A Whole New World!

I am really excited about telling you about this one!! I met up with a couple of mates in London yesterday, to catch the stage version of one of the best-loved animated films of all time: Aladdin, based on the 1992 Disney film, one that really kicked off what's known as the Disney-renaissance, with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman, Tim Rice and Chad Beguelin.

Having (about time too) made it to the stage in 2014 in New York, the show has been running ever since, and won a Tony for James Monroe Iglehart's high-energy Genie. Transferring to the Prince Edward last year (after Miss Saigon packed up to prepare for its Broadway run that is), the show was Olivier nominated for its set design, but didn't end up winning (as I said in my Play That Goes Wrong review, I seem to have a habit of going for those poor unfortunate shows (to almost quote another well known Disney-renaissance film) after seeing Half A Sixpence a short time ago).

The first thing I have to mention is that the creative team has worked very hard to ensure that "the fabe city of Agrabah" looks incredible. In fact, whether that be set, costumes or lighting, the colours pop out at you more than a set of traffic lights. Even when black (in the case of Jafar) and white (in the case of "Prince Ali"'s outfit) are used, they pop right out at you in all that colour and aren't muted in any way - which is exactly how this story show be.

Meeting Matthew Croke aka Aladdin

Interestingly enough, this was during the first week since the cast change, and while this mainly affected the smaller parts (such as the over-the-top Iago and Aladdin's 3 buddies), there was one big fat change, and that was the title character himself. Stepping into the pants and fez combo was Matthew Croke and honestly, I think he was Aladdin. Gorgeous voice (ps: please Cam Mac let him play Marius after his contract is up), he had a heart of gold, and, I'm not going to lie, not too bad in the looks department either... ;) The biggest change I found was that I thought his flirting with Jasmine (played by Jade Ewan, who while trying her best struggled a bit for me, certainly vocally and came out a bit flat) was a little bit more over-the-top than I was expecting; but he and Ewan did have a good chemistry on stage; so I'm not going to think into it too much.

As the villainous Jafar, Don Gallagher was extremely over-the-top, verging on pantomime villain status, especially with all the evil laughs, but nobody exactly minded. I also really enjoyed Miles Barrow, Leon Craig and Daniel de Bourg as Aladdin's chums Omar, Babkak and Kassim (unfortunately, Abu does not appear in this version, though it was how Menken and Ashman had originally wanted) brought a lot of fun to the piece, especially during High Adventure.

Now before you're thinking, "wait a min, what about Genie?", do not worry, I have not indeed left him out! How can I? Let's say I have saved the best till last. As James Monroe Iglehart's original understudy coming from the Broadway production, Trevor Dion Nicholas has SO MUCH ENERGY! From his first appearance in Arabian Nights, to Friend Like Me, when my jaw was constantly on the floor as it is just NON-STOP, to his finale in an Hawaiian shirt, he is just mesmerizing and a complete bundle of joy, 4 wall jokes and all.

I have already mentioned that Friend Like Me was just simply insane (had to have a strong Pimms during the interval), and it is the big number such as this where the show truly shined, such as ) in Babkak, Omar, Aladdin, Kassim and Prince Ali, with the big fun numbers. And this is exactly what you would expect from Aladdin, it's BIG and a whole lot of fun. The new songs hold up better than you would expect against the big numbers like A Whole New World (I forgot to mention, that moment is truly magical - I have no idea how they have go their carpet to fly), and it is a very safe bet for any trip to the West End, especially if you have any young'uns (or young at heart for that matter).

All I have left to say is that it was lovely to see Disney on stage again - the last time was The Lion King, around 10 years ago - which was also my very first West End show. If you are a Disney fan, this is a MUST SEE!