SponsoredWhen Disney released the animated feature film Aladdin in 1992, I was in eighth grade and fell in love with the movie. I loved the story, the characters, and the music — it was just so vibrant and lively.
Aladdin has been one of my all-time favorite animated movies ever since, which is why Natalie and I jumped on the opportunity to review the Broadway stage adaptation playing at the Community Center Theater in Sacramento through June 2, 2019.
Our night began at Amourath 1819, the bar in the Hyatt Regency Lobby — it’s a super convenient place to meet friends before A Broadway Sacramento show because it’s right across the street and you can park at the Hyatt! Here we ordered some drinks and snacks and met up with some other Sacramento bloggers and social media folks before the show.
At about 7:50 pm, we walked over to the theater and grabbed our seats and a Playbill — we were so excited for the show to start! Natalie and I have been to several Broadway Sacramento shows and they are always fantastic… but I heard that Aladdin was going to be extra special and they weren’t kidding.
At the beginning of the show, the Genie promises “more glitz and glamour than any fictional city in the world” and from start to finish, Aladdin is a visually stunning experience in every way.
As I said, Natalie and I have been to several Broadway shows in Sacramento and even more in San Francisco, so we’ve seen some incredible theatrical performances, but Aladdin takes the cake in energy, joy, enthusiasm, musicality, color, sparkle, comedy, entertainment, and marvel — it’s even better than the Aladdin production at Disneyland.
We were blown away by the entire show, but “Friend Like Me” performed in the Cave of Wonders during Act One and the parade into the palace for “Prince Ali” were spectacular. In fact, when “Friend Like Me” ended, the entire audience was clapping and cheering so loud and for so long that it stopped the show!
The scene with Aladdin and Jasmine riding on the magic carpet through the night sky singing “A Whole New World” was also amazing — I just wish we had more magic carpet time! (I also wish Abu was in the production, but you can’t have everything.)
When the show ended, we met up with other Broadway Sacramento Ambassadors in the lobby to get in line for photos and gush about how much we loved the show.
Broadway’s Aladdin Fun Facts
Some of the special effects and costumes (and costume changes) were so impressive that I made Natalie google facts about the show on the way home!
Here are some facts we found…
- Aladdin features 21 musical numbers.
- The show has 337 costumes with 136 individual designs that use 1,225 different fabrics, 712 different types of beads, and 83 custom textile designs — and there are 161 custom made pairs of shoes and 210 total turbans (80 in “Prince Ali” alone).
- In just one pair of men’s pants in the finale of “Friend Like Me,” there are 1,428 Swarovski crystals.
- As stated in Tyranny Of Style, “It has taken over 32 shops to create the clothes for Aladdin if you count the dressmakers, cobblers, milliners, painters, beaders, and jewelers. Shoes were made in Canada, New York, and Italy, beading done in India (also New York and Los Angeles), and clothes made in New York and Canada. The fabrics are sourced from probably every country you can think of… including Morocco, France, India, China, Japan, and beyond.”
- Each ensemble cast member has an average of 11 costumes. There are 108 costume changes that happen in less than a minute, 58 that happen in less than 30 seconds, and the fastest off-stage costume change is 8 seconds.
- According to Playbill, the production number “Friend Like Me,” lasts nine minutes. In that span of time, the stage manager gives over 150 cues, an average of one every 16 seconds. His longest break is during the applause, which often lasts over 30 seconds, literally stopping the show.
- The Chicago Tribune shares that there are 38 tons of scenery, lighting and automated effects suspended from the grid for the touring production, as well as 84 special effects, including pyrotechnics, in every show.
- During the tap dance number in “Friend Like Me,” a tony microphone is placed next to each leather tap shoe — A cord connected to a mic pack is rigged down the actors’ pants with the mic poking out at the bottom.
- The gold finish used on the cave of Wonders set is the same gold finish used on C-3PO in the Star Wars films.
- The sets for Aladdin use 45 machines running on a network with about 30 connected by wires and 15 running on wireless networks
About Broadway On Tour’s Aladdin
Discover a whole new world at Disney’s Aladdin, the hit Broadway musical. From the producer of The Lion King comes the timeless story of Aladdin, a thrilling new production filled with unforgettable beauty, magic and comedy, lavish costumes and sets, and breathtaking spectacle. It’s an extraordinary theatrical event where one lamp and three wishes make the possibilities infinite.
Aladdin is in Sacramento through June 2, 2019 and I urge you to get tickets. Take your whole family. This one one musical every single member of your family will enjoy!
