Aladdin Previews — Page 8

Arabian Nights actually isn't that bad. The ensemble sounds fantastic!

I like "Arabian Nights," but the full version still feels like one really loooong prologue and then an opening number with "One Jump Ahead." I think the short film version works better, but I am glad that they reincorporated some of the dialogue from the film for the opening. Any time they borrow from the film and remove the subpar new stuff is a plus.

Actually the critics don't really matter. Moms will drag their kids to the next Kid-Friendly Disney spectacle no matter the reviews (which they won't read anyway) nor the exorbitant price (which doesn't seem to faze them either.)

Any word on when Iglehart will be back?

Any word if James is back yet?

Updated On: 3/7/14 at 09:35 AM

Just one more I promise. It was announced that the soundtrack will be coming out in May, but does anyone know when the cast will be going into the studio to record.

I saw the show this week. (Thanks, Famebroadway2, for letting me know when the show ends!) Some random thoughts filled with SPOILERS below:

I’m glad I read this thread beforehand, so I had appropriate expectations. I think one of the problems is that the show is NOT a spectacle, even though we’re expecting one. It is not really trying to be. There is no Disney “magic” like the transformation of the Beast into the Prince at the end of Beauty and the Beast or a million moments in Mary Poppins. All of the effects are simply presented. There is no mystery how the Genie gets on and off stage, for example. It is a fine and fun show, to quote our friend Whizzer. Fine and fun was good enough for me. I enjoyed it quite a bit, although that enjoyment went down as time went on.

The show starts slowly. The marketplace set looked incredibly cheap, although this is probably deliberate in contrast to the cave. And the stupid puns and groaners just kept coming and coming. It seemed that the frequency of the puns went down over the course of the show. But the show definitely picked up once Adam Jacobs and James Monroe Iglehart moved into the forefront. Jacobs is very winning as Aladdin, and Iglehart is great, although he’s pushing too hard sometimes. Iglehart is definitely going to be nominated, and Jacobs is a worthy nominee as well. Jacobs definitely has the audience rooting for him, and he makes it look easy.

I was disappointed in general with the sets, although the cave got audience applause and so did the reveal of the carpet/night sky in A Whole New World. I thought the staging of A Whole New World was very effective. It was a little too dimly lit (you could barely see the carpet), but it was a simple concept not trying to be a complicated concept. I am extremely happy there were no dancing planets, though – that sounds like it would have been awful. I would probably get rid of the ensemble moving the fabric like water. Keep it simple.

The highlight was definitely A Friend Like Me, although they held for a really, really long time to get the standing o. It definitely was not organic. And they need to reprise the song at the end of the curtain call. The curtain just kind of came down.

In terms of the other performances, Jonathan Freeman and Don Darryl Rivera do a great job. I didn’t mind Courtney Reed. She seemed to be on pitch throughout the night, and I thought she was fine. I didn’t mind the three friends, either, until they went from being in small doses in Act I to kind of taking over the show. When the Act I curtain came down shortly after A Friend Like Me, I was thinking that the first act definitely got better over time, and I was excited about Act II. The beginning of Act II started and A Whole New World was great, and then something happened. The rest of the show was alternatively too short and too long. Parts felt rushed and parts outstayed their welcome. As others had mentioned, High Adventure goes on too long (they should take out the parts where the friends are actually stabbing and killing people rather than just knocking them out – that did not go over well with the audience), and the number in the dungeon, which quickly follows, is also too long. I’m now looking at my watch.

A major problem is that the show is aiming in tone for an amiable, easy ride. The lows should be lower. Jacobs is certainly capable of making us feel that he’s let down his mother by lying, and Iglehart is certainly capable of making us feel that he’s devastated that just because he’s lost his freedom, but also because he’s realized that Aladdin isn’t really his friend after all. But they’re not being directed to go there. It’s very surface. The same thing happens at the end. Jafar just seems like some old guy with a weird laugh who’s almost a parody of his movie self. He’s not scary. The Sultan doesn’t make any significant impression, and it doesn’t seem to matter that Jafar is now in charge. And the actual amount of time he’s in charge is probably literally about 2 - 3 minutes, or maybe even less – it’s like they’re rushing through it to get to the happy ending. There is no dramatic tension. And I don’t remember what the end of the movie is, but I was expecting the Sultan to make Aladdin a prince (the “Prince of the Marketplace” or something like that) to fulfill the law. For the Sultan to just say, “Well, I’m changing the law” seemed stupid. If he could have done that all along, why didn’t Jasmine argue that he should do that rather than meet all those suitors?

I think my audience overall liked it more than I did, but I think they felt similarly. Lots of applause and laughter in Act I and the beginning of Act II, then less response as Act II went on. When Jafar gets vanquished, I was expecting some applause, but there wasn’t any.

With some cutting in Act II and more emotional performances, I think this show could get strong word of mouth. Right now, it’s a 3 out of 5 stars for me. With those changes, I would probably move it to 3.5 or even 4 stars.

A small note: The show started at 8:03, which surprised me and I barely made it into my seat in time. The show let out at 10:21.

---

Updated On: 3/8/14 at 07:29 AM

In the film, the sultan deems Aladdin a prince due to his defeat of Jafar.

Also it's worth noting that in the film, Jafar uses magic to continually force the Sultan to do his bidding. Was this element not in the stage show?

The quoted dialogue from the film is basically word-for-word the dialogue in the show.

In the show, Jafar and the Sultan hardly interact (most of Jafar's scenes are with Iago), and there is no suggestion that Jafar is controlling him through magic. The Sultan has a very small part with little impact.

---

The Little Mermaid closed because The Nederlander Organization executed their stop clause in the productions contract.
The Nederlander were bringing in The Addams Family which "had" hit written all over it. The issue was they did not have a theater to house the production since In the Heights was still going strong at the Rogers, West Side Story was settling in for a long stay at the Palace, Love Never Dies was supposed to play the Neil Simon, and the Nederlander and Brooks Atkinson being too small for the production. The only option was the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, where The Little Mermaid was doing decently, not sellout status but not that bad either. The issue was that The Little Mermaid did not hit their nut for couple weeks in their second winter, thus this allowed for the Nederlanders to evict The Little Mermaid to make room for The Addams Family. Disney wanted to move The Little Mermaid to the New Amsterdam Theatre and close Mary Poppins, but Cameron Mackintosh, as a co producer, would not allow Mary Poppins to close.

Updated On: 3/10/14 at 09:25 PM

Bdn, what's your evidence for this scenario? If Disney felt they had a hit on their hands that was worth paying for a big move to a larger theater why didn't they tour the show?