It was never going to be an easy feat to bring the magic of the blue, dusty, lamp-bound genie, a flying Arabic carpet and a mythical city to the small stage in the centre of London, but they did and now Aladdin has just turned three.
Calling the Prince Edward Theatre ‘home’, the cast of Aladdin, led by Trevor Dion Nicholas as the wildly popular genie and Matthew Croke as Aladdin and Jade Ewan as Jasmine, Aladdin has been selling out the theatre to the tune of two million audience members since it first took to the stage.
And to mark the occasion and the achievement, the audience of their third-year performance, were treated to a post-curtain appearance by the genie, who declared that each audience member that night would receive a limited edition poster commemorating the occasion.
It’s a nice way to commemorate the accomplishment for the production that has cleverly and tastefully adapted the classic ’92 animated movie to the live stage with all the bells ‘n’ whistles you’d expect.
Aladdin features the timeless songs from the 1992 animated film as well as new music written by Tony, Olivier and eight-time Academy Award winner Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast, Newsies, Little Shop Of Horrors). And the whole production even does a stellar job of reproducing the famed ride on ‘Carpet’, the magic carpet, which is a spectacle for every kid – and adult – in the room.
Aladdin is on every night, so check out timings and book tickets at the Prince Edward Theatre website.