A whole new world for Aladdin!
I found some nice youtube clips of the Aladdin musical. After watching those clips and reading interviews, I'm quite excited as only a Menken fanboy can be. The team made the interesting decision to take out Abu and carpet and replace parrot!Iago with human!Iago and also added Aladdin's three human friends and apparently his mom (whether alive or just referenced, I don't know yet, but "Proud of Your Boy" will be sung in the show, so whoo!). For those of you who don't know, this means the team essentially uses the Aladdin film version stuff but also adds in stuff from Howard Ashman's earlier, ragtime-ish draft which was significantly different from the final product. This is a bold move, but I think it'll work on stage and give a fresh spin for the story. The music's likewise taken a more vaudevillean road, but whether that works or not remains to be seen. It could be hit or miss, really, but I keep my fingers crossed.
James Iglehart's monologue. The guy playing the Genie is hilarious. Gotta love that monologue with a hilarious sense of timing. If you're not laughing after this vid, you have no heart. Oh, and if you watch his other vids, you'll see how big a fan of Disney; he's such a jolly fellow, really, and really passionate too. Truly, I can say now that he'll be a riot on stage. Overall I think the whole cast has been exceptionally cheerful and friendly (heck, even flirty!) during interviews; they really have that camaraderie thing done well. ^^
Call Me a Princess. I never couldn't have dreamt for this song to appear in the musical, but thankfully the team found a clever way to incorporate it. The song always made me lol, so it's nice to see Jasmine's (faked) spoiled princess routine even if just for a bit. Also, those tits. Whoa.
Babkak, Omar, Aladdin, Kassim. Omigosh! One of my favourite cut songs from Aladdin makes a return. Al and his friends are a sort of urchin barbershop singing group, and they sing this wonderful ragtime-ish tune which is very catchy. I can't wait for someone to leak "High Adventure" on Youtube eventually because that's a great song for this quartet too. This song has such great energy and humour; just watch the guys' interaction.
A Whole New World. A lovely duet version of the classic tune sung by the actors of Al and Jas. I can't wait to hear the show's actual version which is apparently quite different from both the film and demo versions (insisted by Menken himself, even!).
Why Me?. Fanboy squee! Jonathan frickin' Freeman reprising his Jafar role and performing this delicious villain song. So glad to see they found a place for it in the musical (it was originally meant to be played during the Prince Ali (Reprise) bit in the film before it was cut). It's neat that Iago gets to sing too. Honestly, Freeman is having such a great time playing Jafar that it's so awesome to watch them. The "thank you, Iago" impromptu bit cracks me up (even though it's not part of the song). The somewhat tweaked lyrics work as well as the original lyrics did.
A Million Miles Away. It's a pretty new song which kinda underlines the growing bond between Al and Jas. However, it hasn't grown on me yet but I guess I'll need to hear the full version before I can pass judgement. So far it's only so good it's merely average. However, it definitely has the Menken trademark sound, so I won't be dissing it. Perhaps it'll grow on me.
Here's the supposed song list (looks legit to me, although I'll really sad if they've dropped the gorgeous "To Be Free" because it would've worked great for a meaningful duet for Genie and Jasmine who both yearn for freedom). I sincerely hope "To Be Free" will be added for later showings because it's such a lovely tune.
Overall the list looks neat. Can't wait to hear "Finale Ultimo" because such tracks always kick ass in Disney musicals. I'm also interested in "Somebody's Got Your Back", too:
ACT 1
Overture
Arabian Nights
Babkak, Omar, Aladdin, Kassim
One Jump Ahead
One Jump Ahead (Reprise)
Proud of Your Boy
Arabian Nights (Reprise 1)
Call Me A Princess
Call Me A Princess (Reprise)
Why Me
A Million Miles Away
Arabian Nights (Reprise 2)
Friend Like Me
Arabian Nights (Reprise 3)
Act 1 Finale*
*A bit of "Friend Like Me" when Aladdin is transformed into a prince, then a reprise of "Proud of Your Boy".
ACT 2
Prince Ali
A Whole New World
High Adventure
Somebody's Got Your Back
Wedding Day Suite*
Finale Ultimo**
*A bit of everything really. This is where a few reprises of "Prince Ali" came in sung by Jafar like in the movie, but extended. And Jonathan Freeman was totally manic while singing, he was awesome.
**A bit of "Somebody's Got Your Back", "Arabian Nights", "A Whole New World" from what I remember.
Gotta write more later, but this'll be it for now. Enjoy.
Yours,
Mikko
James Iglehart's monologue. The guy playing the Genie is hilarious. Gotta love that monologue with a hilarious sense of timing. If you're not laughing after this vid, you have no heart. Oh, and if you watch his other vids, you'll see how big a fan of Disney; he's such a jolly fellow, really, and really passionate too. Truly, I can say now that he'll be a riot on stage. Overall I think the whole cast has been exceptionally cheerful and friendly (heck, even flirty!) during interviews; they really have that camaraderie thing done well. ^^
Call Me a Princess. I never couldn't have dreamt for this song to appear in the musical, but thankfully the team found a clever way to incorporate it. The song always made me lol, so it's nice to see Jasmine's (faked) spoiled princess routine even if just for a bit. Also, those tits. Whoa.
Babkak, Omar, Aladdin, Kassim. Omigosh! One of my favourite cut songs from Aladdin makes a return. Al and his friends are a sort of urchin barbershop singing group, and they sing this wonderful ragtime-ish tune which is very catchy. I can't wait for someone to leak "High Adventure" on Youtube eventually because that's a great song for this quartet too. This song has such great energy and humour; just watch the guys' interaction.
A Whole New World. A lovely duet version of the classic tune sung by the actors of Al and Jas. I can't wait to hear the show's actual version which is apparently quite different from both the film and demo versions (insisted by Menken himself, even!).
Why Me?. Fanboy squee! Jonathan frickin' Freeman reprising his Jafar role and performing this delicious villain song. So glad to see they found a place for it in the musical (it was originally meant to be played during the Prince Ali (Reprise) bit in the film before it was cut). It's neat that Iago gets to sing too. Honestly, Freeman is having such a great time playing Jafar that it's so awesome to watch them. The "thank you, Iago" impromptu bit cracks me up (even though it's not part of the song). The somewhat tweaked lyrics work as well as the original lyrics did.
A Million Miles Away. It's a pretty new song which kinda underlines the growing bond between Al and Jas. However, it hasn't grown on me yet but I guess I'll need to hear the full version before I can pass judgement. So far it's only so good it's merely average. However, it definitely has the Menken trademark sound, so I won't be dissing it. Perhaps it'll grow on me.
Here's the supposed song list (looks legit to me, although I'll really sad if they've dropped the gorgeous "To Be Free" because it would've worked great for a meaningful duet for Genie and Jasmine who both yearn for freedom). I sincerely hope "To Be Free" will be added for later showings because it's such a lovely tune.
Overall the list looks neat. Can't wait to hear "Finale Ultimo" because such tracks always kick ass in Disney musicals. I'm also interested in "Somebody's Got Your Back", too:
ACT 1
Overture
Arabian Nights
Babkak, Omar, Aladdin, Kassim
One Jump Ahead
One Jump Ahead (Reprise)
Proud of Your Boy
Arabian Nights (Reprise 1)
Call Me A Princess
Call Me A Princess (Reprise)
Why Me
A Million Miles Away
Arabian Nights (Reprise 2)
Friend Like Me
Arabian Nights (Reprise 3)
Act 1 Finale*
*A bit of "Friend Like Me" when Aladdin is transformed into a prince, then a reprise of "Proud of Your Boy".
ACT 2
Prince Ali
A Whole New World
High Adventure
Somebody's Got Your Back
Wedding Day Suite*
Finale Ultimo**
*A bit of everything really. This is where a few reprises of "Prince Ali" came in sung by Jafar like in the movie, but extended. And Jonathan Freeman was totally manic while singing, he was awesome.
**A bit of "Somebody's Got Your Back", "Arabian Nights", "A Whole New World" from what I remember.
Gotta write more later, but this'll be it for now. Enjoy.
Yours,
Mikko