25 Years of Disney on Broadway

Tonight, Disney Theatrical celebrates 25 magical years on Broadway with a special concert at Aladdin's New Amsterdam Theatre! The special one night only event is being held in support of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and features stars from all of Disney's Broadway productions from Beauty and the Beast to Frozen.

The star studded evening will the see the reunion of Broadway's original Aladdin and Genie as Adam Jacobs and James Monroe Iglehart return to the New Amsterdam stage! Also appearing from Aladdin will be Michael James Scott, who recently finished his around the world run as Genie, Lauryn Ciardullo, April Holloway, and Katie Terza.

Broadway's original Belle will be present as Susan Egan returns to the tale as old as time that launched Disney on Broadway, Beauty and the Beast, along fellow Belle, Kerry Butler.

Alton Fitzgerald White, Kissy Simmons, Rema Webb, Bradley Gibson, and Syndee Winters return to the Pride Lands of The Lion King.

Elton John and Tim Rice's second Disney Theatrical production, Aida, is represented by Adam Pascal and Sherie Rene Scott.

Tarzan swings back on to Broadway with Josh Strickland and Merle Dandridge.

Broadway's original Mary Poppins (and former Belle and On The Record star) Ashley Brown is of course part of the evening. No Disney Theatrical concert could be complete without her. And joining her from the practically perfect musical are Gavin Creel and Christian Borle

Three The Little Mermaid originals are reunited as Sierra Boggess, Sherie Rene Scott and Norm Lewis head back under the sea (and yes, I know I've listed Sherie twice now but she was a lead in both!)

It's a Newsies reunion with Kara Lindsay, Joshua Michael Burrage, Kyle Coffman, Nico Dejesus, Michael Fatica, JP Ferreri, Garrett Hawe, Evan Kasprzak, Jess LeProtto, Devin Lewis, Jack Sippel, Ryan Steele, Andrew Wilson, and Iain Young.

Freaky Friday is represented on Broadway for the first time by star (and former Ursula) Heidi Blickenstaff.

Surprisingly no Elsa or Anna from Disney's latest Broadway spectacular Frozen, but Broadway's Kristoff, Jelani Alladin will be representing Arendelle, along with Nina Lafarga (also Aida).

And Alladin was recently the star of another Disney production! Krysta Rodriguez joins Alladin and Iglehart to reunite the lead trio of The Public Works' Hercules along with fellow cast members Ramona Keller and Tamika Lawrence.

In addition to the Disney Theatrical stars, the line up includes Whoopi Goldberg, Beth Leavel, Ashley Park, Mandy Gonzales, Andrew Barth Feldman, and the Broadway Inspirational Voices Choir.

What a line up! And you can still buy tickets to the magical evening right here. I hope everyone going has an incredible time.

Aladdin's Princesses Raise Money for Broadway Bound Kids

Next week Aladdin's Lauryn Ciardullo and Courtney Reed will be taking part in the first annual Broadway Bee in support of Broadway Bound Kids.

Just reading that tag line "Drinking is allowed, cheating is encouraged!" you know it's going to be a hilarious evening with some of your favourite Broadway stars!  I'd love to be able to see and support every event the Aladdin cast are involved in because I know how talented they all are, but every now and then there's one that I'd really love to go to just because it sounds like so much fun and this is one of them!

You can read more about the event and donate to their team right here!

Broadway News Round Up 21

Courtney Reed as Princess Jasmine, Photo by Cylla Von Tiedemann

Tonight another Disney Theatrical production will begin its road to Broadway and I couldn't be more excited!  But more on that in my next post, first here's all the latest news from Broadway's Aladdin!

First up - Playbill reports that tonight at The Lion Theatre in New York two of Aladdin's understudies will be taking centre stage in At This Performance.  Bud Weber (understudy Aladdin) and Lauryn Ciardullo (Jasmine) and fellow understudies will share songs and anecdotes about their experiences.  Good luck guys, sounds like it will be a great night!  Tickets are available at the theatre's box office or through Telecharge (212) 239-6200.

On November 17th Aladdin's Courtney Reed will be taking part in the annual Rockers on Broadway - Teen Idols as Broadway's finest rock the music of the last 50 years to raise money for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.  More information can be found at Playbill and http://www.rockersonbroadway.com/.

Theater Mania are reporting that Aladdin is one of the shows taking part in the 2015's 19th annual  Kids' Night on Broadway.  Presented by the New York Times Kids' Night on Broadway will take place 9-15th January and will allow a young person age 6-18 to see a Broadway show for free when accompanied by a full paying adult (all tickets are sold in pairs).  More details can be found at the official website and tickets go on sale 5th November.  Sounds like a great way to introduce more people to the joy of live theatre.  Other regional theatres, including Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre that staged the world premiere of Aladdin back in 2011, are also taking part.

Broadway World is reporting that Aladdin's Dance Captain Michael Mindlin will be taking part in the BC Beat showcase in New York on Monday 10th November.  BC Beat is a bi-annual choreography showcase, more details can be found at Broadway World.  Good luck to Michael and everyone taking part!

With the movie musical having something of a resurgence in recent years, Sundance TV recently sat down with James Monroe Iglehart to talk about movie musicals and Disney classics.

Broadway.com's latest "Gotta Dance!" video features Aladdin's Donald Jones Jr. who shows off his moves whilst talking about the audition that changed his life.

As a little pre-Halloween treat D23 takes us on a ghost tour of Aladdin's Broadway home, the New Amsterdam Theatre;

And Adam Jacobs preps his dressing room for any trick or treating theatre babies who visit!

Have a great week everyone!