‘Aladdin’ Confirmed for Broadway, Spring 2014

Disney Theatrical today officially confirmed what we have been reporting for some time — a staged musical adaptation of Aladdin is headed to Broadway for the 2014 season.

We have been talking about a staged adaptation by Disney Theatrical for nearly three years now, prior to its original incarnation at the 5th Avenue Theater in 2011. Since then, it has had several runs around the world and has consistently been edited as it continued to meet mixed reviews. Its reported lackluster performances fueled doubts when we relayed composer Alan Menken’s informal announcement last summer that it would in fact be headed for Broadway. Even after a reported leak which led to confirmation that ‘Mary Poppins’ would see its final Broadway curtain call on March 3, Disney Theatrical was slow to acknowledge that ‘Aladdin’ was waiting impatiently in the wings.

The show will feature music by Alan Menken; lyrics by the late Howard Ashman, Tim Rice and Chad Beguelin with a book by Beguelin. Casey Nicholaw will direct and choreograph.

This will be the first staging of this full-length two-act ‘Aladdin.’ Nicholaw and the writers had previously collaborated on a pilot production of the musical at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre in summer 2011, mounted for a limited run with the goal of trying out new material and structure. The Broadway version will be an entirely new production featuring a new script, tunestack and a wholly original design scaled to the Broadway stage and an epic story. ‘Aladdin’ will feature a full Broadway score including the five beloved songs from the film.

Aladdin will be designed by six-time Tony® winning scenic designer Bob Crowley, three-time Tony winning lighting designer Natasha Katz, two-time Tony winning costume designer Gregg Barnes and sound designer Ken Travis.

The production team also includes illusion designer Jim Steinmeyer and hair designer Josh Marquette. The music team is headed by music supervisor and music director Michael Kosarin, who will also create the vocal and incidental music arrangements, joined by orchestrator Danny Troob and dance music arranger Glen Kelly.

Before it opens on Broadway in spring 2014, however, it will play in Toronto for nine weeks at the Ed Mirvish Theatre (formerly the Canon) November 13, 2013 to January 12, 2014 and will open at Broadway’s New Amsterdam Theatre in 2014.

Fans are encouraged to sign up up for email alerts at www.aladdinbroadway.com.

CONFIRMED: Disney’s Aladdin is Broadway-Bound

We had been talking about Disney Theatrical producing a musical based on Disney Animation’s Aladdin for years, so it came as little shock to us when the production became fully realized at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theater in early 2011.

Since then, the show has been re-tooled and has played at various regional theaters, but it wasn’t until a special private event for members of Disney’s official fan club, Disney D23, last summer, that we had any inkling that it was destined for Broadway (in truth, we believed a touring production would be as far as the plans went).

The event featured an intimate performance by composer Alan Menken, who introduced the song ‘Proud of Your Boy’ (cut from the original animated film) as being prepped for a Broadway production — a statement we took none too lightly, considering Menken’s stature in the theatrical community.

Fast forward to yesterday, when the New York Times published this article, confirming via anonymous inside sources that ‘Aladdin’ is indeed headed to the Broadway stage, replacing Mary Poppins at the New Amsterdam Theater.

It should be noted that there has been no official announcement from Disney Theatrical yet as they have declined to comment both on the New York Times story as well as our own.

Video courtesy of and h/t to @jellicle0

UPDATE: Via its official Facebook page, Mary Poppins has acknowledge the show will have its final performance on March 3, 2013