Aladdin Reviews — Page 5

They fixed the ending!

I was at the final performance today as well, having first seen the show on opening night. I had found the finale very underwhelming - Aladdin and Jasmine riding off on camels with a "Just Married" sign on the back. Today their exit was completely different, and it ends the show on an emotional high that wasn't there previously. (I'm not going to spoil it.)

I agree with the person above who says Friend Like Me will get a standing ovation in New York. Today at curtain call, James Monroe Iglehart (Genie) got the loudest roar I've ever heard from a Toronto audience. Also agree that Jasmine's new song is a better introduction for the character. Overall the show felt tighter than it did opening night and I enjoyed it more today.

It's good to hear. I have tickets for about a month after they officially open, and desperately want this to be a good time.

I've got on good word even more changes are still to come. There won't be many but they are going to rework things in rehearsals, which they are in fact starting earlier.

They end in Toronto on Jan 5th and start in NYC on Feb 17th (Or somewhere around there). How much earlier could they possibly have started rehearsals? Like, are they just not giving anyone a break? I would think they'd need to start rehearsals two weeks before the start of previews, etc.

Have they made any changes to the Wedding scene with Jafar? (I know that they might be limited in the effects they can pull off, especially at this point. But I am sure they can be very effective if they insinuate & stage things properly.

Updated On: 1/8/14 at 09:17 AM

RumTumJM - I didn't notice any changes to the wedding scene with Jafar. The effect for his transition to sultan and then genie was the same in both shows I saw.

ryandl15 - This photo is the set before and after the carpet ride. It's a window in the palace (actually a full circle on stage), and like the movie, Aladdin jumps over the edge and then reappears standing on the carpet.

https://www2.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumnpics.cfm?colid=623213&photoid=474625#sthash.j3PbI40M.dpbs

After Jasmine jumps on, the four pieces that make up the window set fly out (the bottom piece lowers) and the moon disappears, so the stage is dark except for the lights that represent stars you see on the backdrop. Aladdin and Jasmine are lit from below by lights in the carpet.

It's a very smooth ride and the carpet can turn 180 degrees. What's also impressive is the safety rigging for the actors is very discreet - they just seem to jump on and off with no visible harness or anything.

Having the ensemble come on is much better than when they didn't. With the ensemble, it is more like the theme park show (which is good). In Seattle, the ensemble was not there and it made the scene very long and boring.

I was happy with whatever lights the ensemble carried in first, but once they carried in the planets and the moon changed into the earth, I just found myself laughing. The idea of flying all the way into space just made the song ridiculous, and it deserves better than that.

Agreed. That sounds a little stupid. I wish they could use projections to show them passing around the town, etc, but I guess they can't because it would show the wiring. But why not bring on different set pieces to show them going above town. Like, rooftops, etc. Instead of a moon…and the Earth?

Apparently, according to Casey Nicolaw, the three friends no longer serve as narrators. Big change.

Updated On: 2/19/14 at 07:37 PM

Woah! That is a huge change and I would have never expected it. I wonder if this means the Arabian Nights reprises will be cut or will they be worked in? And are going to cut some, or all, of the trio's 4th wall humor? One of my favorite moments was right before High Adventure begins, as the intro music is being played--"I'm sorry, I don't know what came over us." "... It's the music."

Though I wonder if they have tackled what I thought was the real sore thumb of the show: the climax! Way too fast and had almost no impact because of how little a threat Jafar seemed.

The problem with the show was never about the trio though. Jasmine was unlikable (which they seem to have fixed) and the climax was not staged to be exciting.

As I see it, there are no excuses for the climax! With creative people (which we KNOW they have), you can find a genius way of representing/insinuating the action. Now, I know 99% of this could never happen at this point...but hear me out.

The snake? Have a snake "head" (puppet, perhaps) stick out from one of the wings/set pieces. Jafar disappears...the snake head appears...Aladdin fights it.

Jasmine in the hourglass? Rig up some set piece where the hourglass quickly comes from the fly-space, and basically goes over her. (Maybe even some more artistic thing where people on stage "erect" the contraption).

The genie? Let's just say, look at the various giants, in the various versions of Into The Woods!