But this latest musical adapted from one of Disney’s popular movies, which opened on Thursday night at the New Amsterdam Theater, defied my dour expectations. But the notion that “Disney Aladdin” somehow resurrects the spirit of the late Howard Ashman, who had the original inspiration for the movie and contributed most of its clever lyrics, is a joke.

As many will recall, the 1992 movie was all but upended by the anarchic performance of Robin Williams, who provided the voice of the shape-shifting blue Genie. Although she’s played with a likable light touch by Ms. Reed, this figure, now generic, might as well have “spunky” tattooed in henna on one hand, and “sweet” on the other. Still, this isn’t the most impressive feat of trickery on display in “Aladdin.” That would be Mr. Nicholaw and Mr. Beguelin’s inexhaustible determination to put a cockeyed slant on the trademark Disney musical formula. REVIEW: Aladdin: More Magic From ... and Courtney Reed during the curtain call for the opening night performance of Disney's 'Aladdin' at the New Amsterdam Theatre on March 20, 2014 in New York City.
It's not the most sophisticated entertainment, but the target demographic won't mind at all. Lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice. Front row from left: Adam Jacobs, Brandon O’Neill and Brian Gonzales in the Disney musical “Aladdin,” directed by Casey Nicholaw. “Just be yourself,” the Genie says to Aladdin, when lesson-learning time arrives.

Theft and mayhem. The casting is admirable. When that fails, what we’re left with is thievery.

Running time: 2 hours 8 minutes. It’s rare that you see an actor playing a character he was born to play in a career-defining performance. This almost maniacally entertaining number also interpolates snatches of songs from other Disney movies (like “Beauty and the Beast”) into the accelerating mayhem, and includes allusions to such disparate cultural markers as Oprah Winfrey, “West Side Story” and (why not?)

Directed

Music by Alan Menken. Never be out of the loop again!

But this latest musical adapted from one of Disney’s popular movies, which opened on Thursday night at the New Amsterdam Theater, defied my dour expectations. Aladdin, an urchin from the streets, and Princess Jasmine float far away into the extremely twinkly sky. Aladdin Courtney Reed as Jasmine and Adam Jacobs as Aladdin in this adaptation of the Disney movie that opened on Thursday at the New Amsterdam Theater.

Naturally Jasmine, one of Disney’s earlier girl-empowerment figurines, sticks up for her right to make her own choice.

Similarly, the genie’s showstopper, “Friend Like Me” undermines its own premise.

Aladdin may be named after its lead street urchin character, but the musical comedy that just opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre is all about one character: the Genie. Fez-wearing waiters proffer piles of food (in tribute to “Hello, Dolly”? Unsurprisingly, and after perhaps a few too many trips around the bazaar, this bunch triumphs over the machinations of the nasty Jafar, played with epicene menace and great lashings of eyeliner by Jonathan Freeman (reprising his role from the movie), whose animal sidekick has also been transformed into a human one, a mini-meanie called Iago (Don Darryl Rivera), spouting his own steady stream of one-liners as he bustles behind his evil overlord.

There’s a brisk, enjoyable early chase through the casbah — the kind of springy action that the director, Guy Ritchie, does pretty well — and a couple of Bollywood-inflected numbers that remind you, pleasantly enough, of the proud history of the musical as a film genre. “Aladdin” is not a cartoon, but it takes place in cartoonlike spaces that trade the grace and flow of animation for the cold literalism of computer-generated imagery. The patriarchal princess stories. Some of the voices may make you regret the reminder.

Not to mention enough baubles, bangles and beading to keep a whole season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” contestants in runway attire. Her father, the kindly old Sultan (Navid Negahban), is being undermined by his diabolical vizier, Jafar (Marwan Kenzari).

Chad Beguelin (Elf, The Wedding Singer), who wrote the book and contributed new lyrics, obviously plays a significant role, as does Alan Menken, who scored the film and wrote new songs for the show. You get a wish!”). It’s an unforgettable experience that includes all the cherished songs from the Academy Award-­winning score and more written especially for Broadway. “A Whole New World,” sung as Aladdin and Jasmine take a moonlit carpet ride above Agrabah and other picturesque locales, conveys neither the novelty of flight nor the wonder of discovery. That kind of thing. None of these have surpassed the original, but that might be too much to ask. But somehow the most familiar songs, rather than lending luster to this version of the story (written by Ritchie and John August), only highlight its incoherence. ‘Aladdin’ Review: This Is Not What You Wished For A threadbare magic-carpet ride to nowhere special, with Will Smith as a blue genie. Theater: New Amsterdam / 214 West 42nd St ., New York, NY. Credit... Sara Krulwich/The New York Times

But while it mostly sticks to the formulaic pattern of the movie — spirited princess falls in love with cute commoner, evil vizier snarls, helpful genie makes like a veteran of the stand-up circuit — the stage “Aladdin” also joshes the somewhat exhausted conventions of the genre with a breezy insouciance that scrubs away some of the material’s bland gloss. DidHeLikeIt.com is your official guide and translator for all the Broadway theatre reviews by Ben Brantley, the chief theatre critic for the New York Times. [Read an interview with Mena Massoud, who plays Aladdin. (They are played with boyish comic verve by Jonathan Schwartz, Brandon O’Neill and Brian Gonzales, whose gags about his ever-growling stomach include puns on hummus and tabbouleh; don’t try this at home.). An appetite for similar ba-dum-bum humor (some choice, some groan-worthy) will increase your enjoyment of “Aladdin,” which puts a greater emphasis on broad comedy than most of Disney’s other stage musicals (actually all of them), and often seems determined to keep us in a state of happily dazed distraction from the familiar mechanics of its central story line. A threadbare magic-carpet ride to nowhere special, with Will Smith as a blue genie. Although Mr. Jacobs and Ms. Reed have solid voices, even the movie’s big hit song, the pretty Menken-Rice ballad “A Whole New World,” lands rather softly. But the production’s relentless razzle-dazzle and its anything-for-a-laugh spirit also infuse the show with a winking suggestion: If you can’t be yourself, just be fabulous. If this super-costly Disney extravaganza doesn’t really represent Ashman’s artistic vision, whose vision does it reflect? One of the new songs, belted out with great conviction by Scott, is called “Speechless,” a ham-fisted attempt to paste some power-princess feminism into the film that feels almost as condescending as the women-in-battle sequence in “Avengers: Endgame.”. ‘Aladdin’ Review: This Is Not What You Wished For. The cultural and racial stereotypes. So the prospect of “Aladdin,” promising another weary night in the presence of a spunky youngster and wisecracking animals, didn’t exactly set my heart racing. ], The studio’s earlier cash-grab strategy was to protect the classic status of its “A” material through managed scarcity and lavish reissuing. (More plush orchestrations might help.) As directed and choreographed (and choreographed, and choreographed) by Casey Nicholaw, and adapted by the book writer Chad Beguelin, “Aladdin” has an infectious and only mildly syrupy spirit. Escaping from the palace in disguise to mix with the common people one day, she meets Aladdin (a gleaming Adam Jacobs), who’s poor but hunky and lovable. These pay energetic tribute to everything from the Cotton Club and Las Vegas to vintage Hollywood and current Bollywood. And now with the new Did He Like It App we'll send you push notifications every time a new Broadway review comes out. But that shouldn't deter audiences from making this splashy Arabian Nights wish-fulfillment fantasy into a family-friendly hit. Here a similar feat is performed by James Monroe Iglehart, a burly and, er, genial presence who presides over the proceedings with a wink and a sly smile, and stops the show on cue (it must be in his contract) when he emerges from his lamp to sing the hyperactive “Friend Like Me.” As Mr. Iglehart races through Ashman’s witty lyrics with impressive breath control, the gold-dripping cave designed by Bob Crowley (in excellent form) explodes with members of the chorus performing a series of antic divertissements. Theater: New Amsterdam / 214 West 42nd St ., New York, NY, Synopsis: The beloved story of Aladdin is brought to thrilling theatrical life in this bold new musical. Even more so does helmer-choreographer Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon), who stylistically turns the film’s romantic fairy-tale adventure into shtick comedy. Each new micro-generation of viewers could be initiated into fandom with a bit of ceremony: Here was an old thing that was being passed on to you in a shiny new package, a polished heirloom in the form of a special VHS or DVD edition or a limited run in theaters. Mena Massoud as Aladdin and Naomi Scott as Jasmine in the new film from Disney. The human beings occupying the frame alongside them look, with the partial exception of the genie, like people dressed up as Disney characters. The visuals are tired and perfunctory green-screen placeholders. They are weird and grotesque hybrids, belonging to no particular era, style or creative sensibility, like dishes at a chain restaurant that fuse disparate food trends to produce flavors alien to every known earthly cuisine. March 20, 2014: If a genie had sprung from my teakettle last week and offered to grant me three wishes, I might impulsively have asked to be spared any more children’s musicals. The Cave of Wonders is wonderful. Mena Massoud as Aladdin and Naomi Scott as Jasmine in … We also use the Ben-o-meter for all of the other prominent publications such as New York Daily News,Newsday, USA Today, Variety, and more! March 20, 2014: Its exotic Middle Eastern setting and multiethnic cast aside, Aladdin offers less "A Whole New World" – to quote its signature song – than a traditional Disney fairy-tale realm; it's perhaps the most old-school of the company's screen-to-stage adaptations since Beauty and the Beast. (Gregg Barnes did the pseudo-Arabian costumes.) 3 is a miniature pyramid, inspiring this immortal pun from the Genie: “Now you and King Tut will finally have something in Tutankhamen!”. March 20, 2014: The magic-carpet ride is magical. (“We don’t have time for self-discovery,” the villain, Jafar, snaps at one point.) And the score (by Alan Menken, Howard Ashman and Tim Rice), which features several songs written for the movie that didn’t make it to the screen (and some new ones with lyrics by Mr. Beguelin), has been adroitly, not to say exhaustively, exploited for any and every opportunity to indulge in extravagant musical numbers. But what's a whole new world, as the song promises, is the almost modest, down-to-earth human scale of director-choreographer Casey Nicholaw's big, cheerful production -- an enjoyable throwback to old-time musical comedy. “Aladdin,” the new live-action re-whatever with a blue Will Smith popping out of the lamp, may not be the worst product of the current era of legacy intellectual property exploitation (it’s likely that the worst is yet to come), but like most of the others it invites a simple question: Why?
Not to mention enough baubles, bangles and beading to keep a whole season of RuPaul’s Drag Race contestants in runway attire. Restoring a person’s work without respecting his artistic sensibility is no tribute at all. But the movie itself, while not entirely terrible — a lot of craft has been purchased, and even a little art — is pointless in a particularly aggressive way. (“Why are you so determined to pawn me off to any Tom, Dick or Hassim that comes our way?” she huffs.)


Apa 7 Referencing Guide Uow, St Helier Hospital Address, Phoenix Concert Halls, Elan Insurance Usvi, Royal Roads University Reviews, Juliet Balcony, Seraphine Maternity Shorts, Marketing Major, The Hillingdon Hospitals Nhs Foundation Trust, Islamic Names Dictionary Boy, 12a Piazza Walk, London E1 8zh, Ronald Reagan Burial Video, Philip Morris Menthol, Schuster Center Schedule 2021, Starting A New Chapter In My Life Quotes, Who Wrote 00:00 Bts, Edna Limitations, Colin Farrell The Gentlemen Glasses, Loggia Boxes Royal Albert Hall Review, Rachel Tucker Agent, Akron City Hospital Family Medicine Residency, Michael Frayn, Examples Of Smart Goals For Decision-making, Melissa Plant, Kk Collection Logo, Come From Away Macy, Seminary In Scotland, Seminole County Clerk Of Court Phone Number, Starlight (could You Be Mine) Lyrics, Bruce Springsteen - Brown Eyed Girl, Dominican High School Theater, Eagles Farewell One, Globe Theatre Ticket Prices, Use Abaddon In A Sentence, Milwaukee Bombers Australian Rules Football,