The very first movie my mom ever took me to see in theaters as a kid was The Jungle Book, setting the stage for my love of all things Disney and musical. In 1992, the Disney version of Aladdin came to the screen, and my siblings and I must have watched that VHS copy, oh, a proper 1,572 times over the years.
Flash forward to 2014 when Aladdin comes to the biggest off-screen of NYC, Broadway! My hopes were high, and only to be exceeded by the brilliant directing and choreography (Casey Nicholaw, Tony award winner for directing The Book of Mormon), music (by composer Alan Menken), design of the massive sets, glittery costumes, and other worldly-lighting (Bob Crowley, Gregg Barnes, and Natasha Katz) and the crazy-talented cast (seriously, James Monroe Iglehart who played the Genie just blew the performance out of the park!
He also took home the Tony for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical, just FYI.) A special shout out to the special effect team (led by illusion master Jim Steinmeyer) who was charged with everything from creating magical books to materializing Genies to creating flying carpets (with no strings to be seen anywhere, folks!)
For those of you who perhaps haven’t seen the Disney version, Aladdin tells the story of a young lad in Arabian times, who gets three wishes from a genie trapped in a magic lamp. Throw in a princess who doesn’t want to get married to just any old prince, an evil villain who’s trying to steal the throne, and mix this all together with some truly incredible music and dance numbers, and you have the recipe for a hit. A spot on one at that.
While the musical is certainly kid friendly, it has some great adult humor in there, too. And while, yes, it’s a musical inspired by Disney, it’s important to note that this production is packed with more old-school Broadway pizazz then you’ll find anywhere else on the stage right now. We’re talking high kicking, show stopping, over-the-top-in-all-the-right-ways numbers that will have you singing the likes of “Friend Like Me” and “A Whole New World” for weeks to come! This is one all generations will enjoy so much, you’ll be wishing for your own magic lamp only to request to see it over, and over, and over again.
Jessica Tiare Bowen lives in the juicy Big Apple with her adorable pink-nosed chihuahua, Gillman. He’s the inspiration for her first published children’s book, “Park Avenue Pound Puppy.” The book is the combined result of her two greatest passions: pooches and penning stories.
Her passions include art, urban hikes through Manhattan, drinking coffee with 3 creams and 6 sugars, making extremely detailed itineraries and traveling to far away places, singing along to Broadway shows, Netflix movie nights, discovering incredible treasures at Goodwill and thrift stores, and listening to stories from little people under 7 and big people over 70.
She started her career as New York City Teaching Fellow, teaching elementary school and theater arts at a special education school in the South Bronx for 6 years. She is now a Special Education School Improvement Specialist working in public schools throughout New York City. She is the Editor-In-Chief of the online New York City travel magazine, Used York City. The magazine focuses on finding the best of New York…as used by New Yorkers. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and an ASPCA Ambassador.
