EXECUTIVE BRIEFCASE
DISNEY’S ALADDIN,A MUSICAL SPECTACULAR
Stage musical performed four times daily at Disney’s California Adventure, Hyperion Theater; free with park admission. Anne Hamburger, Walt Disney Parks & Resorts executive vice president of creative entertainment, producer; opera veteran Francesca Zambello, director; Broadway and ballet veteran Lynne Taylor-Corbett, choreographer; music by Alan Menken.
Bringing animated films to life has become a staple of Disney entertainment in recent years. But the abbreviated 40-minute “Aladdin” story was particularly challenging for a creative team charged with bringing Broadway-caliber theater to a theme park in a way that will entice the audience to attend more live theater productions. Think “Lion King”,which played in Los Angeles for more than a year,rather than the typical so-so theme park shows. This show is fast-paced, fun and hip enough that both kids and adults find it entertaining. There’s a new song written for the production and the musical elements add to rather than bog down the performance. The production got a standing ovation from a recent group of meeting planners who particularly liked the flying carpet that soars above the audience and the lumbering appearance of a very lifelike elephant that saunters among the rows of seats below.
“Aladdin” stands in marked contrast to “Steps in Time,” the show that debuted with the park’s opening two years ago. This time, Disney appears to have a hit.
RATING:
FOUR BRIEFCASES (out of four)
,Sandi Cain
