A Disney caravan rolled into town this week, with the opening of the Broadway tour of Aladdin at SHN’s Orpheum Theater. It’s a favorite childhood movie for both of your DT&D columnists, so we decided to check it out.
Adam Jacobs (Aladdin) and Anthony Murphy (Genie). Disney’s Aladdin North American Tour Original Cast. ©Disney. Photo Credit: Deen van Meer
Brittany: It was so shiny and flashy. I guess it’s Disney, so I shouldn’t be surprised, but it had such amazingly high production values. The costumes were gorgeous and there were hundreds of them and the sets were crazy. I mean, fireworks happened on stage multiple times, and they actually rode a flying carpet, that’s nuts.
Katie: Totally, but for me, that’s all this show had going for it. I’m a huge Aladdin fan, and I just don’t think it translated to the stage. It was just super cheesy. I get that they had to make changes to make it work as a musical, but all the changes were lame. I had hoped they would add value in their re-imagining of the movie for the stage, but they just added a bunch of terrible filler songs. Super disappointing.
B: Agreed the filler songs weren’t great. I also was disappointed that they got rid of the animal sidekicks and added in a bunch of one-dimensional annoying friends for Aladdin and Jasmine instead. In the movie Aladdin and Jasmine don’t have any friends (who are people), which is part of what drives the story. Given how good they are at spectacle, and how well Disney has done animals on stage for shows like the Lion King, it’s strange they didn’t make some super creative costumes that allowed the play to keep those characters. I wanted Abu and Rajah!
K: This show was just disappointing. The adaptation was lackluster and none of the actors blew me away. Jafar wasn’t scary, Aladdin was too self-confident to be endearing, and I thought all the new characters they added were dumb.
B: The songs “Never Had A Friend Like me” and “Prince Ali” were damn impressive, and met my expectations in terms of generating wide-eyed excitement, but you’re right, all this show had going for it is spectacle. Big show-stopping numbers with impressive tech.
K: It felt like a money grab to me. All flash and no substance.
The Verdict: This show could be a fun way to introduce a kid to theater since it’s so technically impressive, and they probably won’t mind the lack of depth. But if you are an Aladdin fan we recommend staying in and just re-watching the movie, even more in a big tv with a 55 inch tv stand with mount for maximum comfort.
The Drama Talk: Aladdin is a valuable Disney francise, and this show is just another way for producers to cash-in on the brand. If all you want is to see some gorgeous costumes, cinematically beautiful sets, and a few big song and dance numbers than you may like this. For us, it fell short of the movie. Jafar wasn’t nearly as scary, Aladdin wasn’t nearly as deep, and Jasmine didn’t feel as strong. It feels like this production is really made for kids who care more about spectacle than storyline.
The Drinks: We’ve been to the Orpheum enough times that we now have official SHN cups that we bring to the theater with us. These cups, which you can also purchase with your drink order, allow you to bring drinks into the theatre to enjoy during the show. This Aladdin is definitely a spectacle better appreciated with some bubbly.
Aladdin runs through January 7th at the Orpheum Theater. Tickets are available on their website for $45-$200. There are $40 in-person rush tickets available. Goldstar also currently has tickets for $55-$75.
