Review: ‘Aladdin’ a showbiz throwback
The first four numbers of “Disney’s Aladdin” do very little to sell the boast that this is a Broadway hit. They are serviceable songs to be sure, but even with calisthenic choreography and impressive swirls of scarves, veils, tassels and harem pants, it is slow going.
Ahh, but then the show, having a twoweek run in Fort Lauderdale, finds its magic. The first inkling comes with “Babkak, Omar, Aladdin, Kassim,” a comedic song in which the four down-ontheir-luck pals try their hands at busking, singing and dancing in the marketplace of the mythical Middle Eastern city of Agraba. No, it doesn’t reinvent the stage musical, but it does tap into what — increasingly, as luck would have it — is “Aladdin’s” true treasure: It is an oldfashioned musical in the very, very best sense of the word, satisfying and spectacular.
Sure, the showstopping number “Friend Like Me,” made famous by a scene-stealing Robin Williams voicing an unhinged Genie in the 1992 animated movie, is re-created here with loads of meta-humor packed in.
However, what comes shining through, over two hours plus a 15-minute intermission, is tried-and-true tropes. We’re talking old-school showbizzy throwbacks like a whiff of vaudeville here and a hint of burlesque (sparkly bosoms, heaving pecs) there, the laughs played as broad as the Arabian desert. With a few tweaks the whole show could fit neatly into an Abbott and Costello vehicle; imagine “The Road to Agraba” with Hope and Crosby. The show’s villain even seems to sample from Cab Calloway.
Disney gets three wishes: Based on the well-worn Middle Eastern folk tale lifted from “One Thousand and One Nights,” this title has been a goldmine for Disney, which also produced this Broadway hit that debuted in 2014 with all the recognizable songs — “Friend Like Me” and “A Whole New World” — from the original 1992 Disney treatment as well as some new tunes from the score’s dream team of Tim Rice, Alan Menken, Howard Ashman and Chad Beguelin. Last spring there was a live action film, directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Will Smith, that made so much money there is talk of a sequel. And a prequel.
In all three iterations, the bones of the story is the same. Sometime during the Islamic Golden Age, street urchin Aladdin barely escapes with his life after stealing food in the marketplace. After bumping into Princess Jasmine, who disguises herself as a commoner in order to escape the constraints of palace life, Aladdin runs afoul of Jafar, the Grand Vizier.
Jafar schemes to overthrow Jasmine’s father, the Sultan, with the magical power of a lamp. But Aladdin inadvertently releases the Genie in the lamp and sets in motion deceptions, betrayals, romance and adventure familiar to anyone who’s thumbed through a copy of “Arabian Nights.”
Wait, how did they do that? The story is told with plenty of shimmer and shine in this production with a little Bugs Bunny/Looney Tunes thrown in to evoke the animated film that spawned this entertainment brand. The leads comport themselves well and sing the score with earnest energy, if not with much sweetness. The resplendent ensemble goes about their business with that dependable Disney discipline.
The Great White Way-ness with big razzle-dazzle production numbers placed just so on the sienna-hued sets gets the job done. And there are some smaller touches that charm, such as when Jafar reads from a tome of dark spells and prophecies and his face seems to be lit from the book, giving him that evil arched-brow cartoony look for just a few moments.
All of that would be enough to justify the ticket price. But there’s this wowmoment (How many times to we have to say it? Hello. Disney!) that just seals the deal: The magic carpet ride.
Oh yes, it’s there — and delivered with thrilling stagecraft that marks the whole show.