Erin Conley – On Stage & Screen
There is an inescapable nostalgia factor attached to Disney Theatrical Productions, and it was on full display at the Pantages in Los Angeles last night as the national tour of Aladdin opened to a very receptive crowd. For the most part, this stage adaptation of the 1992 film, which debuted on Broadway in 2014 and still runs there today, delivers exactly what you expect from it. The brightly colored, exuberant spectacle is designed to be perfectly family friendly while dropping in enough punny jokes to keep the adults in the audience amused. Any shortcomings are easily forgotten by the time you arrive home…
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Rob Stevens – Haines His Way
After the success of their animated musicals The Little Mermaid and Beauty and The Beast, with award winning scores by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, Disney released the Arabian Nights tale of Aladdin in 1992. Menken and Ashman actually began composing the score before working on Beauty but only three of those songs made it into the final film. After Ashman’s death lyricist Tim Rice added two more songs, including the Oscar winning “A Whole New World”. The ninety minute film contained only five songs. When Disney turned the animated film into a big, no expenses spared Broadway musical in 2014, some of the cut songs, as well as new songs with lyrics by book writer Chad Beguelin, found their way into the score of the 130 minute stage show. The result is currently on view at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre as the National Tour of Disney Aladdin stops by for a two and a half month visit. With so many contributors, it’s a mixed bag of delights and disappointments.
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Jonas Schwartz – Arts In LA
The stage production of Disney’s Aladdin, now playing at the Pantages, is charismatic family programming that highlights the 1992 film’s score by Alan Menken, Tim Rice, and the late Howard Ashman, with additional lyrics by Chad Beguelin.
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Deborah Klugman – LA Weekly
If a glittery, sumptuous spectacle is enough to satisfy you, you’ll probably enjoy this touring company production of Disney’s Aladdin, directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, at the Pantages Theatre through March 31. If, however, you’re one of those picky theatergoers who craves substance with your spectacle, you’ll probably be disappointed.
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Ellen Dostal – Musicals in LA
As Disney stage musicals go, the North American tour of Aladdin that just opened at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre is the big, splashy colorful delight kids and musical theatre lovers want to see. Dressed in a dizzying array of dazzle and glitz, it offers a top-of-the-line audience experience for fans of the beloved and well-known tale anxious to be whisked away to a dreamy world where the underdog gets the girl, the villain loses, and the comic relief holds court every time he steps on stage.
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Katie Buenneke – Stage Raw
Disney, that behemoth that only grows larger as each day passes, earned itself some goodwill in the theatrical landscape with its last outing, Peter and the Starcatcher — a charming, innovative take on the Peter Pan legend. Disney’s latest stage offering, Aladdin, has some charm and innovation, but feels as bland and shiny as the cast’s mile-wide smiles.
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Dany Margolies – The Daily Breeze
Had there been one more wish left in Genie’s lamp, some of us in the opening-night audience of Disney’s “Aladdin” at the Pantages might have wished that all the lead performances had been as brilliant as the show’s technical elements are.
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Now running through March 31