Jonathan Weir News

Disney's Aladdin, the hit Broadway musical, will welcome new stars to both the Broadway and North American tour casts.

Writers Theatre, under the leadership of Artistic Director Michael Halberstam and Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma, opens its 2019/20 Season with Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's musical masterpiece Into the Woods, directed by Gary Griffin. 

Some questionable casting choices and a book by Chad Beguelin that's filled with a little too many eyeroll worthy anachronistic jokes, aside, the touring production has a few elements that make a trip to the Kennedy Center worth it.

ALADDIN is a vibrant kaleidoscope of extravagant costumes, choreography, and vocal performances. An entertaining musical comedy jam-packed with a cast of over 30 members, there is always something to marvel at throughout the show for children and adults alike. It's glitz, dynamic, and sure to entertain. Directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw with orchestrations by Danny Troob, this show packs an impressive punch when it comes to presentational musical numbers.

For this BroadwayWorld interview, I got the chance to talk to Jonathan Weir, who plays Jafar in ALADDIN. Weir talks about his role, the show, and his longtime relationship with Disney.

It's not a surprise that DFW is proud of their boys! Dallas is in for a pleasant surprise as ALADDIN makes dreams come true at Dallas Summer Musicals. ALADDIN is now onstage at the Music Hall at Fair Park from June 6 through June 23.

Writers Theatre Artistic Director Michael Halberstam and Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma announce initial casting for the company's previously announced 2019/20 season.

According to Genie, 'Agrabah has more glitz and glamour than any other fictional city in the world.' He's not lying. Aladdin is a veritable dreamscape of color, light, and shimmering costumes. The animated movie has been brought to life on the stage by six-time Tony-winning lighting designer Natasha Katz and two-time Tony-winning costume designer Gregg Barnes. Familiar songs from Tony and Grammy-award winners Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, Tim Rice, and Chad Beguelin feed the nostalgia from the highest grossing film of 1992 while adding new material to complement the transition to a live audience.

Disney's 'Aladdin' is currently flying around America, entertaining audiences nationwide with the Agrabah glitz and glamour. What are critics in the various cities saying about the tour? Check out their reviews from tour stops like Tempe, Salt Lake City, San Diego and more below!

The national tour of Disney's ALADDIN has arrived in Salt Lake City in all its splendor with an ode to old-school Broadway.

As it approaches its 2nd anniversary, the North American tour of Disney's Aladdin is pleased to announce that five new principal cast members will join the company starting on April 25 in Salt Lake City, where the hit Broadway musical will play a limited three-week engagement at The Eccles Theatre through May 12.

As it approaches its 2nd anniversary, the North American tour of Disney's Aladdin has announced that five new principal cast members will join the company starting on April 25 in Salt Lake City, where the hit Broadway musical will play a limited three-week engagement at The Eccles Theatre through May 12.

Remarkably glitzy and broadly amusing, the delightful stage version of Disney's ALADDIN is a fun, lively, and entertaining repackaging of the originally fun, lively, and entertaining animated film classic, which will please both fans of the original and those in the mood for a great big dazzling (and bedazzled) Broadway musical. While this Casey Nicholaw-helmed big-budget extravaganza of dazzling sights and sounds is quite a faithful adaptation in terms of storyline and tone, the stage version abandons the impossible things it couldn't remotely replicate from the animated movie, but instead smartly utilizes the limitations of---and the unique qualities of---musical theater to produce a show that is, astonishingly, still an overall satisfying sensory treat. The show's national tour continues its three-week engagement at OC's Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, CA through March 23, 2019.

Casting has been announced for the Portland engagement of Disney's Aladdin.  The hit Broadway musical will begin performances at Keller Auditorium on Wednesday, March 27 for a limited engagement through Sunday, April 7. The press opening night is Thursday, March 28 at 7:30 pm. 

Aladdin wants to change his life and he gets the opportunity when he befriends a Genie. Will three wishes be enough to help him win the heart of Princess Jasmine?

ALADDIN is completely satisfying as a theater experience because it has it all: great music, extravagant sets and lighting, gorgeous costumes, enchanting choreography, solid actors, and humor.

Casting has been announced for the Detroit engagement of Disney's Aladdin. The hit Broadway musical will begin performances at the Detroit Opera House on December 12, 2018 for a limited engagement through January 13, 2019.

Michael James Scott must have known he had some enormous golden slippers to fill when he took over the role of the Genie in the national touring version of DISNEY'S ALADDIN, which will be in Columbus from Oct. 24 to Nov. 4. Not only will Scott be judged against the performance of the late Robin Williams, who masterfully played Genie in the movies, ALADDIN (1992) and ALADDIN AND THE KING OF THIEVES (1996), but he also had to emerge from the big blue shadows of James Monroe Iglehart who won a Tony Award for best performance by a featured actor in the Broadway musical in 2014.

As many theatre fans know, Disney isn't short of staged adaptions based on their beloved family films. Starting in the 90s with Beauty and the Beast, Disney has gone on to produce shows such as The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Tarzan, Mary Poppins, Frozen, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Freaky Friday (the later two sadly never made the leap to Broadway), with shows such as The Jungle Book, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and Hercules currently in development. In 2014 Disney mounted it's Arabian fairy tale Aladdin on Broadway. Now, 4 short years later, Aladdin has embarked on its first national tour, making a two week stop here in Louisville.

After the disappointment of canceling Waitress following the June 13 fire at the Kentucky Center, Broadway in Louisville kicks off the current season in spectacular style. The 2014 Broadway production of Disney's Aladdin flew into Louisville this week for an extended run.