The Final Countdown - Aladdin Begins Toronto Previews this Friday!

This Friday the doors of the Ed Mirvish Theatre will open, the audience will enter, the lights will go down and the pre-Broadway run of Aladdin will begin.

Today is the show's sitzprobe day, after a month of rehearsals in New York and 2 weeks of Tech in Toronto, the cast will be singing with a full orchestra for the first time.  It's an exciting day for any show and I think James Monroe Iglehart summed it up best when he tweeted "Nothing like Menken Music with Orchestra!"
 

Toronto born Jaz Sealey will play Prince Abdullah and understudy Kassim


News keeps coming in from around the web as well.  On Friday the Toronto Star published an article that includes interviews with/comments from Thomas Schumacher, Casey Nicholaw, Chad Beguelin and James Monroe Iglehart, and also has some nice rehearsal pictures from New York (this piece was written before rehearsals moved to Toronto).  The Winnipeg Free News and CBC News have both released pieces focused on Jaz Sealey, the sole Canadian member of the ensemble who portrays Prince Abdullah (if you've ever heard the formerly deleted song "Call Me a Princess" you'll recognise the name) and understudies Kassim.  Both are great articles that give some insight into the audition process, the tone of the show and the creative process of building a show from the ground up.

The World Premiere of this new production of Aladdin: Broadway's New Musical Comedy will be this Friday night!  The official opening night is 21st November and the show will continue through January 5th 2014 before moving to Broadway where previews begin 26th February.  Tickets for the Toronto production can be bought here.  If you can make it to Toronto to see the show then I would urge you to do so.  Not only do you get to see the show before it hits Broadway, but you can also catch a glimpse of the creative process at work as tweaks and improvements are made throughout the shows run (The Little Mermaid had a new ending before the show left Denver).  Plus, it's a great show, the Tuacahn production was the most fun I've had at the theatre in years, true Disney magic at work.

Behind the Scenes Video - Bringing Aladdin to the Stage in Toronto

The news keeps coming today!  Mirvish Productions have just posted a behind the scenes sneak preview at Aladdin, including interviews with Composer Alan Menken, Writer/Lyricist Chad Beguelin, Director/Choreographer Casey Nicholaw and President & Producer of Disney Theatrical Thomas Schumacher.

Check it out here;

And here's the link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USig3ZxnkH4

Early days, but it looks great!

680 News Interviews Adam Jacobs and Courtney Reed

Well that was faster than I expected!

Fresh from Twitter;

AdamJacobsNYC - First of many Aladdin interviews! RT "@680News: [VIDEO] @Aladdin actors excited to bring Disney musical to #Toronto

His tweet linked to 680 News' interview with himself and Courtney Reed where they discuss playing Aladdin and Jasmine in the upcoming production of Aladdin.  Enjoy :)

Expect this to be the first of many updates over the next few weeks.  Here we go!

Aladdin Moves to Toronto - First Day of Tech and Win Tickets with Canadian Living!

After a month of rehearsals in New York, this week saw the cast and crew of Aladdin pack their bags and head off to Toronto and the Ed Mirvish Theatre for their final month of rehearsals ahead of November's opening night!  Today is the first day of Tech Rehearsal and from everything I've read online it's going great!  This is going to be an amazing show!

If you live in Canada then make sure you enter Canadian Living's Aladdin competion.  You could win a trip for 2 to see the show, including tickets, hotel and return airfare.  The competition is only open to Canadian residents (guess I'm not wishing hard enough for these competitions to be international!) and you can enter once a day until November 11th, so go ahead and make a wish, say a prayer and you could be seeing the show for free.

That's all for now, but with the show opening next month expect the news and updates to pick up the pace as we count down to opening night.

Full Cast Announced for Disney's Aladdin - 7 Seattle Principles Return!



Adam Jacobs and Courtney Reed as Aladdin and Jasmine in 2011's Pilot Production, Photo by Mark Kitaoka


Today was the first day of rehearsals for Aladdin: Broadway's New Musical Comedy and a few hours ago the full cast for the upcoming production was finally revealled.

I'm very happy to say that leading the cast are returning stars Adam Jacobs and Courtney Reed, who originated the roles of Aladdin and Jasmine in 5th Avenue's Pilot Production in 2011 and will reprise them in this new production.

Having brought down the house in Seattle, James Monroe Iglehart will once again be bringing Genie to life, the one and only Jonathan Freeman, who has played the villainous Vizier since 1992's animated classic, returns as Jafar, and Don Darryl Rivera will make his Broadway debut as Iago.

Keeping the tempo brisk and the harmonies tight, Brandon O'Neill (in his Broadway debut) and Brian Gonzales will return as Aladdin's friends, Kassim and Babkak respectively.

Completing the principal cast are new cast members Jonathan Schwartz, who rounds out Aladdin's trio of friends as Omar, and Clifton Davis as the Sultan.

Merwin Foard and Michael James Scott will standby for several principals.

The ensemble includes Tia Altinay, Mike Cannon, Andrew Cao, Lauryn Ciardullo, Joshua Dela Cruz, Yurel Echezarreta, Daisy Hobbs, Donald Jones Jr., Adam Kaokept, Nikki Long, Stanley Martin, Brandt Martinez , Michael Mindlin, Rhea Patterson, Bobby Pestka, Khori Petinaud, Ariel Reid, Jennifer Rais, Trent Saunders, Jaz Sealy, Dennis Stowe, Marisha Wallace and Bud Weber.

Aladdin: Broadway's New Musical Comedy features music by Disney Legend Alan Menken and lyrics by the late Disney Legend Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, with book and additional lyrics by Chad Beguelin.

Casey Nicholaw returns as director and choreographer.  Joining him are scenic designer Bob Crowley, lighting designer Natasha Katz, costume designer Gregg Barnes, sound designer Ken Travis, illusion designer Jim Steinmeyer and hair designer Josh Marquette.  Michael Kosarin heads the music team as music supervisor and director, working with Danny Troob as orchestrator and Glen Kelly as dance music arranger.

Broadway World have posted photos that show the cast and crew on their first day of rehearsals and quotes both Director/Choreographer Casey Nicholaw;

"We have an extraordinarily diverse and quite beautiful company of actors and dancers and singers who also happen to be blessed with vaudeville chops.  I think that will surprise people who expect they're just going to see the film onstage."

And Disney Theatrical President and Producer Thomas Schumacher;

"Partnering with Casey to gather this remarkable cast of Aladdin has been exhilarating.  The first day of rehearsal always represents the excitement of what's to come and I've rarely felt that more than with this group. I fell in love with some of them when we worked on the show in Seattle; others are just joining us, but collectively they are the perfect company to bring our new musical comedy to life."

I am honestly both surpised and overjoyed that Disney have managed to get so many of the original Seattle cast and crew back for this new production.  Congratulations to everyone involved, especially those making their Broadway debut with this production!

I hope that the first day of rehearsals went well.  I wish you all the best and can't wait to hear what people have to say when the show opens in Toronto.  I'll see you on Broadway!

Broadway Rumour Report #3 - Andrew Keenan-Bolger Not Returning as Omar

Andrew Keenan-Bolger as Omar (centre) with the Seattle Cast of Aladdin, Photo by Chris Bennion

Sadly this is less a rumour and more a logical deduction.  At the end of last week Andrew Keenan-Bolger, Omar in the Seattle Pilot Production of Aladdin, tweeted that he will be starring in his first play Off Broadway later this year, A.R. Gurney's Family Fortunes at The Flea Theatre.  This is of course fantastic news for Andrew but the dates of this production (12th November through 22nd December) make it clear that he will not be returning to Aladdin as he will be starring in Family Fortunes in New York whilst Aladdin is having its preview run in Toronto.

Andrew very graciously allowed me to interview him for this blog back in 2011 and I wish him all the best with this new production.  I hope that he's in something on Broadway next spring as I'd love to be able to show my support by seeing him on stage.

So with Adam Jacobs apparently confirmed that's 1 in and 1 out so far from the original Seattle cast.  Who will be taking Andrew's place?  Could it be Randy Aaron or Jason Graae from the Tuacahn or Muny productions or someone completely new?  We should hopefully know soon, with the show due to open in just over 2 months the official press release can't be far away!

Broadway Rumour Report #2 - Proud of Your Boy (Again!)




Adam Jacobs as Aladdin in the 2011 Pilot Production, Photo by Mark Kitaoka

  Adam Jacobs is Aladdin!  According to the press release for Scott Siegel's Broadway Ballyhoo! Adam will once again be donning the fez and vest to play the title character in Disney's Aladdin: Broadway's New Musical Comedy.

The press release for tonight's Ballyhoo contains the following line;

"including the star in the title role of the new Disney musical Aladdin, coming to Broadway in the Spring, Adam Jacobs (The Lion King, Les Miserables, etc.)"

So far I've resisted posting any casting rumours, but with this being from an official press release I decided to run with it.  Obviously nothing is official until Disney Theatrical make their announcement but until then this is the next best thing!

Congratulations Adam!  It's been a long road for this show from Seattle to Broadway and, if this is true, I'm overjoyed that you're coming back to play Aladdin again!  This news really has made my day!

Hopefully an official casting announcement by Disney will follow shortly.

Adam Jacobs as Aladdin in the 2011 Pilot Production, Photo by Mark Kitaoka