Aladdin

Well, the- then the Lion King was being presented at the New Amsterdam.

Now the, uh, now Aladdin is there.

It, it seems like, Jim, that, that trading a Times Square Disney DVC for, what did we end up with? The, the world's largest Applebee's.

Yeah.

Yep

... or Aladdin?

Aladdin.

Aladdin-

Yeah

... had this gentleman.

Did you know the guy from Aladdin, Ross? Was that-

I did not know him personally.

I'll do it." And so I did it for, only for a couple of shows.

And then he said, "Oh, next year, why don't you play Aladdin in Aladdin in Peterborough?" And then that was me being an actor.

Wow.

Yeah.

And I really like it.

However, we're moving away from the traditional storytelling of these pantomimes and trying to bring them into a bit of, you know, the new century.

And so actually, what we just did last year, Aladdin, I really like the way we did that show.

Yes.

On the other hand, the, the tickets to the general public, those go on sale October 1st.

Um, and, and speaking of things you need to get tickets for, uh, Aladdin on Broadway.

Have you seen all of the stuff they've been doing there lately to tr- you know, trying to get people to come to the New Amsterdam Theater? I mean, uh-

No.

For example, you get two tickets and two drinks for under $200.

Uh, and, and again, that's for, for performances Tuesday September 22nd through Sunday October 4th.

On the other hand, uh, if you want to have an extra special, uh, you know, experience at, at Aladdin, uh, the Broadway musical, they're now offering a VIP tour, which takes you backstage, gives the opportunity, uh, to meet with the cast, and even, you know, get your picture taken there on stage.

Uh, and this comes bundled with premium orchestra tickets.

They haven't seen that since Whitney, I'm sure.

And then to round out our top 10, we have Aladdin grossing $948,000 and a 90% capacity.

Who is seeing Aladdin? They just announced a stunt

cast

for Aladdin.

Right.

That's another recession indicator, that Disney is stunt casting.

And I did that with my best friend, Grace, who was like my first... friend I made at like, like my theatre club, which was so lovely.

And then I actually, this most recent Christmas, I was in Aladdin at the Chelmsford Theatre, and I played Princess Jasmine, which was so much fun.

And that was my first professional panto and it was, it was the best time, best time ever.

Yeah, my friend Esme was in Aladdin.

I don't know if it was a panto.

I don't know if it was at the theater or not.

I'm going crazy.

I think there was many, many productions of Aladdin.

In the Champ de Mars, however, these were to be seen more splendid, more wonderful than in the East, for human art had converted the airy deceptive scenes into reality.

"The Aladdin's palace of the present has been built," it was said.

"Day by day, hour by hour, it unfolds more of its wonderful splendor.

The endless halls shine in marble and many colors.

It was as if I heard the story of a whole lifetime.

You gave your heart's canticle in the music.

I thought of the thousand and one nights, said the young girl, of the lamp of fortune, of Aladdin, and she looked with pure dewy eyes upon him.

Aladdin, he repeated.

And it was a really good cast.

We were doing Aladdin.

with six of us, six of us and a techie.

So it had all been sort of crafted to fit in the back of a big van and then turn up, do it, go away again.

You know, get ourselves set up.

We'd cast a young lad who was really talented.

Great singing voice, looked the part as Aladdin.

And rehearsal's been great, been really good.