ALADDIN Reviews

PlayItAgain
#75ALADDIN Reviews
Posted: 3/21/14 at 1:32am

Newsies will be gone by the end of next summer.

JohnyBroadway
#76ALADDIN Reviews
Posted: 3/21/14 at 1:49am

Hunchback does not seem like a suited show for the New Amsterdam due to it's different audience demographic. I imagine Frozen will be the next show. Of course that is 2-3 years down the line. I really do think Disney will pull a beauty or lion king with the development of The show. So it could be 2016/17 season at the earliest.

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bwayphreak234
#77ALADDIN Reviews
Posted: 3/21/14 at 2:02am

This thread is full of some ludicrous predictions.


"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "

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fingerlakessinger
#78ALADDIN Reviews
Posted: 3/21/14 at 2:07am

I agree.
FROZEN is far from production. NEWSIES I would say has another two years though if they can keep up strong numbers during the summer/holiday months.
HUNCHBACK will probably be the next show.


"Life in theater is give and take...but you need to be ready to give more then you take..."

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EricMontreal22
#79ALADDIN Reviews
Posted: 3/21/14 at 2:55am

Ugh I hate myself for even joining in this, but... I suspect Hunchback will depend a LOT on the SD/NJ production's reception. It's far less of a sure bet with audiences than Aladdin and Disney are surely going to be much more careful about what they do with it. (I hope...)

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Tag
#80ALADDIN Reviews
Posted: 3/21/14 at 3:07am

So we know that virtually nothing changed since the try-out in Toronto where the reviews were all negative. So how can the New York press have such a positive view???

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Keiichi2
#81ALADDIN Reviews
Posted: 3/21/14 at 3:34am

I picked to see this as the last show on my upcoming June trip, with the simple hope that it would be a fun little spectacle that would not require a lot of thought to watch, and deliver a few laughs. As long as it fills that need, and is better than Tarzan and Mermaid, I will be happy.

lambchop2
#82ALADDIN Reviews
Posted: 3/21/14 at 6:07am

"So we know that virtually nothing changed since the try-out in Toronto where the reviews were all negative. So how can the New York press have such a positive view???"

call me puzzled but...

Isn't removing Aladdin's friends as narrators entirely, semi-inserting Genie into a narrator role for the beginning/end of the show at least, creating new scenes to replace the Arabian Nights Reprises that were cut as well as the trio narrator dialogue, reworking the score for at least A Whole New World, partially reworking how AWNW is staged, partially restaging the finale and giving Jasmine an entirely new song more than "virtually nothing"?

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CarlosAlberto
#83ALADDIN Reviews
Posted: 3/21/14 at 7:52am

I'm laughing my @ss off reading this thread because some of you come off as being quite disappointed that this show managed to get some positive notices. Hilarious.

Updated On: 3/21/14 at 07:52 AM

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disneybroadwayfan22
#84ALADDIN Reviews
Posted: 3/21/14 at 8:03am

"-If Newsies gets bought by another company, Hunchback will replace Lion King. Most likely, Disney will try to get another theatre "

what the **** are you talking about?


Thus: Most likely, Disney will try to get another theater. No once can really say his/her opinion here without getting shunned, yelled at etc. Geeze

oasisjeff
#85ALADDIN Reviews
Posted: 3/21/14 at 8:07am

"This thread is full of some ludicrous predictions."

To be fair, it started expecting the show to be panned, so there's been little else in here. ALADDIN Reviews


Now t/d/b/a haterobics on here.

Liza's Headband
#86ALADDIN Reviews
Posted: 3/21/14 at 8:31am

I can't even with some of the "predictions" in this thread. NEWSIES lasting beyond five years? NEWSIES being "bought" by another company? FROZEN coming to Broadway in 2017?!

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jkstheatrescene
#87ALADDIN Reviews
Posted: 3/21/14 at 8:32am

Well, I loved it! A great time, a visual feast! My full review:

http://jkstheatrescene.blogspot.com/2014/03/review-aladdin.html

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Phantom of London
#88ALADDIN Reviews
Posted: 3/21/14 at 9:02am

It is preposterous to predict the demise of Th Lion King, so that Disney will want to close it, to make way for another show from the Disney stables, The Lion King is still the highest grossing show on Broadway and this doesn't include merchandise, which The Lion King shifts a ton of, be rest assured The Lion King will still be playing Broadway for at least 25 years.

With these reviews Aladdin will have a Aida length run, if not longer.

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adamgreer
#89ALADDIN Reviews
Posted: 3/21/14 at 9:06am

It sounds from the tone of the reviews that they didn't bastardize it like they did with Mermaid or Tarzan, but they didn't create anything particularly innovative or special like they did with The Lion King (or to a lesser extent, Beauty and the Beast).

TheatreKid3
#90ALADDIN Reviews
Posted: 3/21/14 at 11:11am

Yeah, the predictions are a little out of hand - but all in good fun.

I agree with adamgreer in that this will see an AIDA-length run, maybe slightly longer. But lets not talk about runs as soon as it opens, that will take its own course. Let's enjoy the moment. I'm sure there are many smiling faces at Disney Theatrical Group today. Congrats to all involved!

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darquegk
#91ALADDIN Reviews
Posted: 3/21/14 at 12:14pm

Lion King was a forward-looking, vaguely experimental piece of theatre. Beauty and the Beast was a near-perfect musical and completely of its time, reflecting the megamusical genre while also the mainstream classic theatre style.

Aladdin appears to be intentionally turning the clock back in terms of what the musical is and does. A fluff plot, star turns and intentionally one-dimensional characters that mainly exist to link huge musical numbers together sounds more in line with Anything Goes than even the film Aladdin.

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Scarywarhol
#92ALADDIN Reviews
Posted: 3/21/14 at 12:23pm

I am shocked by how kind these reviews are. If the show is anything like it was during the first week of previews, it is cheap, soulless, has none of the film's charm, and is kind of an insult to Howard Ashman. The worst book of a musical I've seen other than Spider-Man. I HOPE the show is better and we're not just dealing with ridiculously meager expectations. The bar is set really, really low for family entertainment on Broadway right now.

MNC77
#93ALADDIN Reviews
Posted: 3/21/14 at 1:53pm

I haven't seen the show yet, but from the reviews (and other people's fondness for comparing Aladdin to past Disney shows) I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Mary Poppins yet. I see Aladdin playing out most similarly to Mary Poppins. It received similar reviews, with some critics praising the technical elements and family appeal while others are less impressed and find it showy and without any revolutionary plot devices. Mary Poppins was nominated for Best Musical, two acting awards, choreography, light, costume, and scenic design, but only took home the win for scenic design. I see Aladdin getting similar nominations based on the reviews, though Aladdin could have a better chance at winning for choreography and featured actor. Mary Poppins ran for over six years on Broadway, and was finally taken down when a new project (Aladdin) needed a theater. With Aladdin receiving slightly better reviews I could see it lasting that long as well, unless a show like Hunchback or Frozen needs a theater, and Aladdin's box office is doing worse than Newsies.

JohnyBroadway
#94ALADDIN Reviews
Posted: 3/21/14 at 2:15pm

Why is it not possible that Frozen could open as early as 2017? Take for instance.

Beauty and the Beast- film release fall 1991. Broadway opening spring 1994

The Lion King- film release summer 1994. Broadway opening fall 1997

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CATSNYrevival
#95ALADDIN Reviews
Posted: 3/21/14 at 2:31pm

I don't think it's a perfect show and I do agree with the critics and opinions here that there are far too many terrible jokes, but from their own marketing it's clear that Disney set out to turn Aladdin into a comedy. There were comedic moments in the film (mostly when the genie was on screen) but here all the characters are gunning for a laugh, and that's fine with me if that's what they set out to do -- I just wish the cast had better material to work with. Aside from that though I do think Chad Beguelin did an admirable job of the task he was given which was to essentially write a jukebox musical since the cut Howard Ashman songs are remnants from a discarded concept and their usefulness to the plot no longer exists. He was tasked with finding moments to shoehorn these songs into the show the same way that a book writer for a jukebox musical must find ways to insert preexisting songs into a narrative that they were never intended for. I think he succeeded for the most part and I'm happily surprised with the reviews.

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jaxandmci
#96ALADDIN Reviews
Posted: 3/21/14 at 3:44pm

I'm really happy for these mostly good reviews. I thoroughly enjoyed it and think it's great to see another show on Broadway that families can attend together. They are few and far between, and of late have catered more to the girls (Annie, Cinderella). I'm glad for all the youngsters (both boys and girls) who will fall in love with musical theatre because of (or, as many posters here would say, in spite of) Aladdin!

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SweetLips
#97ALADDIN Reviews
Posted: 3/21/14 at 3:47pm

Reading everything with interest, from a long distance, the costumes, music, sets, plot[?] all seem acceptable to the majority.

I think for the longevity for this musical it will be the dynamic of constantly casting well known artists to breath new life into the show.It won't actually be Aladdin but more who is in it PLUS Aladdin.

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Up In One
#98ALADDIN Reviews
Posted: 3/22/14 at 8:15am

If they were able to drag a decent run out of the lumbering Mary Poppins with the mixed reviews it got Aladdin should run twice as long with the mixed reviews it got. Poppins was going for something artsy and bored most of the time and Aladdin took the low brow lowest common denominator approach and hit it's target most of the time. Something little boys as well as little girls can be taken to. Wonder how that question will go? "Honey, do you want to see Cinderella or Aladdin?"


Up In One

Simon Damon
#99ALADDIN Reviews
Posted: 3/22/14 at 8:22am

Since when was Disney supposed to be serious theater???