Aladdin Previews
Aladdin Previews
#1Aladdin Previews
Posted: 2/24/14 at 8:20pmAladdin starts previews Wednesday night. It looks like the show is pretty much close to sold out for all previews. Who here will be at the first preview?
"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "
jbm2
Broadway Star Joined: 3/26/11
#2Aladdin Previews
Posted: 2/24/14 at 8:45pmI saw it in Utah a year and a half ago- I know there have been several changes. However, based on that, I have no desire to see this show.
#4Aladdin Previews
Posted: 2/24/14 at 9:16pmI'll be there.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
PlayItAgain
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/8/11
#5Aladdin Previews
Posted: 2/24/14 at 9:46pmill be at the dress rehearsal tomorrow night, report to follow although preliminary info indicates they have really overhauled the show since toronto including cutting out a number or two (including Jasmines "diva" number).
#6Aladdin Previews
Posted: 2/24/14 at 10:34pm^ Good.
"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "
Jonwo
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/16/06
#7Aladdin Previews
Posted: 2/24/14 at 11:10pmIt does seem Disney want this to work rather than repeat what happened with Mermaid and left it virtually unchanged when it went to Broadway.
RippedMan
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/14/05
#8Aladdin Previews
Posted: 2/25/14 at 3:32amWell this show is in "their house" so they probably want to keep it running or else they're paying rent on something that they aren't using.
brdway411
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/24/14
#10Aladdin Previews
Posted: 2/25/14 at 9:56amTexted a friend in the cast and asked how he/the show is doing and he did say there have been changes and the creative team has basically warned them "changes will continue to happen throughout previews if need be".
#11Aladdin Previews
Posted: 2/25/14 at 9:59amIsn't that generally how previews go?
"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt
#12Aladdin Previews
Posted: 2/25/14 at 10:11amFor Disney? No. They knew "Mermaid" was a train wreck and ignored it.
finebydesign
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/17/07
#13Aladdin Previews
Posted: 2/25/14 at 3:17pmDepends, Disney did a lot of work on Aida right up to it's opening. Tarzan on the other hand....oy
AEA AGMA SM
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/13/09
#14Aladdin Previews
Posted: 2/25/14 at 4:22pm
"Depends, Disney did a lot of work on Aida right up to it's opening. "
Very true, including scrapping the entire physical production from the Atlanta tryout and changing the title.
finebydesign
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/17/07
#15Aladdin Previews
Posted: 2/25/14 at 5:03pmThere were huge changes from Chicago to NY, and then critical changes during NY previews. Lots of work on the book, song swaps and elimination of some scenery (the famous golden staircase to Heaven)
#16Aladdin Previews
Posted: 2/25/14 at 5:17pmIt's going to be an uphill battle with this one. The Toronto production was pretty pathetic. I hope that they really reworked this.
"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "
ohjustjake
Leading Actor Joined: 4/18/06
#17Aladdin Previews
Posted: 2/25/14 at 10:24pmPlayitagain, any update during the dress rehearsal tonight?
finebydesign
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/17/07
PlayItAgain
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/8/11
#20Aladdin Previews
Posted: 2/26/14 at 1:50am
" The opening Arabian Nights is stunning and "Friend Like Me" garnered an eruptive standing ovation that James Monroe Inglehart (who is on track for a Tony here)"
I agree with tobias on these points especially James being a Tony frontrunner now (seriously he caries this thing the whole way on his back) but thats about it, this show isnt tarzan or mermaid bad but no way does it have anything close to a run like Beauty of even Mary Poppins, while it has its moments the book and some creative choices absolutely stop this from being a home run.
Let get down to the two biggest problems, the friends and the ending.
The three friends whose names I ironically cant remember even though they repeated them over and over just screw up everything, every other joke from them dropped like a stone, and while initially clever their 2nd act number just goes on and on and on, at i certain point i began to think....why are these guys on stage longer than Aladdin is?
The Ending i guess i will just say this, it just ends, where as the movie has the iconic snake and hourglass, the show literally ends with aladdin mentally outsmarting Jafar, there's no dramatic tension and its just like, we sat through 2 hr 40 minute for that...really?
Also one other side note while at first cute, they fact they kept reminding us there was no Raja or Abu started to get more and more annoying, why do you keep reminding me of the beloved characters you removed.
of the other positives, the first 2/3rd of Whole New World, someone explain to me why they go into outer space at the end? The guy playing Iago was surprisingly good and almost stole the show, some scenic & costume designs and the choreography is sure to get nominated, plus I can confirmed that Jasmines diva song has been replaces with a more sympathetic song, i believe its called Behind The Palace Walls.
I think they have the chance to tighten this up, but the reviews are gonna punch a hole in this one somewhat, and the word of mouth will eventually catch up to it.
(3/5)
Buddy Plummer2
Understudy Joined: 5/4/12
#21Aladdin Previews
Posted: 2/26/14 at 1:59am
So this is it: we're now critically reviewing invited dress rehearsals on the internet.
Nothing is sacred. The theatre is dead.
#22Aladdin Previews
Posted: 2/26/14 at 2:03amWell they kept the three friends and the ending is still anticlimactic... Yup they sure were serious about those changes they were going to implement. How in god's name the three friends made it past the workshops are beyond me.
"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "
PlayItAgain
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/8/11
#23Aladdin Previews
Posted: 2/26/14 at 2:08am
@buddy shut up.
to me it was like....why wasn't this just a 90 minute intermissions musical, it felt padded
brdway411
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/24/14
#24Aladdin Previews
Posted: 2/26/14 at 2:48amI am curious, did they redo the interior of the theater?
PlayItAgain
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/8/11
#25Aladdin Previews
Posted: 2/26/14 at 2:52amthey touched up all all the art work in the theater which looks amazing and they redid the carpeting but to me everything else looked the same.
lambchop2
Stand-by Joined: 8/18/12
#26Aladdin Previews
Posted: 2/26/14 at 3:11am
I loved the friends, personally. I think they add a comedic dynamic that hit almost every note when I saw the Toronto previews. Although I wonder how much removing them as narrators has affected their presence in the show.
I think the climax could be improved with just relatively small tweaks, mainly having to do with the rest of the cast's reaction to Jafar. When I saw the show they just kind of... stood there without much of a reaction and, as an audience member, it killed any sort of tension the climax had.
It really needed something to slow it down and build tension. Maybe something like adding dialogue that forces the wedding party to bow before Jafar or having the Sultan's guards switch sides in a more obvious way, showing that Jafar really *is* the Sultan and that this has dire consequences; or giving "sorcerer" Jafar some magic to work with--maybe have sorcerer Jafar unmask Aladdin with 'magic' aka costume work similar to Jafar's costume changes, then the reprise? etc.
"Yup they sure were serious about those changes they were going to implement."
Ehh, considering that they have made some significant changes to the show from the first Toronto previews until now, I don't think it's fair to say they weren't serious about implementing changes. They might not be the changes some people wanted or expected, but I think it's clear they are willing to actually work on the show.
Videos