Review: Disney’s Aladdin

There is much to admire in Disney’s Aladdin, not least a gloriously talented ensemble of singer-dancers cascading about the stage, belting out iconic songs, lovingly accompanied by a swinging orchestra. If – one of – the first priorities of any musical is to sound good, then consider that box well and truly ticked.

However, audiences aren’t paying £20+ a ticket for a concert, they are coming for a story. More specifically, they are coming for Disney’s vision of Aladdin, not a pantomime. What playwright Chad Beguelin offers is something pitched somewhere in between.

The core of the tale remains intact, with everyone’s favourite street urchin Aladdin (Gavin Adams), plucked from the backstreets and into a world of magic and intrigue. One fateful meeting with incognito Princess Jasmine (Desmonda Cathabel), followed by a run-in with villainous vizier Jafar (Adam Strong), and our boy is soon trapped in a cave of wonders with only a magic lamp for company.

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The eruption of Menken & Ashman’s ‘Friend Like Me’ which follows is worth the price of admission alone. Damien Winchester’s (who alternates the role with Yeukayi Ushe) Genie is joyful, an all-singing, all-dancing, larger-than-life force of nature. When on stage he steals it immediately, and there’s very little anyone else can do about it.

After a princely glow-up, Aladdin and his new pal are heading back for the palace, and seeking the hand of the resolutely unmarried Princess. Cue a majestic, all-guns blazing rendition of ‘Prince Ali’, and a lovely version of the Oscar-winning ‘A Whole New World’. That only leaves Jafar to deal with, plus the law against royalty marrying commoners: no problem.

“Damien Winchester’s…Genie is joyful, an all-singing, all-dancing, larger-than-life force of nature.”

Unfortunately, Jafar and his parrot sidekick Iago (Angelo Paragoso) – Paragoso has funny bones, even if he’s not a parrot – are mostly relegated to panto villains plotting in front of the curtain between scene changes. I am quite certain some audiences will boo when the black-attired Jafar, channelling Lo-Pan from ‘Big Trouble in Little China’, steps on stage to cackle and plot. You know, like in panto?

Elsewhere Aladdin has swapped his monkey pal Apu for a comedy-act trio of friends, and the Princess has a coterie of attendants instead of a friendly tiger. Songs that were cut during the development of the animated movie are restored, the best of which is probably ‘Proud Of Your Boy’ – a soaring ‘I Am’ song establishing Aladdin as a noble orphan who just wants to make his dead mom proud. Elsewhere Beguelin contributes lyrics to four new Menken-penned tunes, which are fine, but forgettable.

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It’s an attempt, noble perhaps, to restore original lyricist Ashman’s vision of Aladdin before Disney studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg brought in new writers, and demanded multiple rewrites and edits. The result is an overlong first act, too many songs, and too little meaningful drama. The take-home message: a good editor is a force for good.

Adams, in his first professional role, hasn’t the experience to rescue this Aladdin from being an over-confident cookie-cutter hero. I suspect his counterpart, Desmonda Cathabel is an outstanding new stage talent, but whilst empowered compared to her animated counterpart, this Jasmine just exists to be sassy here and there. As for Strong’s Jafar, well as auditions for the festive season in Morecambe, it’s a blinder. That’s not his fault, it’s simply how the part has been written and directed.

“The result is an overlong first act, too many songs, and too little meaningful drama. The take-home message: a good editor is a force for good.”

Again, this show always sounds good, and Director/Choreographer Casey Nicholaw certainly knows how to stage a magnificent song and dance number amidst Bob Crowley’s bright, engaging set. Gregg Barnes’ costuming is suitably lavish, even if encasing Jafar in head-to-toe obsidian and plonking awkward helmets on the guards are curious choices.

In particular, the love and time invested in getting the genie right pays off in spades. Winchester is glorious in a role guarded against revision by Robin Williams’ immortal performance and sprinkled with stage magic by everyone involved.

It’s worth emphasising, one more time, just how superb the big song and dance numbers are. Not a single moment is knowingly undersold by an ensemble of outstanding performers. So far as raw talent and attention to choreographic detail go, I have no notes. Without question, Disney’s Aladdin is a pristine, gorgeous 5-star production, which does justice to some of the finest music to grace a Disney film.

That’s no mean feat.

However, never in the history of theatre has the absence of a semi-literate monkey, a talking parrot, and a friendly tiger so clearly indicated the lack of a good editor.

Featured Image: Yeukayi Ushe and the cast of Disney’s Aladdin – Credit – Deen Van Meer