The 2014 Broadway musical scored a Tony for James Monroe Iglehart as Genie, but he’s since moved on to “Hamilton.” In his place is Major Attaway, bringing his own brand of magic to the aid of Clinton Greenspan as Aladdin. Lissa deGuzman is Jasmine. Out to steal their magic lamp is the evil Jafar, played by Jonathan Weir. Weir knows a bit about the dark side of Disney, having played Scar in “The Lion King.”
“Scar and Jafar don’t think they’re being evil,” he said. “They think they’re doing the best thing they can possibly do. It may be motivated by megalomania or ego and desire, or the thirst for power. They don’t sit there and twirl their mustache, at least the way I play it. I try not to play it as a stereotypical villain, and I try to give different dimensions to the character.”
There are no live animals in the show, so you can forget Apu the monkey and Iago the parrot, but do remember the great new numbers added to Alan Menken’s Tony-nominated score: “Babkak, Omar, Aladdin, Kassim” and “High Adventure.” They were cut from the original animated Disney film. Do remember the rowdy cast of 30 wearing 350 of Gregg Barnes’ Arab-kitsch costumes, not to mention a flying carpet.
“Witty, strong storytelling through lyrics and songs,” Weir said is the show’s formula for success. “There’s magic that happens right in front of their eyes and the audience can’t figure it out.”
Now that’s an incentive. See “Aladdin” and figure it out.
SEE IT: Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa
March 6-23, $26.50-$165
:: scfta.org