Aladdin starts previews Wednesday night. It looks like the show is pretty much close to sold out for all previews. Who here will be at the first preview?
"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
ill be at the dress rehearsal tomorrow night, report to follow although preliminary info indicates they have really overhauled the show since toronto including cutting out a number or two (including Jasmines "diva" number).
Texted a friend in the cast and asked how he/the show is doing and he did say there have been changes and the creative team has basically warned them "changes will continue to happen throughout previews if need be".
There were huge changes from Chicago to NY, and then critical changes during NY previews. Lots of work on the book, song swaps and elimination of some scenery (the famous golden staircase to Heaven)
" The opening Arabian Nights is stunning and "Friend Like Me" garnered an eruptive standing ovation that James Monroe Inglehart (who is on track for a Tony here)"
I agree with tobias on these points especially James being a Tony frontrunner now (seriously he caries this thing the whole way on his back) but thats about it, this show isnt tarzan or mermaid bad but no way does it have anything close to a run like Beauty of even Mary Poppins, while it has its moments the book and some creative choices absolutely stop this from being a home run.
Let get down to the two biggest problems, the friends and the ending.
The three friends whose names I ironically cant remember even though they repeated them over and over just screw up everything, every other joke from them dropped like a stone, and while initially clever their 2nd act number just goes on and on and on, at i certain point i began to think....why are these guys on stage longer than Aladdin is?
The Ending i guess i will just say this, it just ends, where as the movie has the iconic snake and hourglass, the show literally ends with aladdin mentally outsmarting Jafar, there's no dramatic tension and its just like, we sat through 2 hr 40 minute for that...really?
Also one other side note while at first cute, they fact they kept reminding us there was no Raja or Abu started to get more and more annoying, why do you keep reminding me of the beloved characters you removed.
of the other positives, the first 2/3rd of Whole New World, someone explain to me why they go into outer space at the end? The guy playing Iago was surprisingly good and almost stole the show, some scenic & costume designs and the choreography is sure to get nominated, plus I can confirmed that Jasmines diva song has been replaces with a more sympathetic song, i believe its called Behind The Palace Walls.
I think they have the chance to tighten this up, but the reviews are gonna punch a hole in this one somewhat, and the word of mouth will eventually catch up to it.
Well they kept the three friends and the ending is still anticlimactic... Yup they sure were serious about those changes they were going to implement. How in god's name the three friends made it past the workshops are beyond me.
"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "
I loved the friends, personally. I think they add a comedic dynamic that hit almost every note when I saw the Toronto previews. Although I wonder how much removing them as narrators has affected their presence in the show.
I think the climax could be improved with just relatively small tweaks, mainly having to do with the rest of the cast's reaction to Jafar. When I saw the show they just kind of... stood there without much of a reaction and, as an audience member, it killed any sort of tension the climax had.
It really needed something to slow it down and build tension. Maybe something like adding dialogue that forces the wedding party to bow before Jafar or having the Sultan's guards switch sides in a more obvious way, showing that Jafar really *is* the Sultan and that this has dire consequences; or giving "sorcerer" Jafar some magic to work with--maybe have sorcerer Jafar unmask Aladdin with 'magic' aka costume work similar to Jafar's costume changes, then the reprise? etc.
"Yup they sure were serious about those changes they were going to implement."
Ehh, considering that they have made some significant changes to the show from the first Toronto previews until now, I don't think it's fair to say they weren't serious about implementing changes. They might not be the changes some people wanted or expected, but I think it's clear they are willing to actually work on the show.