Aladdin Cave Of Wonders Toy Disney Jewelry Statue Movie And Contributed

Aladdin Cave Of Wonders Toy Disney Jewelry Statue Movie And Contributed

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.

Restoring a persons work without respecting his artistic sensibility is no tribute at all.

Even more so does helmer-choreographer Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon), who stylistically turns the films romantic fairy-tale adventure into shtick comedy.

For the eye-popping opening number, Arabian Nights, Crowley has designed a colorful marketplace in the kingdom of Agrabah that is visually anchored by revolving setpieces that telescope into whimsical new forms.

He uses the same telescoping technique in the Cave of Wonders, where towers of treasure (cast in golden lights by Natasha Katz) await Aladdin.

But in the spirit of overkill that comes to define the entire production, the costumes become so heavily encrusted with bling, its a wonder anyone can move in them.

Adam Jacobs, who is young and cute enough to have played Simba the lion cub in The Lion King, is a personable performer with a pleasant enough voice to make an appealing Aladdin.

And hes quite charming in A Whole New World, the gorgeous number that takes Aladdin and Princess Jasmine (Courtney Reed, unkindly stuck in a ghastly belly-dancer schmatta) on their magic carpet ride.

When Robin Williams riffed on the same number in the movie, he fooled around with funny voices and celebrity sendups.

Iglehart, a big man with a big mans capacity for play, shows off Genies magical powers by turning to the Broadway musical-theater canon starting with Disneys own Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid, and moving on to classic shows like West Side Story, A Chorus Line, and even an Arabic interpretation of Fiddler on the Roof.

The conceit doesnt say much for choreographic originality, but, hey, it works.

And then there are the variations that are downright disastrous: It was a really bad idea to replace Iago, the sardonic parrot familiar of the evil vizier, Jafar (Jonathan Freeman, as impressive as he was in the film), with an annoying human henchman played by an annoying actor.

A worse idea was replacing Abu, Aladdins rascal monkey friend, with three of the heros dumber-than-dirt slacker pals.

As for the cheap jokes sprinkled throughout the book, the most unspeakable one comes in the prologue, when Genie produces a tacky miniature of the Statue of Liberty and excuses himself for a little pre-show shopping.

Sets, Bob Crowley; costumes, Gregg Barnes; lighting, Natasha Katz; sound, Ken Travis; illusion design, Jim Steinmeyer; hair, Josh Marquette; makeup, Milagros Medina-Cerdeira; orchestrations, Danny Troob; music supervision and vocal arrangements, Michael Kosarin; dance music arrangements, Glen Kelly; music coordinator, Howard Joines; fight direction, J.

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