Our first actual Broadway show ON BROADWAY!!!!
First of all, Kim is totally rad. I'm sure I've said similar things before. But, I am the theatre geek in the family. She's the one that fell asleep at the Book of Mormon. Although, to give her credit, that was 2 years ago and it has only happened once or twice since then. Still, it was her decision to pull the trigger.
You see, shows on actual Broadway are FREAKIN' EXPENSIVE!!! Our season tickets to the Paramount in Seattle average about $100 per ticket. Some shows are more (Hamilton, Wicked, Book of Mormon) some are less (Dirty Dancing, American in Paris). We decided to see Aladdin in NYC. Our seats were pretty good, in my opinion, but not the highest price point. They were $250 a piece.
Aladdin is coming to Seattle. We have season tickets. I suspect the Aladdin portion will be $125 or so. We didn't know Aladdin was coming when we bought our tickets. If we had, we might have seen something else.
Ok, with all that said, here's my review!
AMAZEBALLS! A fantastic show. The sets were rad, the dancing was rad, the genie was genius (see what I did there?), it was a great night!
The Genie is the original. It's the first time I have seen a Tony Award winner in a role they won the award for. And let me tell you...he deserved it! I mean, the man was moving all over the stage singing and dancing and barely braking a sweat! Ok...that last part is a lie. He was totally sweating. In fact, part of his makeup was head glitter which I am sure was put there to hide the sweat. I have to wonder if they pad his costume because I don't know how someone can move like that every single night and not be made of pure muscle. He's not fat, by any means. But, he also doesn't look like Derek Hough, which is what you would expect with that much cardio.
I am trying to remember the last time I saw a show with that much choreography. Practically every song had a dance number. I do love me some dance numbers!!!
Also, the guy that plays Jafar is the dude that did the original voice in the movie. That was pretty neat! Hearing him say "Prince Aboo-Boo" was straight out of the movie.
I only have one complaint...and I have this with The Little Mermaid, too. For some reasons, the writers feel the need to add unnecessary backstory. In the case of the Little Mermaid, they made Ursula (The Sea Witch) King Triton's rejected sister. In Aladdin, they decided to give Aladdin some parent issues. Apparently his mom recently died and he's trying to make her and his dad proud. This manifests itself in a song called "Proud of Your Boy" and a couple reprises. The song is mushy and the backstory is unneeded. The character worked fine in the movie. If they needed to add time to the show, I would have preferred they add it to the end as the whole Jafar becomes Sultan becomes Genie gets trapped in the lamp thing moved really quickly. A little too quickly for me. If they just felt like he needed backstory, well...whatever. I disagree.
Anyway, I have been asking myself, was it worth the money. I say Yes...to see a show on Broadway, it was worth it. Will I do it again, I am unsure. It might depend on the show. Or the cast. For example, I am going back to NYC for work in a couple weeks. Bette Midler is starring in Hello Dolly. I might pay to see her. But, if it was just Hello Dolly and I knew Hello Dolly would be traveling through Seattle at some point, probably not.
But, this first time...totally worth it! Thanks Kimmy for taking me for your birthday!
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