The cast of Aladdin all dressed up as Mormon missionaries earlier this week to greet their director Casey Nicholaw. The director had just returned from New York, where Sunday evening he and co-director Trey Parker had been honored with the Tony Award for “Best Direction of a Musical” for their work on the hit The Book of Mormon. (Nicholaw is fourth from R. in front row.)
As you may have heard, The Book of Mormon cleaned up at this year’s Tonys, winning nine Awards, including “Best Musical.”
Rehearsals for Aladdin, a new stage musical produced by Disney, are underway in Seattle at The 5th Avenue Theatre, where the show is getting its out-of-town tune-up before heading to Broadway. Disney rubbed some kind of magic lamp when it assembled the stellar creative team for Aladdin:
• Music by Alan Menken
• Lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice
• Book by Chad Beguelin
• Directed and Choreographed by Casey Nicholaw
Aladdin runs July 7-31 at The 5th Avenue Theatre. Advance ticket sales have been hot. In recent years The 5th Avenue has incubated the Broadway musicals Hairspray, The Wedding Singer, Shrek: the Musical and Catch Me If You Can.
