A tale as old as A Thousand And One Arabian Nights, not only is Disney’s Aladdin an entertainment bonanza for audiences of all ages, it just might be the most gorgeous-too-look-at production ever to light up the Segerstrom Center For The Arts stage.

The fifth Disney animated feature to be live-actionized for Broadway, Aladdin follows the example first set by Beauty And The Beast back in 1994, adding an extra hour of book, songs, and production numbers to an already proven hit.

As in the animated original, riffraff street rat Aladdin (Clinton Greenspan on tour at the Segerstrom) finds himself always “one jump ahead of the bread line, one swing ahead of the sword,” that is until fate brings him in contact with pulchritudinous palace escapee Princess Jasmine (Lissa deGuzman), her father the Sultan (Jerald Vincent), villainous vizier Jafar (Jonathan Weir), Jafar lackey Iago (Jay Paranada), and most significantly of all, the sassiest Genie (Major Attaway) in the history of genies.

Factor in enough word plays and one-liners to fill a season’s worth of Broadway comedies (the better to make Aladdin as adult-friendly as it is a tot-pleaser) and you’ve got a Broadway musical that adds its own clever tweaks to a proven original.

Unlike the animated feature, for instance, humans step in for simian/avian sidekicks Abu and Iago, the former by Aladdin besties Babkak, Omar and Kassim and the latter by a homosapien henchman of the same name. (Think Lefou to Beauty And The Beast’s Gaston.)

Alan Menken’s melodies are among his catchiest and Howard Ashman’s lyrics are among his cleverest, both in the supremely infectious “Friend Like Me” and in the restored-for-Broadway “Babkak, Omar, Aladdin, Kassim”; songs don’t get more romantic and/or touching than “A Whole New World” (lyrics by Tim Rice) and Menken & Ashman’s “Proud Of Your Boy,” the latter heard previously only as a CD bonus track; and Menkin and book writer/lyricist Beguelin’s musical contributions are almost as splendid, most notably Jafar and Iago’s “Diamond In The Rough” and the Act Two Aladdin-and-friends showcase “Somebody’s Got Your Back.”

As for Casey Nicholaw’s athletic, acrobatic, undulating, sword-playful choreography, few showstoppers have ever stopped a show—or inspired longer, more sustained cheers—than the full-cast extravaganza that is “Friend Like Me” from its Vegas-ready start to its 42nd Street-worthy tap finale, and that’s just one of Nicholaw’s thrilling choreographic contributions.

Previous National Tour production designs pale (quite literally) by comparison to the scrumptious, saturated-color feast for the eyes that is the Arabian Nights fantasy confectioned by scenic designer Bob Crawley, costume designer Gregg Barnes, and lighting designer Natasha Katz, all three egregiously ignored when 2014 Tony nominations were announced, though voters were smart enough to nominate the production for Best Musical, Best Book, Best Original Score, and Best Choreography, with Genie James Monroe Iglehart winning as Best Featured Actor, an award that would almost certainly have gone to the unrestrainedly brilliant tour star Attaway had he originated the role.

As for Aladdin himself, it’s precisely for young triple threats like the charismatic 25-year-old Greenspan that the words “A Star Is Born” were coined, and deGuzman’s Jasmine is a luscious stunner as well, with Weir’s deliciously dastardly Iago, Parananda’s wonderfully wacky Iago, and Vincent’s warmly paternal doing their own terrific work.

Scene-stealers Philippe Arroyo (Omar), Zach Bencal (Babkak), and Jed Feder (Kassim) earn the snappiest of snaps, and though Olivia Donaldson, Liv Simone, and Annie Wallace (Aladdin’s answer to Beauty And The Beast’s Silly Girls) suffer the indignity of being billed only as Attendants, all three gals give the guys a run for their money.

Add to that a couple dozen of the country’s hottest, fittest, hardest-working, and most talented and ethnically diverse singer-dancers—Michael Bullard, Michael Callahan, Cornelius Davis, Bobby Daye, Mathew deGuzman, Olivia Donalson, Erik Hernandez, Orianna Hilliard, Cameron Hobbs, Adrienne Howard, Cameron Mitchell Jackson, Albert Jennings, Kenway Hon Hai K. Kua, Jason MacDonald, Pierre Marais, Charles McCall, Angelina Mullins, Celina Nightengale, Charles South, Cassidy Stoner, Alec Varcas, Michelle West, and Zach Williams—and you’ve got a First National Tour whose onstage (and swing) talent equals Broadway’s best.

The production sounds great too thanks to musical director/conductor Faith Seetoo and sound designer Ken Travis, with Josh Marquette (hair design), Milagros Medina-Cerdeira (makeup design), and above all illusion design master Jim Steinmeyer completing the Broadway design team. (Yes, Aladdin and Jasmine’s magic carpet ride is a how-do-they-do-that dazzler!)

Associate director Scott Taylor and dance supervisor Michael Mindlin keep Aladdin On Tour up to Broadway snuff. Michael McGoff is production stage manager. Standbys Korie Lee Blossey, Ellis C. Dawson III, and Adam Stevenson are poised to step in for assorted major players when needed.

At two-thousand-plus performances and counting, Broadway’s Aladdin shows no signs of slowing down any time soon, all the more reason not to miss its just-as-fabulous First National Tour’s very last SoCal stop and be transported to “A Whole New World” of wonders, Aladdin-style

Segerstrom Center For The Arts, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa.
www.scfta.org

–Steven Stanley
March 7, 2019
Photos: Deen van Meer

Tags: Alan Menken, Chad Beguelin, Howard Ashman, Orange County Theater Review, Segerstrom Center, Tim Rice