Aladdin at the Kennedy Center

Image found here

I'm not really into musicals, but those based on beloved cartoons are an exception. Last year I saw Anastasia at the Kennedy Center (which was fantastic; read that blog post here), so when I saw that Aladdin was going to be there, I knew I wanted to see the show. But I patiently waited until I could get my hands on a discounted ticket. THEN I went!

Watch the sizzle reel to get an idea of the show:

Here are my final thoughts:

Pros

The inside of the cave where Aladdin finds the Genie's lamp is truly full of gold treasure! Image found here.

Everything was so beautiful. The sets, the costumes, you just couldn't take your eyes off of anything! So many colors, so much glitter; I was mesmerized. And the dancers were incredible, too. They even did tap dancing!

The dances in the marketplace might have been my favorite part of the show. And not just because these hot dancer bodies were half-naked. Image found here.

The parade when Aladdin announces himself as Prince Ali is spectacular! Image found here.

The carpet truly looked like it was flying (no strings in sight), and the stars felt like you really were up in the galaxy, especially when the blue moon later tranformed into Earth. Image found here.

And the singing was just as impressive. Clinton Greenspan (as Aladdin) and Kaenaonalani Kekoa (as Jasmine) sound just like Disney characters. And Major Attaway as the Genie was PERFECT.

Is this not Jasmine or what? Image found here.

Major Attaway's acting, singing, and dancing were all on point. Image found here.

In the play version, Aladdin has three friend sidekicks. Image found here.

While Aladdin's sidekicks aren't really necessary for the story or plot, they were very funny. I especially liked one of the lines when, after Aladdin suggested they become street performers to make money, one of the friends said, "Why would people pay to see other people sing and dance?" Of course a silent beat followed to give the audience time to laugh, since that's what all of us were doing at that very moment.

There were other, modern jokes that I enjoyed. When we got the introduction at the very beginning of the show, the Genie accidentally pulled out a Washington Nationals cap instead of the lamp, and he joked that he had been shopping earlier. He also would say things like, "Nobody got time for that!"

Cons

Songs always seem to be added to the play or live action versions of Disney cartoons. Why? We all love the originals and know all those songs. We don't want new ones! "Proud of Your Boy" was especially bad, I thought (not the performance, the lyrics). Actually, the majority of the second act was just more of the same as the first act: singing, dancing, cool sets, etc. A lot of it felt like filler, because they're trying to turn a 90-minute movie into a nearly 3-hour play.

Man vs. parrot. I missed the bird! Image found here.

One iconic part of many Disney movies is the animals, and in the play Iago is not a parrot but a short, chubby man, and Abu is erased entirely. While Reggie De Leon is funny as Iago, his part as comic relief is somewhat redundant, since a lot of what he says is just repeating what Jafar said.

Some parts of the cartoon movie did not translate well to the stage. When Aladdin gains access to the magical cave, the effect was so bad: he simply rolled under the curtain with the cave's image on it. And once he's in the cave, he's supposedly walking through cobwebs and leaning away from flying objects, but it wasn't rendered well enough to be believable.

But clearly the pros heavily outweigh the cons. Honestly, I would recommend seeing this musical just for the beauty of it all. Even without the acting and the singing, this would still be an amazing experience. So enjoy all of it!

PS: Just for your viewing pleasure, here's a video of five actors who have played the Genie singing together in a medley: