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.
The Disney D23 Expo is back! Today sees the return of the massive fan event to the Anaheim Convention Center just a few blocks away from Disneyland itself.
The expo opens, as always, with the Disney Legends Awards Ceremony. This year's ceremony will be hosted by Tamron Hall and give fans an early look at the upcoming Disney 100 Years of Wonder celebration. And that's not all!
This year the opening ceremony, which will be streamed live, will feature an extra special performance from the casts of Broadway's Aladdin, The Lion King, and the National Tour cast of Frozen!! Now that's how you open a show!
If you're lucky enough to be at D23 then the Disney Legends Awards Ceremony takes place in Hall D23 and (if you haven't got a reservation) you'll want to head straight to the standby line when the show opens.
For the rest of us, we can watch the opening festivities, along with select other panels over the weekend, at the official D23 website and on YouTube:
The Ceremony begins at 10:30am (PT). It's going to be a magical show!
Clinton Greenspan as Aladdin, Photo by Deen van Meer
D23 was last month and with a billion dollar blockbuster and the original animated classic set to hit home release, not to mention a successful stage show playing around the world, Aladdin received a very special musical celebration.
Hosted by the voices of Aladdin and Jasmine, Scott Weinger and Linda Larkin, the panel was a musical journey through Agrabah that took attendees from screen to stage and back again. The panel united four Aladdins as Weinger was joined by original singing voice Brad Kane, US Tour star and Broadway's next Aladdin Clinton Greenspan, and surprise guest Mena Massoud from this year's live action blockbuster. And now you can share in this magic carpet ride as Disney Dwayne has posted panel highlights and all of performances on YouTube!
The panel highlights include looks behind the scenes at the original classic and live action reimagining, Mena Massoud's surprise entrance, and a recording of Scott Weinger singing Proud of Your Boy (!) with Alan Menken (!!).
Aladdin's original singing voice, Brad Kane, took to the stage for One Jump Ahead and sounds just as good as he did 30 years ago;
Cut from the film, Proud of Your Boy lives on in the musical adaptation and Clinton Patrick treated the audience to this beautiful ballad;
Before Aladdin came to Broadway, another stage adaptation played for years at Disney's California Adventure, and Deedee Magno Hall, the Hyperion's original Jasmine, flew to D23 just to perform To Be Free;
The live action adaptation of Aladdin took the world by storm earlier this year and the D23 panel had two treats for fans. The new hit Speechless performed by Lillias White;
And the cut scene/song Desert Moon introduced by Mena Massoud;
A full quality version of this scene (which is included on the home release of Aladdin) has now been released by Disney.
And of course the panel ended in the only way it could, with A Whole New World. Sung by the incredible Norm Lewis and Regina Belle I honestly wish this had been the single version attached to the movie, it's just beautiful and a perfect way to end this musical celebration of Aladdin;
Disney's D23 Expo takes over the Anaheim Convention Center this weekend, and there's two events that Aladdin fans won't want to miss!
On Saturday afternoon, stars of stage and screen gather forA Musical Celebration of Aladdin ahead of the home release of both the live action adaptation and the Walt Disney Signature Collection release of the original animated classic. Hosted by Scott Weigner and Linda Larkin, the original Aladdin and Jasmine, the panel will take fans on a musical carpet ride through all your favourite songs from both stage and screen. Special guests at the panel will include Brad Kane (Aladdin's singing voice), Deedee Magno Hall (Jasmine from Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular), Jamal Sims (choreographer from this year's live action film), Clinton Greenspan (current star of Broadway's Aladdin), Lillias White (Calliope in Hercules) and Norm Lewis (Triton in Broadway's The Little Mermaid). And D23 teases that "you never know what surprises the Genie may conjure up". I really hope they live stream this!
Also on Saturday, D23 will play host to a very special Disney on Broadway in Concert - A 25th Anniversary Celebration! Hosted by Gavin Lee (Mary Poppins, Beauty and the Beast) and starring Heidi Blickenstaff (Freaky Friday, The Little Mermaid), Kissy Simmons (The Lion King), and of course Ashley Brown (Mary Poppins, Beauty and the Beast, On The Record), Josh Strickland (Tarzan), and Alton Fitzgerald White (The Lion King), the 75 minute concert will feature music from Beauty and the Beast to Frozen in a celebration of Disney Theatrical's first 25 years on Broadway. I hope they stream this one as well!
And stepping off the concert stage, Disney on Broadway are premiering a new virtual reality experience that put you centre stage alongside Telly Leung and Major Attaway (Aladdin), Tshidi Manye (The Lion King), and Caissie Levy (Frozen) in some of Broadway's biggest production numbers!
Every year I say I wish I could be there (and one day I hopefully will be), but this year I'm going to be right where I belong. Giving all my love and support to the fabulous cast and crew of Aladdin London as they bring it home one last time. There's no where I'd rather be, even D23.
There's always big news out of Disney's D23 Expo and this year certainly didn't disappoint as Disney Studios officially announced the stars of Guy Ritchie's live action Aladdin to a packed Hall D23 at the Anaheim Convention Centre yesterday.
Mena Massoud will be bringing to life my favourite Disney hero in the title role, Naomi Scott will be Princess Jasmine and Will Smith be the Genie.
First impressions? I've got to say I really happy with this cast.
Full disclosure - it's no secret I've championed Adam Jacobs, Courtney Reed and James Monroe Iglehart for these roles. Heck, I've been shouting it all over Twitter since The Hollywood Reporter's claims that Disney was struggling to find its Aladdin and Jasmine last week. I stand by that 100%. I've followed them in these roles for 6 years, from Seattle to Broadway, and they are perfect to me. I always knew it was a crazy long shot but it was a beautiful dream. And I'll still continue to champion Jonathan Freeman and Don Darryl Rivera as Jafar and Iago until those castings are revealed. But just because my dream castings weren't chosen doesn't mean I can't be happy with the people who were cast.
So let's start with Aladdin and Jasmine. What excites me the most about Mena Massoud being cast as Aladdin is one simple thing - I've never heard of him. I know that sounds crazy but it really is. Because this means he's been cast for one simple reason, Disney believe he's the right man for the job. Heck, they even delayed production trying to find him as filming was originally due to start this month! The same goes for Naomi Scott. Outside of this year's Power Rangers movie (which I actually really enjoyed) she's unknown. Disney have made good on their promise from earlier this year and cast newcomers rather than stars, cast on ability rather than name.
Now, this is a musical just like Beauty and the Beast was, so the first thing I do whenever Disney announce the cast for these live action remakes is search for videos of the new stars singing. Normally you can at least find something but you try searching for Mena Massoud videos - the first five pages on Google are all just video news/reactions to the Aladdin casting. I did manage to find his acting demo reel (I'm not the best at judging based on short scenes but I think he shows a good range) but nothing of him singing. This worried me when Emma Watson was cast in Beauty and the Beast but it doesn't with Mena Massoud. He wasn't cast for his name, so if he couldn't sing he wouldn't have got the job. Plus, Naomi Scott can sing! Like, seriously sing. Check out her YouTube channel! There's no way they're casting an Aladdin who can't vocally match with Jasmine. If she's a strong singer then I'm sure he is to.
So, yeah, I'm really excited by these two and can't wait to see them in costume and hear something of them singing together.
And now the announcement that seems to have split the internet. After months of rumours it's finally official, Will Smith is the Genie. And I think he'll be great.
Let's get one thing straight, he's not Robin Williams. No one is. No one is ever going to replace or replicate that iconic performance. But he won't play it like Robin Williams. When recreating the Genie for Broadway, James Monroe Iglehart was given the freedom to put his own spin on it, bringing the character closer to his original Fats Waller/Cab Calloway inspiration he maintained the spirit of the character Robin created whilst creating something new and uniquely his own that saw him take home a Tony Award for the role.
As long as Will Smith is given this same freedom, to truly make Genie his own whilst honouring the spirit of what Robin created, then I believe he could do something equally special with the role. The man oozes star power and charisma, for all the movie's flaws he (along with Margot Robbie) pretty much carried Suicide Squad and even succeeded in making Deadshot a more likable character than Superman in the DCEU. Plus, he can sing. Genie was always going to be a big name, especially once it was confirmed Disney wanted unknowns for Aladdin and Jasmine. Will Smith brings that star power to the movie but also has the skills to do a good job with the role as long as he's allowed to make it his own.
Now the waiting begins and it's gonna be a long one. Disney revealed their production slate through to 2019 yesterday and Aladdin wasn't on it. That means this movie is likely to be a 2020 release! Best start saving for 2019's D23 as that's likely where we'll get a first look!
Adam Jacobs and Courtney Reed as Aladdin and Jasmine, Photo by Matthew Murphy
Ok, new year, new start!
The second half of last year just flew by and I really fell behind with these news updates (I still can't believe the last one was done in July!). For that I can only apologise and say I'll do my best to make sure it doesn't happen again. Like I said, new year, new start.
This post is going to be really link heavy as I try and get this blog back on track and I'm afraid this post won't cover everything. I've gone through all my Google Alerts but trying to go back that far through Twitter is insane so there will be things I've missed so let me apologise in advance for anything I've not covered!
Two things that do stick in my mind that weren't in my Google Alerts are the royal family of Agrabah's TV appearances! Courtney Reed appeared on Showtime's The Affair (season 2 episode 8) and Clifton Davis appearing on Madam Secretary (season 2, episodes 8-10) so if you've not caught them already that's certainly something to catch up with on demand!
Ok, I'll try and break up all the links with as many pictures and videos as I can to help keep things interesting! Here we go :o)
OnStageBlog has posted a new (and glowing) review of the show.
The new Bway Zone website dedicated to everything Broadway has a page dedicated to Aladdin. Nothing you won't have already seen I'm sure but it's a nice page and the site has a LOT more to explore.
But if you want something even more in depth then check out this video on Adventures by Disney's new New York City Adventure! You get to take part in a Broadway dance class (seen in the video learning some of the choreography for "Arabian Nights"), visit the New Amsterdam's prop room and all the wonderful props from all of Disney's magical shows, see Aladdin and then go back stage for a Q&A with some of the cast (like Don Darryl Rivera and Jennifer Rias in this video). This one is definitely on my list next time I head to NYC!
The cast of Aladdin perform at the White House! Photo by Scott Suchman
Back in July the cast of Aladdin gave a very special performance at the White House! Afterwards, Broadway World posted a wonderful look behind the scenes of the cast's visit!
Adam Jacobs and Courtney Reed as Aladdin and Jasmine at the White House! Photo by Scott Suchman
And, in case you missed it, you can still catch the entire performance right here courtesy of the White House's YouTube channel!
I never get tired of that!
As part of Good Morning America's 40th Anniversary they went back behind the scenes of Aladdin and you can watch the whole segment right here!
Aladdin also continues to set house records at the New Amsterdam Theatre, first taking over $2 million during a 9 show week this summer and then again at the end of November! Then, as I already reported, they incredibly broke their 9 show record with an 8 show week at Christmas! That means Aladdin has now set an astonishing 10 house records at the New Amsterdam Theatre! In addition to its Broadway success, Forbes reports that Aladdin's Tokyo production has been sold out since it open earlier this year.
Ok, this next part I should probably just call the James Monroe Iglehart section! That man was one busy Genie last year!
James Monroe Iglehart hosted the 15th annual Make Believe on Broadway gala, a special event to raise money to bring interactive theatre to chronically ill children. As James told Backstage, "When you get into a hospital and you see kids are going through something and you realize you have a gift that you've been blessed with and that you can use...it opens up a whole different world. All of a sudden you're not performing just for the applause, just for the money. You're performing because you're brightening someone else's day."
But I've still not mentioned D23! Yes, as you all know James was a very special guest at this year's D23 convention in Anaheim! And we didn't event have to wait for The Originals concert to hear him sing!
In the opening Legends panel, which saw Jafar's animator Andreas Deja become an official Disney Legend, James took to the stage to perform Oogie Boogie's Song from The Nightmare Before Christmas to honour another new Disney Legend, Danny Elfman.
And then there was the concert!! Hopefully I'm ok posting this since videos are all of YouTube and it's just so good I wanted to share the full thing!
If you're reading this blog then I'm 99% certain you've seen this, but just in case you managed to miss it here's Aladdin's Courtney Reed singing the most adorable version of "Do You Wanna Build a Snowman" that you will ever hear;
(And you can read her heart warming reasons for making the video here)
Adam also took part in a fantastic interview with Going for Broadway, covering everything from his early education to current success in Aladdin.
Adam Jacobs spoke with Celebrity Radio about Aladdin and his new album Right Where I Belong and you can listen to it right here!
Last summer Richard-Salvador Wolff and Myrthes Monteiro, who play Aladdin and Jasmine in the Hamburg production, came to Broadway to see the show and Adam Jacobs captured the moment on Instagram.
And now here's a few pieces I missed from my post about Aladdin's recent Blu-Ray release! Scott Weinger spoke with Nuke the Fridge about the film and the new Blu-Ray (and touched upon the Broadway show as well). The cast of Broadway's Aladdin spoke with E! about the challenges the show faced in the beginning and it's rocky road to Broadway success. And something a little extra special - Brad Kane and Lea Salonga reunited on ABC to sing "A Whole New World" for the first time in over 20 year!
Aladdin is full of magic, but not all that magic takes place on stage. Aladdin's Joshua Dela Cruz (with help from Donald Jones Jr. and Angelo Soriano) popped a very special question this summer;
Aladdin's Tia Altinay joined up with Newsies Adam Kaplan to speak at the Actors Connection's Perfroming Arts Camp to help educate and inspire Broadway's next generation. Broadway World was there and has a video from the event!
Aladdin's Rodney Ingram recently appeared on the Tyler Mount Vlog;
Aladdin's original Standby Jafar and Sultan, Merwin Foard, has hit the road with a new production of The Sound of Music and is the focus of a new article in the Charlotte Observer. I hope that the show does make it to Broadway, Merwin certainly deserves his time in the spotlight.
Aladdin's incredible book writer and lyricist Chad Begulin has a new show coming up this year! Gotta Dance just finished it's out of town run in Chicago and is due to premiere on Broadway this Spring!
I think that's just about it for Aladdin but there's still some important Hunchback news I want to share!
Samantha Massell at Fiddler on the Roof Opening Night, Photo by Walter McBride/Broadway World
Fiddler on the Roof recently made a triumphant return to Broadway and with it Samantha Massell made her Broadway debut as Hodel! Congratulations Samantha!! Samantha was voted Best Theatre Discovery of 2012 by St. Louis' River Front Times for her performance as Jasmine in The Muny's pre-Broadway production of Aladdin and was recently part of The Hunchback of Notre Dame's incredible cast (and will be on the cast recording due for release this month). Sam's not the only Disney alum in Fiddler though as Aladdin's Brandt Martinez also stars in the show!
Ciara Renee as Hawkgirl
Continuing the trend of Disney's Broadway stars making the jump to DC Comic's TV multiverse, Hunchback's Ciara Renee made her DC debut on The Flash last year as Hawkgirl! This month she'll star in CW's latest DC series Legends of Tomorrow! As a pretty big comic geek I'm really excited to see this one!
Speaking of Disney stars who made the jump to the DCU - here's Newsies and Supergirl star Jeremy Jordan singing a fantastic Disney medley! You just have to listen to this, Jeremy's amazing! And when you're done, search for him singing Let It Go, you'll be glad you did!
I'm still crossing my fingers the circus comes back to town in Gotham so James can be on the show again. Or, better yet, come back in a new role as a major character (hey, it worked for Mark Hamill in the legendary animated series!). It was nice seeing The Little Mermaid's Norm Lewis this season as well!
Back to Hunchback! The Tuacahn Amphitheatre in Utah had another incredible season last year and their relationship with Disney seems to be going from strength to strength. I loved their pre-Broadway production of Aladdin in 2012 and last year they teamed with Disney to launch a new musical, When You Wish (you can read the Salt Lake Tribune's review for that and their productions of Beauty and the Beast and Alan Menken's Sister Act here). Well, this year they're staging another two Disney productions! First they're bringing Tarzan back to stage in June, then in August they'll be staging The Hunchback of Notre Dame!!! I might be wrong but I think this will be the first regional production following the US Premiere Productions at La Jolla and PaperMill Playhouse. Both shows will run through to October along with Peter Pan.
If you've ever wanted to see these shows then I would urge you to go to the Tuacahn's productions this summer. I've said it before but the outdoor amphitheatre is the most beautiful venue I've ever seen a show in and they use their unique venue to stage their productions in some truly breath taking ways. Believe me, if I could be there I would be!
Today is the first day of Disney's D23 Expo! If you're there, I'll admit, I'm a little bit jealous! Not only is it a full weekend of Disney magic, but you'll get to see this;
Yes, Disney Theatrical is back at D23 with another incredible concert showcasing the music of their Broadway shows - The Originals! Disney veterans Josh Strickland and Ashley Brown will be returning to the D23 stage where they will be joined by Aladdin's own James Monroe Iglehart! So if you only see one thing at the Expo tomorrow, make sure it's this!
And if you want a little sneak peak of what you can expect;
I wish this was being live streamed!
Last time attendees were treated to songs from The Hunchback of Notre Dame (long before it's US premiere) and a special preview of "Somebody's Got Your Back" from Aladdin so you never know what teases at the future could be in store tomorrow!
Have fun everyone!!
James Monroe Iglehart as Genie, Photo by Cylla Von Tiedemann
In 2013 Disney Theatrical took the D23 Expo by storm with their Broadway and Beyond concert. The evening consisted of songs from every show from Beauty and the Beast right through to Newsies and the evening ended with a special performance of "Somebody's Got Your Back" from the then upcoming Aladdin.
Well D23 have announced that Disney Theatrical are returning to this year's D23 Expo with The Originals and the concert will be bigger and better than ever as it takes the audience on a musical journey through some of Disney's greatest Broadway numbers! Due to the overwhelming demand for the 2013 event, the 2015 concert will be held not once but twice on the main Stage 23!
Broadway and Beyond's Ashley Brown (Mary Poppins) and Josh Strickland (Tarzan) will both be returning for The Originals and joining them will be Aladdin's very own James Monroe Iglehart who will also host the 70 minute extravaganza!
Adam Jacobs and Courtney Reed as Aladdin and Jasmine, Photo by Cylla Von Tiedemann
Ok here it is (finally!)
I've posted several updates and some of the bigger news pieces since I got back but I've not done a proper news round up since before I went to NYC to see the show so I've a LOT to catch up on, including the reviews! So, here we go!
The News
In my last news update I ended with a link to a Vanity Fair article where they talked with Director/Choreographer Casey Nicholaw so first up, here's a video from their photo shoot;
Ok, there's been a lot of news links so far but this one is extra special so I wanted to single it out a bit. At the start of April The Library of Congress' Performing Arts Blog posted a very special piece entitled "Aladdin: In Our Collections and Now on Broadway!" which takes a look at Howard Ashman and Alan Menken's early treatment of Aladdin from 1988. This treatment served as inspiration for the tone of the Broadway show and also contained the songs Proud of Your Boy, Babkak, Omar, Aladdin, Kassim and High Adventure which have now found new life on Broadway.
Huffington Post has posted a piece on a "backlash" against the show from Arab-Americans. Sadly this wasn't completely unexpected given that the film attracted similar controversy when it was first released. Personally I'm with Disney on this, Disney Theatrical practices colour blind casting and Aladdin features an incredibly diverse cast, in fact I even go so far as to say it's one of the most diverse casts I've ever seen on stage. Huffington Post makes this point more solidly in their second article, "What's Right with Disney's Broadway Adaptation of Aladdin" in which they highlight that BoomGen Studios was brought in by Disney to consult on the show and that the Broadway adaptation of Aladdin"has greater depth, maturity and cultural awareness than the film".
And from Aladdin's original Omar, Andrew Keenan-Bolger;
@KeenanBlogger - JUMPED OUT OF MY FREAKING SEAT!!! "Friend Like Me" at the @Aladdin opening! AHHHHH! @jamesmiglehart
@KeenanBlogger - So proud of Disney and all my pals with their new hit @Aladdin. Pure excitement and family entertainment at the highest level!
In the aftermath of the mostly positive reviews Disney Theatrical have released a new trailer for Aladdin which can be seen here.
And this post is (finally) up to date! That's all the reviews and news through to April 27th, I'll do another post soon catching everything up from the end of April to mid-May and then it's on with the show!
Whilst there's no new information in the article (what more's left to say at this point?) it does feature several new production images from the recent Toronto preview run, including one we've all waited a very long time to see;
Jonathan Freeman and Don Darryl Rivera as Jafar and Iago, Photo by Cylla Von Tiedemann
Yes, that's the Jonathan Freeman as Jafar! And he looks even more evil than I imagined (in a good way)!
Make sure you check out the D23 article for more previously unreleased production photos!
It's getting close now, previews officially start this month!! Tickets can be bought via the show's official website.
Was my last post really only December 2nd? It feels like so much longer and these last 10 days have seen some pretty big announcements for Aladdin.
Firstly the big news! This week saw a pretty major change to the show with Ashman/Menken's Call Me a Princess (and presumably the Menken/Beguelin reprise as well) being cut and a new Menken/Beguelin song being added for Princess Jasmine. I'm still trying to find out the title of this new song and I'll update this post as soon as I do.
Courtney Reed as Princess Jasmine and Brandt Martinez, Photo by Cylla Von Tiedemann
There's been no official word on the reason for this change but I'm guessing that this is being done (at least partially) in reaction to some of the criticisms of Jasmine's character in some of the reviews. Honestly, Call Me a Princess isn't one of my favourite Ashman/Menken songs and back when they first announced that they'd be using some of the "lost" songs in the show I fully expected it not to make the cut due to how much the character changed between concept and screen. That said, I absolutely loved how Chad Beguelin made the song work in the show and in that context it's a great little number that I really enjoyed so I'm sad to see it go. You can see Courtney performing the song here when she was promoting Aladdin's Pilot Production back in 2011.
As for the new song, no idea! I'm guessing it'll be something more along the lines of To Be Free from the Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular show at Disney's California Adventure, giving Jasmine her own "I want" song that better reflects her true character.
Staying in Toronto for a moment, here's a quick round up of a few more reviews;
Garebian on the Arts gives a largely positive review whilst the Toronto Sun, the Huffington Post and The Post offer more mixed reviews that still include plenty of positives. And yes, everyone still loves JMI (the Huffington Post calls him "ten kinds of fabulous, each with its own theme song"). One of the best things Disney could do when this show hits Broadway, even before the official opening, is let James do more episodes of his JMI Show like he did in Seattle. I know fans who thought the original cast were perfect based just on those interviews and 5th Avenue's Spotlight Night. Let him do his thing and just wish as hard as you can that he stays with Aladdin as long as he did Memphis.
NY1 was also in Toronto for the show's opening and they've posted a short report here that includes some comments from cast and crew. If you're a Time Warner Cable customer there's also a video you can watch (I'm assuming it's the same as the written report but I can't view it here in the UK).
And now, moving to Broadway, the 2nd big announcement of this week; D23's Member Night at Aladdin on Broadway! D23 is offering Gold and Silver members "a welcome fit for Prince Ali Ababwa" on 14th March 2014 with premium orchestra seats to see the show followed by a private Q&A with the cast! In addition to the standard premium seat benefits (non-alcoholic interval drink, souvenir lanyard, etc.) members will also receive an additional special gift for being D23 members. So if you fancy seeing the show and getting the chance to meet and talk with the cast make sure you click on the above link for more details. Tickets go on sale December 18th at 10am PT.
I'd also like to say a huge congratulations to Alan Menken who was this week awarded the York Theatre Company's Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre at the 22nd Oscar Hammerstein Award Gala. The evening was hosted by Tony Nominee Norm Lewis (who played King Triton in The Little Mermaid) and one of the evening's performances saw him duetting with Sierra Boggess (The Little Mermaid's Ariel).
And finally, if you live in New York you probably know that Aladdin's publicity drive has now started. The marquee at the New Amsterdam Theatre is up!!
Tickets for the remainder of Aladdin's Toronto run can be bought here and tickets for the Broadway run are now on sale at the show's official site.
Updated - Thanks to Brandon O'Neill's official Facebook page I can now confirm that Jasmine's new song is called Beyond These Palace Walls.
As most people who read this blog will probably know, last weekend was Disney's D23 Expo and on Friday night a small group of past Disney Theatrical stars gathered together to put on a special Broadway and Beyond concert celebrating all of Disney's Broadway productions past and present.
After performing songs from everything from Beauty and the Beast through to Newsies (including rarely heard pieces from King David and Der Glockner von Notre Dame) the night ended with a look to the future as the cast performed the new song "Somebody's Got Your Back" from Aladdin.
I was planning on posting the video here, but I've since learned that the event was strictly no cameras allowed and most of the videos have already been removed, presumably at Disney's request. What I hope is ok for me to share with you is the new and improved logo for the show.
Sorry for the picture quality but a YouTube screen shot is the best available right now as the official site and Facebook page haven't been updated with this yet. As you can see the colour scheme remains largely the same (the logo looks slightly more yellow than gold now) but the font has changed from a standard font to one that looks much more Aladdin. Definitely a change for the better!
That's all for this time, but the rumours over on the Broadway World message board seem to indicate that casting may be announced later this month so I hope to have an update for you real soon.
