A guaranteed entertainment bonanza for audiences of all ages, Disney’s Aladdin is not only late summer’s most all-around entertaining theatrical extravaganza, it may well be the most gorgeous-too-look-at production ever to light up the Pantages Theatre stage.

The fifth Disney animated feature to be live-actionized for Broadway, this tale as old as A Thousand And One Arabian Nights 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 (Adi Roy, making the year’s most exciting National Tour debut) 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 (Senzel Ahmady), her father the Sultan (Sorab Wadia), villainous vizier Jafar (Anand Nagraj), Jafar lackey Iago (Aaron Choi), and most significantly of all, the sassiest Genie (Marcus M. Martin) 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.

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, a role the magnificent Martin makes audaciously, adorably, unrestrainedly his own.

As Aladdin, the barely-into-his-20s Roy proves the ideal blend of boy-next-door looks and charm and impish verve, with acting, voice, and dance chops to boot.

Ahmady is loveliness and spunk personified as Jasmine, the silky-voiced Nagraj simply oozes evil as Jafar, Choi could not make for a more delectably daffy Iago, and Wadia gives the Sultan equal parts authority and paternal warmth.

Backup boys don’t get any funnier or feistier or more fabulous than Chavez’s Omar, Letts’ Babkak, and Prattes’ Kacim, and though though Alyssa Anani, Lizzy Marie Legregin, and Sonia Monroy (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.

L.A. favorite Brandon Burks gets to play hissably full of himself as Prince Abdullah, with Tyler Johnson-Campion (Shop Owner), Cody Hernández (Razoul), fight captain Brandon J. Large and Cameron Sirian (Henchmen) delivering the cameo role goods as does Anani when she doubles as Fortune Teller.

The triple-threat-tastic Carina R. Avila, Daniel Brackett, Nathaniel Hirst, Evin Johnson, Angelina Mullins, and Taylor Mackenzie Smith complete what well may be the most ethnically diverse cast in Broadway history, with swings Kyle Caress, Edward Cuellar (dance captain), Maya Kazzaz, Ryan Rodino, Kyra Smith (assistant dance captain), and Asten Stewart at the poised to join the cast at a moment’s notice in featured role or ensemble tracks, and standbys Dwelvan David and J. Andrew Speas ready to step in as Genie at selected performances.

Last but not least, the production sounds great thanks to musical director/conductor James Dodgson and sound designer Ken Travis, with Josh Marquette (hair design), Milagros Medina-Cerdeira (makeup design), and above all illusion designers Jim Steinmeyer and Rob Lake and special effects designer Jeremy Chernick completing the behind-the-scenes team. (Yes, Aladdin and Jasmine’s magic carpet ride is a how-do-they-do-that dazzler!)

Associate director Ben Clare and dance supervisor Jennifer Rias keep Aladdin On Tour up to Broadway snuff.

Andrew Bacigalupo is production stage manager.

At nearly 3300 performances and counting, Broadway’s Aladdin shows no signs of slowing down any time soon, all the more reason not to miss its sensational Second National Tour’s two-week run at the Pantages. Arabian Nights have never been this much fun.

Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles.
www.broadwayla.org

Aladdin will return to Southern California next year at Costa Mesa’s Segerstrom Center for the Arts – May 7-12, 2024

–Steven Stanley
September 12, 2023
Photos: Deen van Meer © Disney

Tags: Alan Menken, Broadway In Hollywood, Chad Beguelin, Howard Ashman, Los Angeles Theater Review, Pantages Theatre, Tim Rice