Aladdin.. no tour yet?

[SmokeyLady]

Posted: 8/20/15 at 4:21pm

This is one of those shows I always skip when I go to the city because I figure I will catch some tour.  Any news? 

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 8/20/15 at 7:33pm

I think it'll most likely be launched in the 2016-17 season just as Disney waited until the 2014-15 season to launch the Newsies tour.

[JoseLee_]

Posted: 8/20/15 at 8:39pm

I would love for James Monroe Iglehart to tour with the show. Wishful thinking. The show being a "Disney" show and being "Aladdin" will have no problem selling anyways. I am really looking forward for this future tour.

[tombomb31]

Posted: 8/20/15 at 8:56pm

How long do yall think James Monroe Iglehart will stick with the show? 

Updated On: 8/20/15 at 08:56 PM

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 8/20/15 at 9:25pm

The coolest part of the show is (spoiler) the genie spinning out of the stage floor so fast.  What could they possibly replace that with on a tour?  The genie running in from the wings?  Lame.  

[Clyde15]

Posted: 8/20/15 at 9:28pm

tombomb31 said: "How long do yall think James Monroe Iglehart will stick with the show? 

 

"

His current contract will end in February of 2016 but I wouldn't be suprised if he and the other leads extended again 

[Tag]

Posted: 8/20/15 at 10:50pm

^I wouldn't be surprised to see him in The Wiz.  Not sure if that would effect an Aladdin contract renewal.

Updated On: 8/20/15 at 10:50 PM

[ACL2006]

Posted: 8/20/15 at 10:54pm

yes, expect it to start touring in the Fall of 2016. Disney is opening a West End production first, then the US tour.

[haterobics]

Posted: 8/20/15 at 10:56pm

The US tour was delayed until all of the theaters could install metal detectors.

[A1st]

Posted: 8/20/15 at 11:09pm

I still wonder how well this show is going to tour, The carpet can be done but how will they substitute all of the trap doors? (Like the one the Genie uses to come out of the "lamp"

Updated On: 8/21/15 at 11:09 PM

[trpguyy]

Posted: 8/21/15 at 1:00am

A1st said: "I still wonder how well this show is going to tour, The carpet can be done but how will they substitute all of the trap doors? (Like the one the Genie uses to come out of the "lamp""

Assuming they put out a big tour a la the original Lion King, it's pretty easy - cut a hole in the theater's deck and install the elevator, just like they had to do in the New Amsterdam.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 8/21/15 at 1:10am

I don't see them spending the money to install a trap in every theatre. They don't do it for Pride Rock in the Lion King tour.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 8/21/15 at 1:21am

1. I love the idea present that because it's a Disney it could sell "anyways". Inglehart is a box office draw for MAYBE five people. Not a marquee name. Whatsoever.

2. I'd say the 16-17 season is accurate, Disney would also benefit from streamlining the show a tad without the pressure to tour it.

3. Re: trapdoors. Why would they need them? That is a very simple thing to redesign. I'd compare the potential to something akin to Mary Poppins. The tour / alternate version if the set was significantly different while maintaining the feel of the original. In fact, with the except of only one effect, I found the tour / alternate set more attractive, more creative, more fluid, and flat out more theatrical.

3. Re: Pride Rock. A singular trap door with revolve is a very different animal than the incredibly complex animal that it Pride Rock, which involves multiple trap doors and sun roofs, elevators and a multistory drum revolve. 

[nycgogetter]

Posted: 8/21/15 at 1:45am

Summer 2017 - starting in Chicago.

[Starship]

Posted: 8/21/15 at 1:47am

I do find it amusing when people think tours can just hack into the deck and add a lift at every tour stop. This just isn't so and there are only so many technical aspects a show can retain when they go on the road. Many shows have adjusted their shows for tours; Aladdin can do the same. Lion King, Wicked, Legally Blonde, Matilda, Mary Poppins, the list goes on and on. Each had complex technical elements that were modified or eliminated so that they show could go on tour.

[nycgogetter]

Posted: 8/21/15 at 1:56am

a producer could ask for specific changes to a theater for longer runs (many of the first stop of the first Phantom tour got major renovations to host the show).  It depends on how long each stop the first leg of the tour is, and if they can get the the theater owners behind it.  If not, I am sure Disney will get some other sort of Magic in it . . . I am wondering if they are going to interpolate the changes from the Tokyo production into the tour - apparently quite a bit of work was done on it there.

Updated On: 8/21/15 at 01:56 AM

[trpguyy]

Posted: 8/21/15 at 4:29am

Starship said: "I do find it amusing when people think tours can just hack into the deck and add a lift at every tour stop. "

Yes, SOME tours can do this, it isn't hard at all. They say "if you want our show this is what we're going to do (and you're going to pay for it)." That's why every A and B (and some C) cities in North America all have the same rigging points downstage of the proscenium - Phantom. And hacking into the deck would take 2 stagehands about a half hour to accomplish, and a 4-hour call to restore.

[trpguyy]

Posted: 8/21/15 at 4:40am

But I digress... 2016 is shaping up to be a big season for tours - Something Rotten, Finding Neverland, Hamilton x 2, American in Paris, Honeymoon in Vegas, Hedwig, Les Miz,,, I wouldn't be surprised if Aladdin waits til 2017.

[sbflyfan]

Posted: 8/21/15 at 9:00am

A very simple solution would be a set piece that would slide on stage with the Genie standing inside, which he would then spiral or rise out of on a lift. Similar to Mary Poppins coming out of the chimney.

Perhaps not as impressive as it would be if he spiraled out of the stage floor, but still an effective workaround.

There's no way they'd try to cut into the deck on each city of the tour.

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 8/21/15 at 11:24am

It took Newsies a couple years. We should get something in a year or two

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 8/21/15 at 12:21pm

Seems like there is a split decision on whether installing traps (or "hacking into the stage deck" is easy and possible for a tour to do or something that is cost and labor prohibitive to do.   Interesting.  

[trpguyy]

Posted: 8/21/15 at 12:48pm

It could be both. "Installing a trap" could be pretty time consuming and expensive, but the trap is already installed in the show deck. In this case, they would just need to cut a hole in the venue's deck, which requires a few people and a sawzall. It happens *all* the time for sit-downs, and it used to happen all the time for tours in the golden age ('90s). *If* Disney sends out Aladdin as a several-month sit, AND they really want to have the Genie revealed through the floor, it WILL happen.

[trpguyy]

Posted: 8/21/15 at 1:09pm

Let me put it another way... to this day, when The Lion King plays a house with continental seating, they have seats removed and aisles created for the elephant and whatever else happens in the aisles. When The Lion King played Louisville's KCFA for 4 weeks earlier this year, seats were removed and had to be restored afterwards - this process took several days and cost $30,000+. 

So please, tell me again that cutting a 4x4 hole in the stage is too time-consuming and expensive for a (Disney) tour.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 8/21/15 at 5:29pm

Does Disney pay for the seats to be removed or do they require the theatres to cover that cost themselves as part of their agreement to play that city?

[nycgogetter]

Posted: 8/21/15 at 6:23pm

Who pays for the seat removal?  It depends on the venue and the producer / presenter agreement . . . but I believe Disney pays for it and the restore.  Right now Lion King (from a friend who works at a road house) takes about a week to load in, and four days to load out.

 

Disney could put in a whole in the deck  - it would be part of the rider and venues and presenters would know that if they want to do this show, these would be done.  And if the theater does not allow it - either due to rules or the geography of their space, then Disney would need to come up with an alternate staging . . . or not have the show there.