Review: Aladdin the Musical

Disclaimer: Today's post will have nothing to do with triathlon or running.  As the title suggests, today I will present my thoughts on Disney's new musical Aladdin.  My wife and I ventured to New York on Sunday to see the musical just a week or so after it officially opened on Broadway.  I am a huge fan of Alan Menken and the classic animated film.  I have been waiting for this stage musical adaptation since the late 1990s.  Personally, I think it has great material to translate to the stage.  My second disclaimer is that I know the entire movie, word for word from beginning to end.  This will be a long post.  I apologize in advance.  Here are bullet points if you don’t want to read the entire article (although I encourage you to do so).

1.     All animal characters are made into human characters.

2.     The stage show lacks the heart of the film.

3.     Genie is fantabulous.

4.     All other characters are flat and undeveloped.

5.     Stage effects and Swarovski crystal-encrusted costumes are flashy, colorful and extremely “Broadway”.

6.     Disney does wonders with special effects.

7.     Did I mention that the Genie was fantabulous?

Read on for more (there are spoilers of plot and “Disney magic” so be cautious):

For those who love the movie version, the stage version is nothing like the film.  There are familiar songs from the movie and the story is based on the same framework.  However, most of the plot has been transformed and the stage adaptation does not follow the same story as the movie.  Your familiar characters such as Abu, Rajah, the Sultan and others bear little resemblance to their film versions.  Abu has been replaced by a trio of friends (Babkak, Omar and Kassim) that remind me of Athos, Aramis and Porthos from “The Three Musketeers”.  Rajah is replaced by three ladies-in-waiting.  Jafar’s parrot henchman, Iago, is humanized into a shrieking sidekick that sounds and acts like the bird famously voiced by Gilbert Gotfried.   Disappointingly, gone is the lively magic carpet (it only appears in the “A Whole New World” sequence) and the friendship between him and the Genie.  The Sultan isn't a babbling old man and here is much less of a caricature.  

The musical begins with a vibrant carpet-like main drape which is lit in bright orange.  During the overture, this scrim changes colors with the lighting but the colors are still very vibrant.  That sets the tone for what is to come for the next two and a half hours.   The opening musical number is the familiar "Arabian Nights", lengthened and inflated with extended music and dancing.  Gone are the familiar opening lines by the shopkeeper "combination hookah and coffee maker, also makes julienne fries.  It never breaks....it broke".   Such is the theme of the night.  

I am not one to be blunt but I will say that the creative team has destroyed this story.  Hands down.  In an attempt to transform the story into a musical comedy, director Casey Nicholaw (Spamalot, Drowsey Chaperone, Book of Mormon) and writer/lyricist Chad Beguelin (Elf) have stripped Aladdin of all its Disney heart and removed most of the depth of any characters in this show.  They have systematically eliminated all of the elements of the movie that made you feel anything for any of the characters.   Many of the main characters become flat and wholly two-dimensional.  I realize that the new creative team was trying to stay true to the original vision of the film (the vision of Menken and original lyricist Howard Ashman) but there is a very apparent reason why Disney chose not to go in that direction for the film.   

The most disappointing aspect of this stage adaptation is the obliteration of Jafar.  Jafar is one of the most evil villains in the Disney cannon and is truly a powerful and scary dude.  Beguelin and Nicholaw have reduced him to a parody of villainy and have completely removed the tension between he and Princess Jasmine.  They have also removed the element of controlling the Sultan, which in my opinion, makes him all the more evil.  He spends most of the first part of the film hypnotizing the Sultan into doing his bidding.  This irritates Jasmine and there are obvious hate-hate moments between Jasmine and Jafar.  Jafar's entire plot revolves around becoming Sultan by either getting the lamp or the to have Jasmine marry him.  That second part is entirely gone here.  Jafar’s evil lair is also reduced to a pedestal and a green backdrop.  

The removal of Jafar's major elements is evident from the beginning of the film.  In the fist part of the film, the guards capture Aladdin in the market.  Jasmine orders them to release him.  The guards respond, "our orders come from Jafar.  You should take it up with him".  Here the orders come from the Sultan and Jasmine does not have as pointed a confrontation with Jafar.  There are many instances in the movie where Jafar crosses that line with Jasmine.  That adversarial relationship is not incorporated into the musical.  In the end of the film, Jafar wishes her to fall madly in love with him and of course Genie refuses.  He also puts her in an hour glass.  All of this has been removed.  Gone too is the old man from the prison and all of Jafar's disguises.  Gone is the transformation into the most powerful sorcerer and the giant cobra.  Gone is the peril of Jafar.  Basically, the team has removed any element of danger from the film.  I never feel like Aladdin, Jasmine or the Sultan are ever in danger from this villain.  

No flying palace turrets; no transformation in to a snake; no giant blue genie; no giant red genie.  It really trivializes Aladdin's heroism in trying to save Jasmine.  He needs to get out of the snow, fight Jafar and realize the way to defeat him during that scene.  It turns him into a true hero of the story.   To say this is disappointing was an understatement.  I understand the limitations of the stage but I have seen Disney do things like this at their parks and on their cruise ships.  I have also seen other musicals (aka Wicked) do similar transformations and stunts.  Jafar is aptly portrayed by Jonathan Freeman who happens to be the voice of Jafar in the original movie.   Yes, he does sound exactly like his movie character, especially when singing.  However, the character has been reworked so that he really has a hard time getting going with the material given.  

The rest of the characters are not given much development either.  Aladdin's trio handles their roles fairly well, as does Don Darryl Rivera as the sidekick Iago.  Courtney Reed as Jasmine sings well enough but never develops the character, due in part to the marginalized role of Jasmine.  Adam Jacobs as Aladdin doesn't help matters much.  His voice is good and he is certainly good looking enough to play the part (with the whitest teeth on the great white way) but his acting is two-dimensional and flat.  The lack of character development, lack of acting, and changing of the plot points makes Aladdin turn out to be more of a whiny brat rather than a misunderstood ragamuffin.  Menken and Beguelin have added a few numbers to the production, including several that were cut from the original movie (but are included on the soundtrack as demos sung by Menken himself).  Of these, “Proud of Your Boy” is a potential showcase for Aladdin.  It is a power soliloquy that has more reprises than the title song of Phantom.  Nicholaw, however, chose to stage this song with Aladdin basically standing in place singing to a spot light.   It is truly wasted in this manner. 

Now that I have ripped it apart, let me highlight the good parts.  There were several magnificent elements of the show.  First, as one would expect with Disney, the production values are high.   Veteran scenic designer Bob Crowley has put together beautiful sets that are not only stunning but function to help with the Disney magic that is spread throughout the show.  Gregg Barnes' costumes are splashy, colorful and dotted with more Swarovski crystals (1,428 altogether according to the Playbill) than in the chandelier from the Phantom movie.  The showstopping numbers and glitz that surrounds many of the ensemble numbers are a pleasure to watch.  I wouldn't doubt if there are some technical Tony Award nominations (or wins) for this production.  

Perhaps the saving grace of the show comes near the end of Act I.  This is when the famed Genie of the Lamp appears for real.  He does the opening "Arabian Nights" but then disappears to his dressing room for most of Act I.  In the movie, the character is voiced by Robin Williams, who basically improved most of the role.  Here Genie is portrayed by James Monroe Iglehart, who has more energy than the Energizer Bunny and has the largest personality I've seen in a show in a long time.  If there isn't a Tony nomination for this guy, I will be shocked.  His "Friend Like Me" number is elongated from the film to feature dizzying and dazzling dancing.  Here most of the familiar Genie lines from Robin Williams are gone but are effectively replaced by new zingers and references to contemporary things such as game shows, Oprah (You get a wish! You get a wish! You get a car!), and the viral meme "Ain't nobody got time for that!" Iglehart keeps the pace up all the time, turned on high gear and amped up on what must be high consumption of Red Bull.  This is such a delight that is makes the rest of the parts when he is not on stage seem absolutely dull by comparison.  

As I said, the special effects are also very impressive.   There are many "wow" moments where the Genie produces his magic.  The magic carpet ride is also quite impressive, eliciting gasps from the audience as they watch the carpet soar upward and throughout the stage.  There are no visible wires (SPOILER: because it is a hovercraft), which makes the audience lean and strain to see how it is working.  Nobody is listening to the Academy-Award winning "A Whole New World" as they are mesmerized by the star-light backdrop and the flying carpet.  Before anyone figures it out, it is over and the obligatory applause begins as the audience realizes that Aladdin and Jasmine have been singing the whole time.  While I love the tech, it really does upstage the entire song.  The onstage costume changes for Jafar at the end (from Wazir, to Sultan, to Genie) are absolutely stunning. 

The bottom line is that if you have no attachment to the movie version and can handle absolutely two-dimensional characters, then there is a lot to enjoy.  It truly is a “Broadway musicale”.   There are plenty of turn-turn-kick-turn moments and Broadway caliber production values.  Just do not expect a tug at your heartstrings.  The musical has plenty of "Disney magic", but very little Disney spirit.  If you get a chance to see Aladdin on the Disney Fantasy, that may be a better bet.