A Whole New World: Disney's Aladdin Comes to Des Moines

James Monroe Iglehart, the original Broadway Genie, standing in front of the amazing Cave of Wonders set

Two of my favorite things in the world are Disney and theatre, so you can probably anticipate my excitement while sitting in the Des Moines Civic Center at Disney’s Aladdin, waiting for the performers to take the stage. I am very fortunate to have season passes to the Civic Center and to have the opportunity to see many wonderful shows, and this one exceeded my expectations.

In case you were unaware, Aladdin follows the story of Aladdin, a poor orphan boy who wishes to be rich and make his parents proud. Aladdin falls for Princess Jasmine, who longs for adventure outside the palace walls. There is also an evil wizard, Jafar, who seeks the magic lamp containing a powerful (and hilarious) Genie. I am going to give you my honest opinion of what I thought of the show. (warning: there may be some spoilers)

The first thing I want to address is a major difference between the animated film and the Broadway show. Although the Broadway musical closely follows the storyline of the original film, there are some significant differences. One of these differences is that Aladdin and Jasmine’s animal friends from the film, Abu and Rajah, were scrapped altogether. Aladdin’s monkey companion is replaced with 3 funny and quirky characters, Babkak, Omar, and Kassim that mostly serve as the show’s comic relief. They are onstage for a considerable amount of the show. Rajah is rarely replaced except for 3 handmaidens that attend to Jasmine, and are not on stage for very long.

The second thing I want to address about the show is the cast. The Genie was played by a standby. It makes me wonder if he was the standby, what was the original tour cast member like? What I’m trying to say, is that the Genie at the performance I went attended delivered quite well! When you play the Genie, you get to improv most of your lines. The Genie was hilarious and was an amazing singer, dancer, and actor. Aladdin was also fantastic. His voice sounded like the character from the original film. Although his singing was a little rough at times, it is understandable because he had been doing many, many shows back-to-back. Jasmine was phenomenal and was obviously made for Broadway. Her acting was not what you would expect from Princess Jasmine, but it was still uniquely awesome all the same. Jafar was scary and possibly could have even played his role in the original film!The rest of the cast was also, of course, extremely talented, both musically and acting wise.

The set design in the show was superb. Everything from the marketplace in Agrabah, to the palace was amazingly designed. The most impressive set design, however, was the Cave of

Wonders. Everything from the glowing eyes of the cave, to how it shone under the stage lights was stunning and very impressive.

The costumes were far from disappointing as well. It was obvious that each piece had been carefully designed and crafted down to the very last sequin. There were also several impressive quick costume changes.

Now to the one thing I didn’t like about the show, how it was paced. In the film, the part where Jafar gets the lamp, asks to become sultan, and is eventually defeated happened in a very short amount of time in the Broadway show. The characters that I addressed earlier, Babkak, Omar, and Kassim, engage in a song that lasts around 5 ½ minutes. In this song, they attempt to storm the palace to rescue Aladdin, who has been put in prison. They end up getting captured themselves, getting set free at the beginning of the next song, only to get recaptured at the end of that song. In my opinion, Aladdin’s comrades were onstage for a little too long. The time they were onstage could have been used to make the ending of the show seem a little less rushed.

Overall, Disney’s Aladdin was a spellbinding hit in my book. It was full of humor, suspense, adventure, and, of course, amazing music and songs. Although the pacing throughout the musical could have been more organized, I would definitely go to see it again if I had the opportunity and it will probably remain one of my favorite shows for many years to come.