villain in Frollo, Hunchback's Patrick Page has taken on the role of another Disney villain as Hades in Hadestown (though this Hades probably doesn't have much in common with his Disney counterpart). You can see photos from the show and an interview with Patrick at Broadway World and a video portrait right here.
One day I swear I'll make it to Broadway Con! Next year has already announced some fantastic guests including Hunchback's Samantha Massell and Newsies' Jeremy Jordan! You can see the full guest list so far and read more about the event right here! And you can read a new interview with Samantha at Broadway.com and see Fiddler on the Roof's Fox News performance right here.
Is this really Disney related? Well it's ABC and features Menken/Slater music so I think it's close enough! Here's the #MoreGalavant video which has been shared by Alan Menken and Michael Kosarin!
Now for something a little different. David Friedman, who was a conductor and vocal arranger on Disney Classics like Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin before writing the music and lyrics for Aladdin and the King of Thieves, has written a new musical revue Listen to My Heart which will premiere at the Elmira College Theatre this week. The show will run Thursday-Sunday this week and admission is free so it's definitely worth checking out if you're in the area!
