Disney’s New Musical Aladdin for 2014 Season

Aladdin the Musical coming to the New Amsterdam theatre previews from Feb 26 2014 opening night Mar 20 2014.

Aladdin is a musical based on the 1992 Disney animated film of the same name with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman, Tim Rice and Chad Beguelin, who also wrote the book. Aladdin premiered at the 5th Avenue Theatre, Seattle July 2001, Other productions of the musical played at the Tuacahn Amphitheatre in Ivins from June–October 2012 and the Muny Theatre in St. Louis from July 5–13, 2012. Aladdin is a street-urchin who lives in a large and busy town long ago . When Princess Jasmine gets tired of being forced to remain in the palace that overlooks the city, she sneaks out to the marketplace, where she accidentally meets Aladdin. Under the orders of the evil Jafar (the sultan’s advisor), Aladdin is thrown in jail and becomes caught up in Jafar’s plot to rule the land with the aid of a mysterious lamp. Legend has it that only a person who is a “diamond in the rough” can retrieve the lamp from the Cave of Wonders.

Director and Choreographer Casey Nicholaw

 

Music and Lyrics

 

Alan Menken – Music

(b July 22, 1949) is a musical theatre and film composer and pianist.

Menken is best known for his scores for films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. His scores for The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Pocahontas have each won him two Academy Awards. He also composed the scores for The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Home on the Range, The Shaggy Dog, Enchanted, and most recently, Tangled. Menken has collaborated on several occasions with lyricists including Howard Ashman, Tim Rice, Glenn Slater and Stephen Schwartz. With eight Academy Award wins (four each for Best Original Score and Best Original Song), Menken is the second most prolific Oscar winner in a music category after Alfred Newman, who has nine Oscars.

Howard Ashman – Lyrics

Howard Elliott Ashman (May 17, 1950 – March 14, 1991) was an American playwright and lyricist. He collaborated with Alan Menken on several films, notably animated features for Disney, Ashman writing the lyrics and Menken composing the music. Best known as a pivotal creative mind behind The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast (which is dedicated to “Our friend, Howard Ashman, who gave a Mermaid her voice and a Beast his soul…”) Ashman’s first love was theatre. Ashman was a founder of Off-Off-Broadway’s renowned WPA Theater, where he conceived, wrote and directed God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, as well as the classic musical, Little Shop of Horrors (both music by Alan Menken). Ashman and Menken’s original songs for Aladdin, some of which were cut in the making of the film – as well as portions of Ashman’s original film treatment – have been reinstated in the theatrical production. Howard Ashman died in 1991 from complications of AIDS.

Tim Rice – Lyrics

(b 10 November 1944) is a British lyricist and author. An Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award-winning lyricist, Rice is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, and additional songs for the 2011 West End revival of The Wizard of Oz, and for his work for Walt Disney Studios with Alan Menken (Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, King David), Elton John (The Lion King, Aida) and Ennio Morricone.

Chad Beguelin – Book, Additional Lyrics

(b September 24, 1969) is an American playwright who wrote the lyrics and co-book for the Broadway musical The Wedding Singer. He was nominated for two Tony Awards for his work on the musical, as well as a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics. He also wrote the lyrics for the Broadway musical Elf the Musical.As a screenwriter, Beguelin sold a script to Grammnet Productions and also worked as a staff writer for Disney’s live action film department in California.

 

 

Cast

 

Adam Jacobs

(Aladdin)

has had his wish granted to be playing Aladdin! Broadway: Les Miserables (Marius), The Lion King (Simba). National Tours: Mamma Mia! (Sky), Cinderella (Prince), Les Miserables (Marius), The Lion King (Simba). Favorite regional: Zorro (Zorro) at Alliance Theater (Suzi nomination); Once On This Island (Daniel) at Paper Mill Playhouse; Harvey Milk (Young Harvey) at San Francisco Opera.

Jonathan Freeman

(Jafar)

Mary Poppins; The Little Mermaid; Beauty And The Beast; The Producers; 42nd Street; On The Town; How To Succeed…; She Loves Me (Tony® Nomination); Platinum; Sherlock Holmes; Finian’s Rainbow (Irish Rep.); A Class Act (MTC); Lil’ Abner and Of Thee I Sing (City Center Encores); Sail Away and The Mikado (Carnegie Hall). TV/film: Too Big To Fail, “Law And Order,” “Gossip Girl,” “Shining Time Station,” “Remember WENN,” The Ice Storm. Jonathan is the voice of Jafar in Disney’s animated feature Aladdin.

James Monroe Iglehart

(Genie)

originated the role of Bobby in the Tony® Award-winning musical Memphis. He was featured on stage and screen in such shows as The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Broadway), The Wiz (Off-Broadway), “The Good Wife” and “The Electric Company” (Silent E Soloist). James is also a member of the hip hop improv group Freestyle Love Supreme..

Courtney Reed

(Jasmine)

was last seen on stage playing Andrea in Once on this Island at Paper Mill Playhouse, directed by Thomas Kail. Broadway: In the Heights (Carla), Mamma Mia!. Television: “Law & Order: SVU,” “White Collar,” “NYC 22,” and “CSI: NY.” Proud graduate of the Theatre Conservatory of CCPA at Roosevelt University.

 

 

Playing at the New Amsterdam Theatre

Previews from Feb 26 2014 ….. Opening Night Mar 20 2014

 

New Amsterdam Theatre

214 West 42nd Street New York, NY 10036, United States ** Full Theatre Details Click Here

 

 

Additional Cast

Clifton Davis	The Sultan
Brian Gonzales	Babkak
Brandon O’Neill	Kassim
Don Darryl Rivera	Iago
Johnathan Schwartz	Omar
Merwin Foard	Standby Jafar/Sultan
Michael James Scott	Standby Genie/Babkak
Tia Altinay	Ensemble
Mike Cannon	Swing
Andrew Cao	Ensemble
Lauryn Ciardullo	Swing
Joshua Dela Cruz	Ensemble
Yurel Echezarreta	Ensemble
Daisy Hobbs	Ensemble
Donald Jones Jr.	Ensemble
Adam Kaokept	Ensemble
Nikki Long	Ensemble/Dance Captain
Stanley Martin	Ensemble
Brandt Martinez	Ensemble
Michael Mindlin	Swing/Dance Captain
Rhea Patterson	Ensemble
Bobby Pestka	Ensemble
Khori Michelle Petinaud	Ensemble
Ariel Reid	Ensemble
Nikki Long	Ensemble
Jennifer Rias	Swing
Trent Saunders	Ensemble
Jaz Sealey	Ensemble
Dennis Stowe	Ensemble
Marisha Wallace	Ensemble
Bud Weber	Ensemble

 

Creative Crew

 

Casey Nicholaw – Director and Choreographer

(b 1962) is a theatre director, choreographer and performer.

Currently represented on Broadway as co-director and choreographer of The Book of Mormon (2011 Tony®, Drama Desk & Outer Critics Circle Awards as co-director with Trey Parker receiving the same nominations for choreography). Other Broadway credits as director/choreographer: Elf: The Musical; The Drowsy Chaperone (2006 Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations); Monty Python’s Spamalot directed by Mike Nichols (2005 Tony, Drama Desk & Outer Critics Circle nominations for Best Choreography). Additional New York credits: for City Centre Encores! – highly acclaimed productions of Anyone Can Whistle and Follies (direction/choreography), Bye Bye Birdie (choreography) and Can-Can (musical staging); for N.Y. Philharmonic – Candide; South Pacific at Carnegie Hall (also on PBS Great Performances), Sinatra: His Voice, His World, His Way at Radio City Music Hall. He directed and choreographed the world premieres of Minsky’s at Centre Theatre Group and Robin and the 7 Hoods at the Old Globe.

Bob Crowley – Scenic Design

(b 1952 Cork, Ireland ) is a theatre designer (scenic and costume), and theatre director.

He has designed over 20 productions for the National Theatre including Ghetto, The Madness of George III, Carousel and The History Boys. He has also designed numerous productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company including The Plantagenets, for which he won an Olivier award, and Les Liaisons Dangereuses, which later had a successful run in London, followed by a transfer to Broadway. Opera productions include the critically acclaimed production of The Magic Flute directed by Nicholas Hytner for the English National Opera and La Traviata for the Royal Opera House.

He has received multiple Tony Award nominations, and has won six times, for designing the Broadway productions of Carousel (1994), Aida (2000), The History Boys (2006), Mary Poppins (2007), The Coast of Utopia (2007) and Once (2012). He is a recipient of the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Set Design and a three-time recipient of the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design. He is a frequent collaborator of Nicholas Hytner and as well as Broadway has worked extensively at the Royal National Theatre in London and with England’s Royal Shakespeare Company. Crowley designed set and costume for Mary Poppins, which played in both the West End and on Broadway. He designed and directed the Phil Collins musical Tarzan. He is the set and costume designer for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies, and the costume designer of the 2008/9 version of The Little Mermaid and Now Disney’s Aladdin.

Greg Barnes – Costume Design

Gregg Barnes is a costume designer for stage and film. Barnes is a two-time winner of the Tony Award for Best Costume Design for his work on the Broadway productions of The Drowsy Chaperone (2006) and Follies (2011). Broadway: Kinky Boots (2013 Tony® nomination), Elf, Legally Blonde (2007 Tony nomination), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Flower Drum Song (2002 Tony nomination), Side Show, Bye Bye Birdie. New York: The Wizard of Oz, Radio City Christmas Spectacular, The Merry Widow (NYC Opera), Pageant (NY and London – Olivier nomination), The Kathy and Mo Show. Regional: Aladdin, Robin and the 7 Hoods, Mame, Allegro (Helen Hayes Award). TDF Young Master Award.

Natasha Katz – Lighting Design

Natasha Katz is a lighting designer for the theatre, dance, and opera. She was educated at Oberlin College and did an internship with Roger Morgan. Her first job on Broadway was as lighting designer for the play Pack of Lies in 1985, and she has gone on to design the lighting for 48 Broadway plays and musicals, including the Disney musical The Little Mermaid (2008) and The Addams Family (2010). Her First Tony Award nomination was for Beauty and the Beast in 1994

Follies – Nominee 2012, Once – Winner 2012 , Twelfth Night – Nominee 1999, Aida – Winner 2000, Sweet Smell of Success: The Musical – Nominee 2002, Tarzan: The musical – Nominee 2006 all for the Tony Award for Best Lighting Design ,The Coast of Utopia – Winner (with Brian MacDevitt and Kenneth Posner) 2007 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design and Tony Award for Best Lighting Design of a Play.

Ken Travis – Sound Design

Broadway designs: Jekyll and Hyde, A Christmas Story the Musical, Scandalous, Newsies, Memphis, The Threepenny Opera, Barefoot in the Park, Steel Magnolias. Numerous New York and regional theatres and companies including: The Old Globe, The 5th Avenue Theatre, McCarter Theatre, Seattle Rep, La Jolla Playhouse, LA Center Theatre Group, Guthrie Theatre, KC Rep, Dallas Theatre Centre, Playwrights Horizons, The New Group, NYSF Public Theatre, CSC, Signature Theatre NYC, SoHo Rep, Vineyard Theatre, The Civilians, Mabou Mines, and national and international festivals and tours.

Michael Kosarin – Music Supervision, Incidental Music and Vocal Arrangements

More than 30 years on Broadway as music director, arranger, and conductor: Nine (1982), Grand Hotel, Mayor, The Secret Garden, King David, Triumph of Love, Beauty and the Beast, Little Shop of Horrors, The Little Mermaid, Sister Act, Leap of Faith, Newsies. Alan Menken’s music director for 20 years; films include Captain America, Tangled, Enchanted, Hercules, Home on the Range, Pocahontas. TV: Emmy Award, Outstanding Music Direction for “A Christmas Carol,” nomination for “The Music Man.” Concertized, arranged, recorded with Boston Pops, St. Lukes Orchestra, Carly Simon, Barbara Cook, Jane Krakowski. As composer: “Sesame Street,” “Wonder Pets.” Two Grammy® nominations.

Danny Troob – Orchestrations

(b February 28, 1949, Queens, New York) is an American arranger and orchestrator, best known for his close association as orchestrator to Alan Menken’s Broadway and movie musicals since his earliest works. In his fifth decade as a Broadway professional, Danny’s career has included composing, orchestrating, and conducting. Early credits: Pacific Overtures, The Baker’s Wife (dance music) and Big River (music supervision and orchestrations). He received Drama Desk Awards for Big River (1985) and Cinderella (2013). He orchestrated the animated features Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and Pocahontas; Newsies (the film and the Broadway show); The Pajama Game with Harry Connick, Jr.; Dr. Zhivago (in Australia); and The Little Mermaid (in Russia).

Glen Kelly – Dance Music Arrangements

is honoured to have worked with such icons as Mike Nichols, Stephen Sondheim, Mel Brooks, Woody Allen and Trey Parker. He recently won the New York Drama Desk Award for his score to The Nance. He was music supervisor and arranger for The Producers, Young Frankenstein and Death of a Salesman. He arranged music for A Christmas Story, The Book of Mormon, The Scottsboro Boys, The Drowsy Chaperone, Spamalot and Beauty and the Beast, among others. Also this season he’ll be supervising and arranging Bullets Over Broadway.

Howard Joines – Music Coordinator

A Night With Janis Joplin: Matilda; Cinderella; Scandalous; Chaplin; Ghost; How to Succeed; Promises, Promises; Bye Bye Birdie; Grease; Times They Are A-Changin’; Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Conductor/percussionist: Matilda, Billy Elliot, Scoundrels, Never Gonna Dance, Flower Drum Song, Full Monty, Superstar, Miss Saigon, Les Misérables, Singing in the Rain, King and I, Cleavage, Radio City. For Robin and Taylor.

Josh Marquette – Hair Design

Broadway/Off-Broadway/West End: First Date, Kinky Boots, The Book of Mormon, Elf, Dogfight, The Best Man, Look Back In Anger, The Drowsy Chaperone, Pig Farm, The… Trailer Park Musical, Altar Boyz, Mamma Mia!. West Coast: Aladdin, Robin & the 7 Hoods, Peep Show, Minsky’s, Vanities. Other N.Y.: Show Boat at Carnegie Hall; No, No, Nanette and Follies at City Centre’s Encores!; and numerous Juilliard productions. National tours: The Book of Mormon, The Drowsy Chaperone, Barbie Live!. Television: “30 Rock.”

Milagros Medina-Cerdeira – Makeup Design

Makeup design for The Rocky Horror Show and makeup design consultant for Sister Act. She has worked as a makeup artist on Broadway for more than 18 years, including Spider-man, Mary Poppins, The Lion King, Into the Woods, Bells are Ringing, Wild Party, Tango Argentino, Little Me, Wizard of Oz, The King and I and Kiss of the Spiderwoman, and has worked with esteemed Eartha Kitt and Diahann Carroll.

Jim Steinmeyer – Illusion Design

The New York Times calls him the “celebrated invisible man, designer and creative brain behind many of the great stage magicians.” His illusions were featured by Doug Henning, Siegfried and Roy, David Copperfield, Ricky Jay and many others. He has created the special illusions for Beauty and the Beast, Into the Woods, The Phantom of the Opera and Mary Poppins. He’s also the author of books on the history of magic.

Jeremy Chernick – Special Effects Design

specializes in making it snow, rain, burn, bleed and explode for the entertainment industry. Recent credits include: Broadway – Big Fish, Romeo & Juliet, Rocky The Musical; Off-Broadway and other – Mr. Burns… (Playwrights Horizons), Let the Right One In (National Theatre of Scotland & Royal Court Theatre, London), Parcifal (Metropolitan Opera). Jeremy served as special effects consultant for “America’s Got Talent” at Radio City Music Hall.

J. Allen Suddeth – Fight Direction

Aladdin is Allen’s 12th Broadway show, ranging from Newsies to Angels in America, to Gem of the Ocean, to Jekyll and Hyde. He has taught at Juilliard, Rutgers, Strasberg, and SUNY Purchase, is an author and works worldwide. He has logged more than 800 television shows and several hundred productions in regional theatre and Off-Broadway during a 35-year career. Allen holds the rank of Fight Master with the Society of American Fight Directors.

Scott Taylor – Associate Director

Broadway: On A Clear Day, A Little Night Music, Broadway Bound, Spamalot, Contact, Thou Shalt Not, Steel Pier, Victor/Victoria, Showboat, Crazy For You, Cats and Wind in the Willows. Films and TV: A Chorus Line, Centre Stage, PBS’s Great Performances of Crazy For You and Contact.

John MacInnis – Associate Choreographer

Choreography credits include: European productions of Disney’s The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. Associate choreographer: The Book of Mormon. Director/choreographer: Olympic Medals Ceremonies (2002 and 2010 Winter Games); The Radio City Christmas Spectacular, including first international production in Mexico City. Thanks to Mike and Cooper for their love and support.

Tara Rubin Casting -Casting

Upcoming Broadway: Bullets Over Broadway. Selected Broadway: Big Fish; A Time to Kill; The Heiress; One Man, Two Guvnors (U.S. casting); How to Succeed…; Promises, Promises; A Little Night Music; Billy Elliot; Shrek; Guys and Dolls; The Farnsworth Invention; Young Frankenstein; The Little Mermaid; Mary Poppins; Les Misérables; Spamalot; Jersey Boys; …Spelling Bee; The Producers; Mamma Mia!; Phantom of the Opera; Contact. Off-Broadway: Love, Loss, and What I Wore; Old Jews Telling Jokes. Regional: Yale Repertory

 

Aladdin the musical all associated graphics, logos, and/or other trademarks, trade names or copyrights are the property of the Disney and are used herein for factual descriptive purposes only.