Disney’s Aladdin

It has taken 3 years for Disney’s Aladdin to finally come to Adelaide – and it is simply wonderful.

Whilst this production is based on Disney’s ‘hit’ 1992 animated film, nonetheless it is a completely different show.

This production is the brainchild of director-choreographer Casey Nicholaw who was also responsible for the Broadway and international success of The Drowsy Chaperone and The Book of Mormon. With a new book by Chad Beguelin (The Wedding Singer), additional songs by Menken, Ashman, Rice and Beguelin, and spectacular set design by Bob Crowley, complemented by a brilliant lighting design by Natasha Katz, Aladdin opened on Broadway on 7 July 2014, and is still playing. Two years later, in 2016, the Australian production and the West End production opened.

Disney’s Aladdin has received mixed reviews; some critics lamenting a perceived lack of depth compared to the film as well as other Disney musicals. It is true that one may not feel the same towards the respective characters as one may do with those in The Lion King, but that doesn’t necessarily make this version of Aladdin the less enjoyable. What Aladdin may lack in depth is more than compensated by the spectacular theatrical design and energetic and joyous cast.

The entire cast is truly excellent in all areas – singing, dancing, and acting. The standout, however, is Gareth Jacobs as the Genie. Whilst the actual story is rightly centred on Aladdin and Princess Jasmine, beautifully and engagingly played by Graeme Isaako and Shubshri Kandiah, it is the Genie that makes this stage production soar.

The storyline is similar to the film, but in a condensed 2-Act form. The first Act introduces the main characters, including the newly invented three street-friends of Aladdin who have basically taken the place and function of some of the characters in the film (I won’t say whom).

Act 1 has Aladdin (Graeme Isaako) meet Princess Jasmine (Shubshri Kandiah), who has run away from the palace to see what life is like on the streets of Agrabah, as well as assisting the evil Jafar (Adam Murray) in gaining the lamp that contains the Genie in the ‘Cave of Wonders’. This plan backfires and Aladdin is locked inside the cave. He does, however, have the lamp, rubs it, and releases the Genie.

This version of Aladdin is more in the tradition of ‘pantomime’ than the original film. Subsequently, it draws on numerous older theatrical traditions, including that of the ‘pantomime dame’ for the character of the Genie. This is an excellent solution for the extremely strong influence of the late Robin Williams as the Genie in the film.

As in the film, the Genie is a brilliant, camp, and truly hilarious character, who, as performed by Gareth Jacobs, virtually steals the show. The Genie’s song “You Ain’t Never Had a Friend Like Me”, exemplifies the show’s magnificent, spectacular theatrics that makes this production of Aladdin so wonderful. Instead of trying to copy the film, the creative team have resorted to something right out of the Ziegfeld Follies, including a terrific tap sequence with the entire ensemble. This was an absolute ‘show-stopper’ in the true tradition of Broadway musicals.

The opening night audience did something extraordinary, something I had never seen in an Australian audience. At the end of this song they rose as one and cheered - a standing ovation in the middle of the first Act that was utterly and completely deserved. Real theatre magic!

Unlike the other characters, the Genie talks directly to the audience – in a number of different ways and guises. In the opening number the Genie is like an ‘MC’, at other times like an old vaudeville stand-up comic, using contemporary references, including a jar of vegemite, to get a laugh, plus developing a strong paternalistic/maternalistic relationship with Aladdin.

The joy and wonder continues in Act 2, especially with “A Whole New World”, the ‘hit’ number from the show.  In this number Aladdin (disguised as Prince Ali) takes Princess Jasmine on a magic carpet ride – and they really fly, singing this beautiful romantic duet against a full moon and a sky full of stars. It is absolutely marvelous.

The climax of Act 2 is a slightly changed, condensed version of the film’s, but essentially the same, with Jafar being ultimately defeated by Aladdin and the subsequent happy ending for all, including the Genie.

Highly recommended.

Tony Knight

Photographer: James Green