Aladdin Central Messageboard

[Chris]

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; http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Photo-Flash-Adam-Jacobs-and-Courtney-Reed-to-Star-in-Broadway-Bound-ALADDIN-Get-a-Sneak-Peek-at-Rehearsals-in-Toronto-20130916

[AladdinsGenie]

I AM SO EMOTIONAL RIGHT NOW

[AladdinsGenie]

I'm like, crying, I'm so happy

[AladdinsGenie]

WAIT....THIS MEANS WE FINALLY GET THAT CAST CD OF THE SEATTLE CAST. TWO YEARS OF WISHING FINALLY PAID OFF

[AladdinsGenie]

no, really, there are tears. i'm e-mailing my friend as I liveblog my reaction. it's just me sobbing while I look at pictures from rehearsals

[Chris]

I know! This is like everything we dreamed of 2 years ago finally happening! A cast album with the majority of the original cast and show on a Broadway stage!

Thanks for resizing that picture, it was getting really late here and I was half asleep and couldn't figure it out

I'm going to reach out to the cast and crew again over the next few days see if they're interested in doing any interviews/giving any comments/anything at all for the blog. Life is hopefully about to get busier in a very good way

[AladdinsGenie]

I'm really glad Disney listened to us. You know they have tendency not to as we're always mysteriously looked over for everything . I hope this lines up with some sort of DVD/Blu-Ray release, as well. Spring 2014 can be Aladdin season, I'm okay with this.

Yes! I loved the interviews last time! I hope they aren't too busy and can give us an update about what's been happening for the past two years.

Ugh, I'm so excited! I hope we get more videos and inside looks, too. Disney might be a little more strict this time around, I'm not sure.

[Chris]

Yeah, this show just shows how much Disney actually do listen. They only planned to do the Pilot and license it out, but the show proved a success in Seattle and went on to be the best grossing show of the year at the Tuacahn and The Muny. Aladdin often does feel like it gets missed compared to the other "fab four" films, but people showed their support for the show and Disney listened and now we have it coming to Broadway.

Well last time 5th Avenue was handling everything and Disney just put me in touch with them and they went above and beyond anything I could have expected (remember the Jafar call they gave me a copy of). I did reach out to Disney about a month ago and haven't heard anything back yet. I'll try again now that they've made the official announcement. Hopefully things will work out, but if not I can still reach out to the cast directly, which I did last time before I started working with 5th Avenue.

I'm just hoping we get more episodes of the JMI show! I still get that tune stuck in my head!

[Chris]

Show moved to Toronto this week and started tech rehearsals yesterday.

Adam Jacobs just tweeted that he's done 7 interviews yesterday (and I just made it 8 ) so media blitz is probably gonna start very soon!

[Chris]

That was fast! Adam tweeted a link to the first interview this morning!

Video interview with 680 News http://www.680news.com/2013/10/17/video-aladdin-actors-excited-to-bring-disney-musical-to-toronto/

It's got to be so hard for them talking about spoilers and stuff when the entire show has been performed in Seattle, Utah and St Louis. Sure they were limited runs but the information is out there if people look for it. I like how Adam was talking about the Seattle rehearsals when he was talking about Alan Menken changing AWNW during the rehearsal process.

But best news - sounds like that carpet is really going to fly

[Chris]

Sorry for the triple post but Mirvish have just posted the first behind the scenes video!!

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=USig3ZxnkH4&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DUSig3ZxnkH4

[Chris]

1st preview is tonight! Hopefully we'll learn the new song list and maybe a few other details this weekend!

[Meesh]

_________________

[Chris]

Two nights in, two standing ovations!

And fresh from Broadway World"s message boards (not even put this on the blog yet) the revised song list for this production;

ACT I
Arabian Nights - Babkak, Omar, Kassim, Company
One Jump Ahead - Aladdin, Crowd
Proud of Your Boy - Aladdin
Arabian Nights (Reprise) - Babkak, Omar, Kassim
Call Me a Princess - Jasmine, Female Attendants
Call Me a Princess (Reprise) - Jasmine
Babkak, Omar, Aladdin, Kassim - Babkak, Omar, Aladdin, Kassim
A Million Miles Away - Aladdin, Jasmine
Diamond in the Rough - Jafar, Iago, Aladdin
Friend Like Me - Genie, Company
Arabian Nights (Reprise II) - Babkak, Omar, Kassim
Act One Finale (Friend Like Me/Proud of Your Boy - Reprise) - Genie, Aladdin

ACT II
Prince Ali - Babkak, Omar, Kassim, Genie, Company
Arabian Nights (Reprise III) - Babkak, Omar, Kassim
A Whole New World - Aladdin, Jasmine
High Adventure - Babkak, Omar, Kassim
Somebody's Got Your Back - Aladdin, Genie, Babkak, Omar, Kassim
Proud of Your Boy (Reprise II) - Aladdin
Prince Ali (Reprise) - Sultan, Company, Jafar
Genie's Exit (Somebody's Got Your Back - Reprise) - Genie
Finale Ultimo (Arabian Nights - Reprise IV/A Whole New World - Reprise) - Company

[Chris]

Tickets now on sale! Go to the official website (www.aladdinbroadway.com) and sign up for a priority code to get early and discounted tickets! Doesn't matter if you've already signed up for updates, you need to do it again for the code to come through.

General sales start December 2nd.

You can also get premium tickets (better seats, non-alcoholic drink at intermission, souvenir ticket lanyard and "unique merchandise opportunities")

Whether you book premium or regular you also get a chance to pre-order some of the new merchandise;

Genie's Lamp Ornament



Towel



So excited now!!!

Edit - here's a few things I missed posting here this week!

Short Alan Menken interview from Toronto rehearsals http://ca.news.yahoo.com/video/composer-alan-menken-taking-aladdin-111500194.html

Adam Jacobs posted on his official facebook page that they made changes to the show this weekend.

Just today someone who's seen the show confirmed in a comment on my blog that One Jump Ahead Reprise is still in the show despite not being in the song list (and that the High Adventure Reprise is definitely cut).

An early audience review can be found here; http://jsnjwlsn.weebly.com/3/post/2013/11/aladdin-the-musical.html
Photos here are from the Disneyland show NOT Toronto.

I think that's all the main stuff. I'm gonna go back to happy dancing because I have tickets booked!! I swear I'm bouncing off walls like Genie did when Aladdin wished him free