Aladdin: New Disney Musical coming to Broadway in 2014

Disney Theatrical Productions has announced that Aladdin, a new musical based on the Academy Award winning 1992 animated film, will play its pre-Broadway engagement at Toronto's Ed Mirvish Theatre from 13 Nov 2013 - 12 Jan 2014, and will open at Broadway's New Amsterdam Theatre in 2014.

The show will feature music by Alan Menken, lyrics by the late Howard Ashman, Tim Rice and Chad Beguelin with a book by Beguelin. Casey Nicholaw will direct and choreograph.

Casting, Broadway dates and ticket information for both Toronto and Broadway will be announced at a later date.

This will be the first staging of this full-length two-act Aladdin. Nicholaw and the writers had previously collaborated on a well-received pilot production of the musical at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre in summer 2011 mounted for a limited run with the goal of trying out new material and structure. Broadway will be an entirely new production featuring a new script, tunestack and a wholly original design scaled to the Broadway stage and an epic story.

The musical tells the story of Aladdin, a street urchin who meets and falls in love with Princess 'Jasmine.' However, Jasmine can only marry a prince, but all is not lost has Aladdin owns a magic lamp, and with the help of its Genie sets out to win the hand of his princess in marriage.

Aladdin, adapted from centuries-old Arabian folktales including "One Thousand and One Nights," will feature a full Broadway score including the five beloved songs from the film, including 'A Whole New World,' which won an Academy Awards for best original song.

The animated film Aladdin was released by Disney in 1992 and was a critical and box office smash, grossing over $500 million worldwide (not adjusted for inflation) and becoming the highest-grossing film of the year.

The film won the Oscar for Best Original Score and introduced the hit song "A Whole New World," which won the second of the film's two Academy Awards® as Best Original Song. The Peabo Bryson/Regina Belle recording of the tune reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Aladdin will be designed by six-time Tony winning scenic designer Bob Crowley, three-time Tony winning lighting designer Natasha Katz, two-time Tony winning costume designer Gregg Barnes and sound designer Ken Travis.

The production team also includes illusion designer Jim Steinmeyer and hair designer Josh Marquette. The music team is headed by music supervisor and music director Michael Kosarin, who will also create the vocal and incidental music arrangements, joined by orchestrator Danny Troob and dance music arranger Glen Kelly.

Previous live versions of the film, unrelated to the new Broadway production, have included Disney's 'Aladdin - A Musical Spectacular' at Disney California Adventure, regional productions of the show licensed last summer and versions of the script which have been available to schools for several years.

Bios:

Alan Menken (Composer) won the 2012 Tony Award for Best Original Score for the Disney musical 'Newsies,' currently playing at the Nederlander Theatre. Menken wrote the score for the Disney musical 'The Little Mermaid,' for which he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Score, and for the Disney musical 'Beauty and the Beast.' Other Broadway credits include 'Leap of Faith,' 'Sister Act' and 'Little Shop of Horrors.'

Tim Rice (Lyrics) was nominated for Tony Awards for the Disney musical 'The Lion King,' and for 'Beauty and the Beast.' His other Broadway credits include 'Aida,' and 'Evite' for which he won Tony Awards, and 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,' for which he received a Tony nomination.

Howard Ashman (Lyrics) was nominated for a Tony Award for the Disney musical 'The Little Mermaid,' and was also nominated for a Tony Award for 'Smile.'

Chad Beguelin H(Book and Lyrics) is a two-time Tony nominee for his work on the Broadway musical 'The Wedding Singer' (Tony Award Nomination for Best Book and Best Original Score). He wrote the lyrics for the Broadway musical 'Elf.'

Casey Nicholaw (Director/Choreographer) earned a Tony Award for Best Director, and was nominated for a Tony for Best Choreography for 'The Book of Mormon.' He was nominated for Tony Awards for his direction and choreography of 'The Drowsy Chaperone,' and received a further nomination for his choreography of 'Spamalot.' Other Broadway credits include 'Elf,' 'All About Me,' 'To Be Or Not To Be' and 'Thoroughly Modern Millie.'