Did Aladdin Deserve a Tony nom?

[laughingplace]

Posted: 3/29/16 at 12:11am

I just found it laughable !

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 3/29/16 at 12:31am

It was a pretty weak season

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/29/16 at 12:38am

It is a Disney theme park show on steroids.

[Doody Fisher]

Posted: 3/29/16 at 1:33am

Mr Roxy said: "It is a Disney theme park show on steroids.

 

"

apt description. lol

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 3/29/16 at 7:03am

I liked Aladdin, so I think it did deserve some Tony nominations (and its win for James Monroe Iglehart).

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 3/29/16 at 7:06am

I actually enjoyed it with the exception of the obnoxious audience.  They were the absolute worst in terms of all the shows I have seen. I thought the costumes should have been nominated.

[ChildofEarth]

Posted: 3/29/16 at 7:38am

Iglehart absolutely deserved it. The rest is meh.

[Alex10]

Posted: 3/29/16 at 7:57am

It wasn't a great season. It definitely didn't deserve the win, but there wasn't much else worthy of a nomination so I'd say it was warranted. Iglehart, on the other hand, completely deserved his win. He was incredible and single-handedly saved the show.

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 3/29/16 at 8:38am

Looking back on that season, it's absurd that BRIDGES was shut out of the Best Musical race in favor of ALADDIN and AFTER MIDNIGHT.

[pupscotch]

Posted: 3/29/16 at 8:40am

I don't know about Best Musical, but it absolutely deserved some of its nominations and Iglehart's win.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 3/29/16 at 9:05am

I personally thought that Bullets Over Broadway, If/Then, Bridges, and Rocky were far superior to Aladdin.

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 3/29/16 at 9:15am

Please keep in mind that before Aladdin opened on Broadway, there wasn't a lot of excitement for it within the industry. Especially after its underwhelming critical response in Toronto, everyone was expecting it to be another fiasco from Disney along the lines of Tarzan and The Little Mermaid.

But on opening night, everyone was surprised by how the critical response was much better than expected.

[theatreguy12]

Posted: 3/29/16 at 11:36am

Someone calling it a theme park on steroids is exactly the same impression I had of the show.  

Disney has billions of dollars, and when it comes to their putting on a Broadway show, it better have the best costumes, the best sets, the best everything.  They have unlimited monetary resources.  In addition, they have enough money that if one of their shows doesn't fare as well, it won't impact them all that much. It's not like the character in Shuffle Along who has to sell his grandfather's watch (was it?) to 'keep the show going.'

I am a big Disney fan.  Worked for the theme parks for ten years.  But even I, as a fan, was a little wary of Disney's grand entrance on to Broadway.  It was at a time when Disney was moving into the world of modern commercialization in ways we hadn't seen with the company.  Although we Disney purists knew that it might have been necessary to keep an ailing Disney alive, it felt uncomfortable in a way too.

My first thought when i saw Beauty and the Beast in the planning stages for Broadway was, 'Well, Disney is sticking their nose into Broadway now.'  My second thought though was they'll do well.  Because I knew  that, while it might ruffle some theater purist feathers (mine included), it would also bring in the audiences.  And they have (with an occasional misfire).

When I saw Aladdin I was more interested in seeing what exactly they did to make it different than the theme park show I saw at Disney's California Adventure, because that was pretty good too….with the carpet flying out over the audience (a la Mary Poppins in the Broadway version of that show).

Did my friend and I enjoy it?  Sure.  It was lush.  It was entertaining.  But again, I kept thinking throughout the show, it better be. Disney has unlimited monetary resources, it better look GREAT!

Disney also pretty much has ready made shows in their vast library of movies.  With a little adaptation here and there...voila, you've got yourself a Broadway show.

When I'm in New York, I usually lean away from the Disney shows (Aladdin was the exception).  I usually opt for the revivals, a little off Broadway, and new musicals.  Because I know that any Disney show I see I'll be having that same feeling….'it better be good.'  If I had kids, I might be more inclined to go to one of their musicals.  And that is an audience that Disney has clearly tapped into.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/29/16 at 11:39am

Iglehart and the costumes yes. The show no way .To think this was nominated and Bridges was not is mind boggling.

Updated On: 3/29/16 at 11:39 AM

[Kad]

Posted: 3/29/16 at 11:48am

I find it hard to recommend the show to anyone when it does nothing that movie doesn't do better.

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 3/29/16 at 11:50am

I thought Iglehart was phenomenal and the magic carpet ride was truly magical, but the show was really rather dumb and inflated. It's commercial tourist mecca, though. Bridges of Madison County absolutely deserved that nom slot, but Gentleman's Guide definitely deserved the win in that "alright" season.

[Kad]

Posted: 3/29/16 at 11:53am

Iglehart was the show's ace in the hole, for sure- just as Robin Williams was the film's.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/29/16 at 12:00pm

It is a  prime example of the dumbing down of Broadway .

[Kad]

Posted: 3/29/16 at 12:02pm

Sorry, but regardless of how much I didn't like Aladdin, it is no "dumber" than any number of other musical comedies that have appeared on Broadway since the 20s.

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 3/29/16 at 12:04pm

Of all the other shows that season that could've been nominated for Best Musical:

The Bridges of Madison County-That show had a mixed response. There were people who were in love with it, as well as people who didn't think it worked entirely. Though I do think it would've gotten in over After Midnight (since that was really more of a revue) or if there was a fifth slot for Best Musical.
Bullets Over Broadway-People thought that was gonna be the show to beat before they even saw it, and realized what the hell they were thinking.
If/Then-We all thought that was gonna be a contender before it even reached Broadway and earned a very mixed response.
Rocky-One of the things everyone loved about it was the climatic boxing match at the end of the show. Though everything else leading up to it had (again) earned a very mixed response.

[Brave Sir Robin2]

Posted: 3/29/16 at 4:15pm

I think ALADDIN deserved to get nominated, even though I think BRIDGES is much stronger material. ALADDIN rose above the Disney backlash that's eased up since TARZAN and MERMAID to be a really entertaining evening with good performances, memorable songs, and beautiful designs. BRIDGES is one of the best scores in recent history, in my opinion, and based on the tour I think it could have been nominated if there was a fifth slot. Mind you, I won't see BEAUTIFUL until summer and I'm hoping to see GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE this spring, so I can't compare those.

 

Also, IF/THEN or BULLETS OVER BROADWAY? Nope. IF/THEN, while it had a good concept and great performances by Idina and LaChanze, was not nearly as well written as it could have been (sadly). BULLETS in a fun show that will do really well regionally, but it wasn't that fantastic. Not bad, but compared to BRIDGES and ALADDIN it was not as entertaining.

[Phantom of London]

Posted: 3/29/16 at 4:22pm

I saw Aladdin in Toronto and thought it was superb and New York were in for a 'treat', I said at the time that Iglehart was fantastic and would win the Tony and I was right. The Toronto critics just wanted to make a name for themselves by trashing a show before it got to Broadway, it backfired.

I saw this again last year and loved it again and look forward to seeing this in 2 months time in the Prince Edward Theatre, London.

You cannot compare Aladdin with shows like Tarzan, that had a good score, but the direction was a mess and the Little Mermaid was one of the worst things I have seen on stage, Disney thought a musical that Americans were brought up on, they would flock to see this, wrong.

So Aladdin is a welcome relieve and a winning one at that, that will have Americans and everyone else queueing for years to come, just like Lion King.

 

 

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 3/29/16 at 4:27pm

Also, although we love to believe the tony nominatiors are basing their nominations purely based on artistic reasons we have to realize the Tonys also needs to please investors and producers and by nominating Aladdin they can get viewers off of the Disney factor.

[NOWaWarning]

Posted: 3/29/16 at 4:48pm

I would have preferred a Bridges nod, but the show got a pretty mixed response. As did all the other shows that got left out that year. Aladdin's nomination certainly wasn't a surprise.