REVIEW: Aladdin (Broadway)

My husband and I recently took our two sons (ages 4 and 6) to see Aladdin on Broadway. While I could go on and on about the impressive sets, infectiously energetic and talented Genie, and truly magical carpet ride in the Broadway production of Disney's Aladdin, I thought I'd leave this review up to the real critic: my 4-year-old son, Chase!

Alec and Chase getting ready to experience "a whole new world" at Aladdin on Broadway

In his first (un)official review, here's what Chase had to say about Aladdin:

Me: What did you think of the show?
C: It was awesome!

Me: What was awesome about it?
C: That the genie was so funny. He was different than the one in the movie.

Me: What did he do that you thought was funny?
C: I liked when he was singing the no no no no no song.

Me: Who was your favorite person?
C: Aladdin! Was your favorite Aladdin too, Mommy?
(Me: I liked Aladdin and Genie the best).

Me: What was your favorite part?
C: I liked the part when the bad guy said "Prince A Boo Boo."

Me: What did you think of Jasmine?
C: I liked her because I wanted to play with her hair.
(Side-note since this response probably sounds pretty weird to most people: Chase loves to twirl my hair and suck his thumb when he gets sleepy. Pretty much any girl with long hair who is within a foot of Chase is at risk for having their hair twirled!)

Me: Was she pretty?
C: Yes. I even loved her!

Me: What did you think of the carpet ride?
C: I liked when they were singing "A Whole New World." And I liked when the carpet saved Aladdin when he was just about going to fall and Princess Jasmine said "How did you do that?".

Me: Was there anything that scared you?
C: No.

Since apparently nine questions is about the attention span of a 4-year-old, I'll fill in a few details with my own thoughts.

First, I'll share what I was impressed with:  

• I loved the carpet ride scene. Watching Aladdin and Jasmine float through the air right in front of our eyes was an amazing experience.

• The choreography, dancing and sets were all very impressive.

• The Genie definitely stole the show. While my heart sank when I saw that Tony-winner James Monroe Iglehart was not going to be the Genie at this performance, I was very pleasantly surprised and impressed with the equally talented stand-in Michael James Scott. He owned the stage and didn't miss a beat in this role. I still would have loved to have seen Iglehart in this role (and maybe even met him at the stage door); however, I have nothing but good things to say about Scott's performance.

• Speaking of the stage door, my boys and I loved meeting Adam Jacobs, who played Aladdin, after the show (ok, so I probably enjoyed this part more than they did, but it will be a good photo for them to look back on when they're older!). Jacobs did a great job in the show. He looked the part, and had the voice to match.

Aladdin (Adam Jacobs) was more than happy to pose for a photo after the show.

While I'd like to say that I found the whole show to be "awesome" like Chase did, I have to admit that there were a few aspects that I found to be a little less than awesome. For anyone expecting to see the movie version brought to life on stage, I'd recommend changing your expectations. I certainly didn't expect the stage version to be exactly like the movie; however, I think Disney missed the mark with this one. They really took a lot of the kid-friendly aspects out, which resulted in a performance that was not quite fun enough for kids but not quite impressive enough for adults.

At 4 and 6 years old, my kids did great during the show. But I've been taking my kids to the theatre since they were 2. If I'm being totally honest, for someone who's considering taking young children for their first Broadway experience, I wouldn't recommend Aladdin as their first show. It just didn't live up to the "magic" that Disney is known for.

Here are just a few examples of things that I feel would have made for a much better show.

• The animals: There were no animals in the show at all, and I think this was a huge mistake. The role of Aladdin's monkey, Abu, was instead turned into three sidekick friends of Aladdin. While they added some humor to the show, they just weren't the same as Abu. The same went for Jafar's parrot, Iago, who was turned into a parrot-like human sidekick. Jasmine's tiger, Raja, was completely omitted. And really Disney, couldn't you have at least borrowed the elephant from The Lion King for when Prince Ali makes his big appearance?

• The magic carpet: Yes, I did love the carpet scene. But I would have loved it even more if the carpet had been more of a character like in the movie. Again, I don't expect the stage version to be exactly the same as the movie, but I really think Disney messed up by leaving out the animals and the magic carpet as characters.

• The humor: There were definitely some funny parts to the show. Some were carried over from the movie while others were original to the stage. But most of the humor went right over my kids' heads. Sure my kids are only 4 and 6, but I think even older kids would have trouble following the humor in most of the show.

So while we all found the show to be entertaining (and even "awesome" according to Chase), I have to admit I was a bit disappointed in the overall production. The show definitely had some high points, but I also found it lacking in several areas. It felt like Disney was trying to please everyone, which we all know isn't possible. So instead of a fascinating and magical show for kids or a spectacular show for adults, the end result was a mediocre show for anyone.

Overall I give this production 4 out of 10 standing ovations.