03/26/2014
Aladdin
By: Jeannie Lieberman
“Arabian
Nights” opening number in Aladdin
(Photo
credit: Deen Van Meer)
Disney
Does It Again! Delivers the requisite feel good family show utilizing all the
resources at hand. The delightful 1992 animated film is now brought to glorious
Technicolor life thanks to the efforts of a crack team: Director/ choreographer
Casey Nicholaw has done a complete turnaround from his smutty Book Of Mormon
with this not quite sanitized version propelling his large cast of 35 from
scene to scene and production number to production number ablaze with the
magnificent efforts of costumer Gregg Barnes who has added feathers, sequins,
fringes, whatever to the expected array of bangles, baubles, beads, inhabiting
and all but overshadowed by Broadway veteran Bob Crowley’s glittering and
glitzy Vegas inspired sets.
An
otherwise foreboding cave into which Aladdin must go to find the magic lamp
becomes a gold and silver emblazoned fantasy, trees laden with gems and
gorgeous girls in a Bollywood-like musical number offering gifts of
unimaginable opulence. In contrast to this deliciously over-the-top “Cave of
Wonders” is a scene of such breathtaking beauty in the “A Whole New World”
sequence it will not long leave your memory. It is what photographers call the
“money shot” and, whatever the cost, it is well worth it, in which a huge,
glorious moon, surrounded by a black star studded sky is glimpsed through
circular window in the palace wall. Aladdin and Jasmine step through the window
and onto a waiting magic carpet, seemingly suspended in air through the entire
sky and over the village below. The finishing touches are provided by Natasha
Katz’ lighting and Ken Travis’ sound design. It all adds up to true Disney
magic.
The
late Howard Ashman and Alan Menken (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast)
wrote 11 songs for the film, many of which were cut and now appear in the stage
version. Tim Rice added the lyrics for several new songs including “A Whole New
World.” Chad Beguelin was enlisted to add additional lyrics and adapt the
screenplay for the stage. In fact, Nicholaw, Mencken and Beguelin collaborated
on a whole new song, “Somebody’s Got Your Back,” for new characters, Aladdin’s
three friends, Babkak (Brian Gonzalez),Omar (Jonathan Schwartz – no, not
that Schwartz) and Kassim (Brandon O’Neill), who replace the monkey in the
movie, free him from the dungeon. And how successful is a monolith that can
steal from itself to enhance its current production as this one does with
snatches of songs from other shows like “Beauty and the Beast.” Music
supervision, incidental music and vocal arrangements by Michael Kosarin and
orchestrations by Danny Troob complete the musical picture.
The
result is a magic carpet of music that buoys the entire production.
James
Monroe Iglehart as the Genie
in the
“Cave of Wonders” scene from Aladdin
(Photo
credit: Cylla von Tiedemann)
While
it seemed appropriate to open this review with the sheer audio/visual
physicality of the production, there is one element that supersedes all: the
Genie. The discovery of the night is a relative newcomer named James Monroe
Iglehart, a name to remember, who, while not “new” (he originated the role of
Bobby in Memphis and was in The Wiz), opens and closes the show
and carries it along its merry madcap way. While the uniquely iconoclastic
Robin Williams dominated the movie, imagine that unfettered and amorphous
persona and now add flesh and blood, singing and dancing. Fleet of foot despite
his notable heft, Iglehart (get used to the name) sweeps us along this
adventure while maintaining the central thread of a well-meaning giant who just
wants his freedom while helping those around him and dispensing such well-intended
moral lessons like “just be yourself.” And he stops the show many times over
from when he first emerges from his lamp to sing the manic “Friend Like Me,” to
closing the act with what starts as a curtain front duet with Aladdin that
morphs into an all-ensemble tap finale combining “A Friend Like Me” with “Proud
of Your Boy.” From showbiz shtick, poses, motor-mouthed hilarity and general
geniality, this genie is positively endearing.
Never
one to forget that the parents who buy the tickets must be as amused as their
children, or grandchildren, Beguelin’s book is peppered with show biz
references: “We don’t have time for self-discovery,” the villain Jafar growls;
waiters do a “Hello, Dolly” number; overt references to Oprah Winfrey, West
Side Story and Let’s Make a Deal with a pyramid behind door
No. 3 followed by a groan-inducing Genie pun, “Now you and King Tut will
finally have something in Tutankhamen!”
Just
as The Lion King embellished and embroidered a simple story with
stagecraft, at heart the fairy tale of Aladdin, a poor, streetwise commoner
meets the bored, rebellious Princess Jasmine on a flight from the palace and
the unlikely couple fall in love just in time to avoid her forced marriage, by
law, to a prince (and not the “prince among thieves”) persists.
Courtney
Reed and Adam Jacobs
in a
scene from Aladdin
(Photo
credit: Deen Van Meer)
All
the required Disney elements are there: attractive romantic leads - as Aladdin,
the young thief of Bagdad adept at stealing anything, mostly a loaf of bread
which he is likely to give away to someone in worse straights than he is, Adam
Jacobs is PG cute more than hunky, despite his bare chest. His salvation seems
imminent when he sings “Proud of Your Boy” attempting to reform from his
thievery and make something of himself. As Princess Jasmine, the rebellious
women’s lib predecessor, who falls in love with a commoner rather than marry a
rich prince as prescribed by law, Courtney Reed also keeps the PG image making
her somewhat seductive harem costumes seems relatively modest. Snappy villain
Jafar (Jonathan Freeman making a bit of show biz history by continuing the role
that he originated in the animated film in onstage flesh) oozes malevolence in
the family friendly way. His pint-sized pop-eyed sidekick Iago (Don Darryl
Rivera) is a visual joke even before he does anything. It’s so nice to see
Broadway veteran Clifton Davis back on the boards as the Sultan.
Just
when you think you’ve seen it all, there is more as one brilliant production
number follows another. The energy never falters, and neither does the talent.
On the
way out a smiling uniformed usher said, “Have a pleasant evening.” I said, “I
already did”
Warning:
Do not see another show for at least a day till your eyes can readjust to the
merely earthbound.
Aladdin
(open
run)
Disney
Theatrical Productions
New
Amsterdam Theater, 214 West 42nd Street, in Manhattan
For
tickets, call 866-870-2717 or visit http://www.aladdinthemusical.com
Running
time: two hours and 20 minutes with one intermission
************************************************************
6/1/16
Aladdin begins previews tomorrow at the Prince Edward Theatre in London's West End.
Official tickets and show information can be found here:
http://www.londontheatres.co.uk/prince-edward-theatre/
