Broadway Rewind: ALADDIN Creates a Whole New World on Broadway

Hello, I'm Richard Ridge for Broadway World

One of Disney's most popular and successful films of all time, Aladdin, is coming to Broadway

where it will open on March 20th at the New Amsterdam Theater. This stage version features music by Alan Mencken, lyrics by the late Howard Ashman

additional lyrics and book by Chad Beglin, and is directed and choreographed by Casey Nicola

And I caught up with the company during a break in rehearsal. Well, the big idea was to return to its musical theater DNA, to what Howard

Allen first created, which was a big, broad, funny, musical comedy. And so what we did is we

began to investigate that and say, what could that be? What was it like to audition for this role

Well, it's an auditioning for Disney is always fascinating and challenging. And I went to the first audition, which was a very small room with two people in it, my accompanist

and the casting director of the film was named was Albert Tavares. And it was very simple

I sang a song. I read the copy. They'd sent me a picture of a preliminary drawing of what he looked like

so I gave me some ideas to go on. And then months went by

I went to the callback, and I go into a room with about this many people in it

all Disney employees, I think. And I got up to audition, and they said

well, just want you do the same thing. Just do the same thing you did last time. And then I saw everybody in the room go like this

because they were just wanted to hear the boy. You know, had nothing to do with this. It had to do with this

And I didn't get what was going on. I was like three lines into my edition

I was like, oh, okay, don't you can realize it. So I had two dialogues going on. How excited are you two to be working on Aladdin

I am ecstatic. I've lost my mind completely. I mean, you can't get bigger than this

This is pretty much all I wanted when I was a teenager. I'm on Broadway. I'm in a Disney show, and I'm playing my favorite Disney character

This is literally, literally a wish come true. I'm on top of the moon right now

And he has lost his mind. I will second that. But in a good way, in a very good way

So have you talked to him about what it's like playing a Disney character

All the time. From the first moment, I met the man. I talked his ear off about what it was like to be Jafar

what it was like, what the recording was like, then I asked him about his Broadway career. I was about his life

I'm so glad he didn't get sick of me. He was so embracing. He was so loving

So, you know, it's been wonderful, of course. I just totally went crazy. And then he is the first one to tell me about the fact that the late great Howard Ashman wanted the genie to be like a Cab Calloway Fats Waller type of person

So when he told me that, because when I came in, I told him, I said, I'm a little bit nervous about this, you know, stepping into this role

And he said, you shouldn't be nervous. This is what they wanted. And I was like, oh, my gosh, that's so great to know

And I kind of let it go because Robin Williams is one of my favorite people in the world. I have all of his albums, literally have all of his albums

And when he told me that, I mean, he's fantastic. And you, but you can't step into those

shoes. To try to recreate that would be absolutely stupid. So when he told me there was a different

place to go, I felt secure. And I was like, okay, now I can go be my silly self and be totally

fine with that. And for you, I mean, take me back to the beginning. I mean, playing a Disney

villain, auditioning for that film, take me back to that audition again. Everybody had their

head down or whatever What was going through your mind when you got it Well I always wanted to play a Disney villain I mean you know as a kid growing up I was attracted to Disney films the colors the music

you know, everything that kids are generally attracted to, but I specifically love Disney villains

And there are a group of us out there. Not everyone wants to be a prince and a princess. I'm with you. And I was attracted to the sidekicks and the marginal characters and, but mostly to villains

because of their scale. So getting to audition was, first of all

all fantastic, like a dream come true, sounds kind of corny, but it's true. And then to have booked

it, I just, I couldn't believe what I had fallen into. And to this day, I'm still, you know

I mean, look, it's been a lot, I started work on it in 1991. It's been a long job. I mean

I've continued. I'm not really, I'm not really revisiting. I've been doing it, you know

I do Disney on Ice, I've done game shows, I mean, board games, you know, Disney World has new

villain's attraction. I voice anything that they want me to, you know, because why not

It always screamed to be a Broadway musical, which I love, that it started off that way

So what it's like taking the movie and adding some of these other little stories in there

and characters, what it's been like working with Casey and Alan Mencken and this whole process

for each of you. I think they waited until all the stars were in alignment, and they got everybody that they wanted

And it's a great marriage. Well, they had to have somebody at the helm that knew, one, how to bring all those crazy personalities of that film together for a stage production

And Casey Nicola has that. I mean, there's this twinkle in his eye that lets you know that he gets it

He gets the joke, but he also gets the love in it. He gets the heart of the show

And so when he brought us all together, we saw it, and we all have it now. We're like, okay, we get it

But you needed that spark. You needed that to ignite everything else. Take me back to the beginning of why you wanted to be a part of this whole thing

Um, well, I mean, it's Aladdin and it's Disney and I loved the movie and I love Disney and there you go. And here I am

Well, let's talk about this because this is the film. It's based on some stories. Talk about the new stage adaptation

Well, you know, originally it was conceived as a big musical theater, musical comedy, you know, movie

It didn't end up going that way. It ended up being more action-adventure. So now it was about me being able to, with everybody's help, bring it back to be a big musical comedy again

And that's been really fun, challenging in places. really fun. I'll take me back to this new story

Like, it's the movie, it's sort of the books. Talk about that. Right. It's, you know, it's mostly the movie

It's just opened up, you know, like anything you do on stage, it's opened up

Like, there's bigger dance numbers. There's, you know, it's mostly about opening things up to those

We've added six songs that were cut from the movie that are really fun. There's some new characters

It's just a, it's a blast. It's really a blast. Talk about some of those characters that were originally going to be in the film

They were cut out of the film. They were originally going to be in the film as narrators. and then they ended up being cut

Then we put them back in as narrators. And then actually we've cut them since Toronto

So the characters are still in. They're now Aladdin's best pals, but they don't narrate anymore

It was just something that didn't work as well as we'd hoped. And so now we've streamlined the whole thing

It's really great. What did you learn from the first stops you did with the show on the road? So many things, like almost too many things to mention

You know, and so we really went back in the studio. We worked our butts off for

You know, the two months in between were worked our butts off. And, you know, and then the last two weeks, getting back in the studio

we just worked really hard, clarifying things, making the characters stronger, you know

working on the numbers, on, you know, some structure stuff. It really been fantastic

So tell me what it's been like working on Aladdin. It's been really a dream come true

It's, Aladdin's one of my favorite Disney titles. And you know when I first met with Alan we were just going to do a straightforward adaptation of the movie but he brought out all of these songs that he had written with Howard Ashman who my personal hero and why I wanted to be a writer in the first place

And he said, let's put these back in the show. And so it's been such a thrill to get to work with these beautiful songs

that are not forgotten, but a lot of people don't know them. And to know they're going to have a second life is just really amazing

So what people don't realize right now is this is a whole new stage adaptation

It's loosely based on the movie, right, with other stories added, and lots of new songs. Tell me about the structure of the show

Well, the show is really, you know, it's the story that you know from the movie

but there are new characters added. Aladdin has three friends that were originally cut from the movie that we put back

and they're hilarious. And the other thing that is really taking the show to a new level is Casey Nicola

He, when you see friend like me, the show just stops, because people just yell and scream and go crazy for it

It is a tour to force, and it's got every single different, you know

there are a million different gags. There are so many wonderful moments

There might be some tap dancing. So it's really just stunning what he's done to the show

I have to ask because we get asked this all the time. We get asked about the carpet

How does it work? What does it look like? So I'm going to throw it to you, lady. Can you explain it

Can you give them a little bit or what? What can you tell us about the amazing magic carpet here in our show

You know, you have to come see it to see what it really looks like

And Adam, when Adam and I were talking about it, he mentioned that, you know, people that have seen it

because we're up there so we know what it feels like, but we don't know what it looks like

So we have to rely on other people to tell us what it looks like and everybody thinks that it looks so beautiful

And it's really a moment that we have together. And I think because it's such a big moment in the show

I think it does exactly what it's supposed to. But Casey does some other things around us that I don't really see

But when I saw it in the rehearsal room for the first time, I got really emotional

It was kind of embarrassing. It was spectacular. It was so beautiful

I could barely sing the song. It was tough. Well, people don't know yet about a whole new world is it's not just about the magic art

but it really is about them making a connection, you know, them falling in love

And so, I mean, what Casey has done is really make it amazingly theatrical

What exactly is, you know, your connection with it? What was it like the first time you saw it

What was it in the kid? Well, you know, I wore that movie out, probably like all of us did

Aladdin was definitely my favorite character, my favorite Disney character growing up

He was the coolest character. I really loved just, I wanted to be like him

I remember, I think, going around grammar school and jumping off of benches

and pretending I was running away from Razul and the guards. And just, you know, I loved that movie

And I thought, I can't believe that I'm getting to play that role now

It's just an amazing, fantastic dream come true. Welcome back to Broie to both of you

And you're a dad now. How do you feel? I couldn't be happier. I feel like everything is just sort of coming together for me right now

with the two boys being born three weeks ago. And then we're going to be opening the show soon

Everything's the stars are aligned. It's amazing. It's amazing. I can't. Well, the stars are aligned for both of you. It must be so exciting to play Disney characters, a Disney prince and a Disney princess. I know. It's so exciting. I'm not just playing it like Orlando just like dressed up in the costume. I'm actually playing it and I get to sing all the iconic songs. It's really, really exciting

So growing up watching me sing did you ever think my gosh this is one of my dreams to come to Broadway and play a Disney princess Oh of course But it was at the top I mean it was the top I mean it was the the type of thing that I thought would never in a million years happen and it actually happening and it feels totally unreal

Yeah, it's so exciting. You sing these songs? I know. I mean, a whole new world. Who doesn't know that

song? Everyone knows that song and I get to sing it, no pressure. So you obviously remember the first time

you sang it in the rehearsal room like in front of Alan Mencken. What was that like? Oh my

gosh, that's, I mean, it's really scary, but you have to, you have to put aside that, you know

the living legend of Alan Mankin is sitting right there, you know, like two feet away from you

judging you, and I'm just kidding, he's not. But it, it's scary, but, you know, when you're in

the moment, and thank goodness I have an amazing co-star that supports me through all of it, so I'm

not an emotional mess always. But it's scary, but it's exciting, because, you know, he loves it

and he loves the show, and it's his baby, and, you know, seeing it. brought to life, we love

making him happy. You're playing Aladdin. I am. How exciting is that

It's fantastic. I never thought that this would happen. It's always a character that I loved

watching the movie growing up. And, you know, I think just being here with Courtney

and with this group of people putting the show together, it's such an amazing cast

It really is. I think it's the best cast I've ever worked with. They create such a positive atmosphere to try things out. Casey especially as a director

he likes to try new things and he'll be the first one to say, oh, that was horrible

But then, you know, we get to find the best things that work for the show and the storytelling

of the show. So I'm still sort of reeling that this is all happening. Yeah

Talk about the beautiful songs you get to sing. Yes. My favorite song that I get to sing is proud of

your boy definitely in the show. It's such a heart pulling at your heartstrings type of song and

I'm singing to my mother who's passed away basically saying I'm going to fulfill that promise that I made to

to become the person that I know that I can be and you know he's struggling. He wants to become a better person but he's

he's just having problems and his friends call him out on it you know and so I get to sing this song and it's sort of

his motivation. It really brings him through the rest of the whole the whole show. I think the audience gets to see, okay, that's, that's Aladdin at his core

That's who he is. And then he ends up lying the whole show. And then hopefully, you know, and at the end, he discovers his true self

And that's the beauty of it. Audiences have already fallen in love with the show

What has it been like playing this in front of an audience and listening to that reaction? I think the audiences are thrilled, especially when they see the magic carpet

You get that audible gasp when the set pulls away and the carpet is revealed

And then you can hear them clapping along and during the overture and during the intermission and the entre act

And so I think audiences will get what they expect from the movie, but then there's so much more added to it that was either cut from the film or even new songs for the show

They're going to be pleasantly surprised at how much more depth there is. It's not just a cartoon

It's a full musical comedy that's brought to life on stage. My final question is, what are you looking forward to the most with bringing a lad

to Broadway. Oh gosh. I think just hearing the audience, hearing them applaud for friend like me

just how excited they are, how excited you see the kids' looks on their face and all of it. It's

really great to feel the audience. When I played Cinderella on the national tour

there were a lot of girls dressed up as Cinderella coming to see the show. So now, as Aladdin

I'm hoping there's some young little boys coming up dressed as Aladdin and coming to the stage door