BASED ON THE HIT 1992 ANIMATED FILM WITH NEW SONGS BY TONY®, OLIVIER®, GRAMMY®, EMMY® AND EIGHT-TIME ACADEMY AWARD® WINNER ALAN MENKEN
BIRMINGHAM HIPPODROME FROM WED 9 OCT – SUN 3 NOV 2024 WITH TICKETS ON GENERAL SALE FROM MONDAY 27 OCTOBER VIA BIRMINGHAMHIPPODROME.COM
Disney Theatrical Productions, under the direction of Thomas Schumacher, present the critically acclaimed Broadway and West End musical Aladdin which will land in Birmingham in 2024 as part of its first ever UK and Ireland tour.
Disney’s Aladdin will open at Birmingham Hippodrome on Wednesday 9 October 2024 with performances until Sunday 3 November 2024. Tickets will go on sale to Friends of Birmingham Hippodrome on Monday 23 October 2023 from 10am and on general sale on from 10am on Friday 27 October 2023. A full tour schedule can be found at aladdinthemusical.co.uk.
The UK and Ireland tour of Disney’s Aladdin will star Yeukayi Ushe (Disney’s The Lion King, A Strange Loop, Kinky Boots and Motown The Musical) as Genie and introduce Gavin Adams as Aladdin. A recent graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, Gavin will be making his professional debut in the title role. Also a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, Desmonda Cathabel (Miss Saigon, From Here to Eternity) will play Jasmine when the show opens in Edinburgh, with casting for the role in future venues to be announced in due course.
They will be joined by Adam Strong (Rock of Ages, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat) as Jafar, Jo Servi (Dreamgirls, The Color Purple) as Sultan, Angelo Paragoso (The Reporter, Miss Saigon) as Iago, Nay-Nay (Once On This Island) as Babkak, Adam Taylor (Cabaret, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie) as Omar, and Nelson Bettencourt (Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Les Misérables) as Kassim.
The full cast will also include Hannah Amin, Dammi Aregbeshola, Rico Bakker, Daisy Barnett, Sarah Benbelaid, Erin Gisele Chapman, Tau-En Chien, Zac Frieze, Jared Irving, Juan Jackson, James Lim, Harriet Millier, Luchia Moss, Aaron Elijah Patel, Abbie Platts, Joseph Poulton, Chris Ribz, Olivier Scheers, Kerry Spark, Ricardo Spriggs, Damien Winchester, Niko Wirachman.
Experience the timeless story of Disney’s Aladdin, a thrilling production filled with unforgettable magic, comedy and breathtaking spectacle! Don’t miss this extraordinary theatrical event already seen by over 14 million people worldwide, where one lamp and three wishes make the possibilities infinite.
"As Aladdin approaches its second decade onstage, we are thrilled that the 11th production of the glorious Broadway show will soon be seen by audiences throughout the UK and Ireland. Thanks to Casey Nicholaw's direction, Alan Menken's music and the peerless design team of Bob Crowley, Natasha Katz and Gregg Barnes this show is a powerful tonic, an irresistible lift for every audience who sees it,' said Thomas Schumacher, President & Producer Disney Theatrical Productions. "The musical theatre performers in the UK and Ireland rival any on the planet and we look forward to presenting the best of them in this joyous new production."
"I remember when I first watched Disney's animated feature of Aladdin as a child" says Yeukayi Ushe (Genie), "singing along to those timeless songs and watching in awe at the comedic stylings of Robin Williams. Now I get to take that brilliant, bold, and beloved Genie envisaged by such brilliant creators and bring him to life in this spectacular, all singing, all dancing live stage version, going on UK tour for the first time.”
Gavin Adams (Aladdin) continues: “I am delighted to be making my theatrical debut in such an iconic role, a real diamond in the rough whose aspirations and heart make him a true loveable hero. Come and join us on this magic carpet ride! We can’t wait to see you.”
Adapted from Disney’s 1992 animated film and centuries-old folktales including “One Thousand and One Nights”, this smash-hit musical is brought to theatrical life in a unique and dazzling way. The show continues its record-breaking run on Broadway at the New Amsterdam Theatre, and since opening there in March 2014, nine subsequent productions have launched around the world, including over 1200 performances at the Prince Edward Theatre in London’s West End.
Aladdin features the timeless songs from the animated film, as well as new music by Tony®, Olivier®, Grammy® and eight-time Academy Award® winner Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast, Newsies, Sister Act), lyrics by two-time Academy Award® winner Howard Ashman (Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid), three-time Tony® and three-time Academy Award® winner Tim Rice (The Lion King, Evita, Aida) and six-time Tony® nominee Chad Beguelin (The Prom, The Wedding Singer), with a book by Beguelin, and is directed and choreographed by Tony® and Olivier® Award winner Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon).
Aladdin is designed by seven-time Tony®-winning scenic designer Bob Crowley, seven-time Tony®-winning lighting designer Natasha Katz, two-time Tony®-winning costume designer Gregg Barnes and sound designer Ken Travis.
The production team also includes illusion designers Jim Steinmeyer and Rob Lake, hair designer Josh Marquette and makeup designer Milagros Medina-Cerdeira. The music team is headed by music supervisor and music director Michael Kosarin, who also created the vocal and incidental music arrangements, joined by orchestrator Danny Troob and dance music arranger Glen Kelly. Ben Clare is the associate director, Kyle Seeley is the dance supervisor, Jason Trubitt is the production supervisor and Myriah Bash is the US general manager. Casting is by Jill Green CDG.
Disney’s Aladdin will open at Birmingham Hippodrome on Wednesday 9 October 2024 with performances until Sunday 3 November 2024. Tickets will go on sale to Friends of Birmingham Hippodrome on Monday 23 October 2023 from 10am and on general sale on from 10am on Friday 27 October 2023. Tickets can be booked at www.birminghamhippodrome.com or by calling 0844 338 5000*
*0844 calls will cost you 4.5p per minute plus your phone company’s access charge.
ENDS
Monday 18 September 2023
For press enquiries contact:
Lauren Morton, Touring Productions Communications Manager, Birmingham Hippodrome
laurenmorton@birminghamhippodrome.com
07935 758730
Website: aladdinthemusical.co.uk
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AladdinMusicalUK
Instagram instagram.com/aladdinuk/
Twitter https://twitter.com/AladdinOnStage
YouTube youtube.com/disneyonbroadway
Notes to Editors
DISNEY THEATRICAL PRODUCTIONS (DTP), Disney Theatrical Productions (DTP), a division of The Walt Disney Studios, was formed in 1994 and operates under the direction of Thomas Schumacher. Worldwide, its ten Broadway titles have been seen by more than 200 million theatregoers and have been nominated for 62 Tony® Awards, winning Broadway’s highest honor 20 times. The company’s inaugural production, Beauty and the Beast, opened in 1994, playing a remarkable 13-year run on Broadway and produced in replica productions around the world over four decades. In November 1997, Disney made theatrical history with the opening of The Lion King, which received six 1998 Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Director, Julie Taymor, who became the first woman in Broadway history to win the award. Surpassing 25 landmark years on Broadway, it has welcomed 112 million visitors worldwide to date and has nine productions currently running worldwide. The Lion King has played over 100 cities in 24 countries on every continent except Antarctica and its worldwide gross exceeds that of any film, Broadway show or entertainment title in box office history. Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida opened on Broadway next, winning four 2000 Tony Awards. It was followed by Mary Poppins, a co-production with Cameron Mackintosh, which opened in London in 2004 and went on to enjoy a six-year Tony-winning Broadway run. Tarzan®, Tony-nominated for its 2006 Broadway premiere, went on to become an international hit with an award-winning production enjoying a ten-year run in Germany. In January 2008, The Little Mermaid opened on Broadway and was the best-selling new musical of that year. DTP opened two critically acclaimed productions on Broadway in 2012, winning seven Tony Awards between them: Peter and the Starcatcher and Newsies, each of which enjoyed a two-year run and launched North American tours, with Newsies playing a record-breaking Fathom Events in-cinema release. Aladdin, Disney Theatrical’s 2014 hit, continues its smash Broadway run. It has launched nine productions around the globe and been seen by more than 14 million guests. DTP’s newest hit, the 2018 Tony-nominated Best Musical Frozen currently has four productions around the world. Other successful stage ventures have included the Olivier-nominated London hit Shakespeare in Love, stage productions of Disney’s High School Musical, Der Glöckner Von Notre Dame in Berlin, and King David in concert. DTP has collaborated with the nation’s preeminent theatres to develop new stage musicals including The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Freaky Friday and Hercules. As a part of the recent acquisition of 21st Century Fox, DTP also heads the Buena Vista Theatrical banner, which licences Fox titles for stage adaptations including Anastasia, Moulin Rouge! The Musical and Mrs. Doubtfire. With 24 productions currently produced or licensed, a Disney musical is being performed professionally somewhere on the planet virtually every hour of the day.
ABOUT BIRMINGHAM HIPPODROME
Birmingham Hippodrome is on a mission to provide that “goosebumps” feeling through memorable and extraordinary experiences. Our vision is clear, we want a “distinctive, world-class Birmingham cultural scene with the Hippodrome at its heart”. As one of the biggest providers of arts and culture in the city, the Hippodrome provides over a million people a year with those same goosebumps moments through our on and off stage programmes and performances.
Long recognised as one of the UK’s premier presenting theatres, the past five years have seen Birmingham Hippodrome develop into a creative producing organisation focused on access, diversity and inclusion, doubling our impact to match our annual audience of 550,000 with a further 450,000 people engaged via festivals, learning, participation and produced work. Recent partnerships have included working with China Plate on the new musical To The Streets!, the immersive performance Waswasa – Whispers in Prayer with Soul City Arts, our co production with Curve of the award-winning The Color Purple and our collaboration with Rambert on Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby.
With nine Associate Companies, the Hippodrome produces and commissions bold new work, telling fresh and engaging stories, reflecting the youth and diversity of the city and region. We have further enhanced our reputation as a leading provider for Festivals, engaging over 150,000 people through B-SIDE Hip-Hop Festival, co-producing the city’s Lunar New Year celebrations, and regularly collaborating with Bullring & Grand Central on events including Birmingham Weekender.
Our Hippodrome Education Network delivers creative activities in 44 partner schools every week – 80% of which are in the UK’s 10% most deprived communities – with over 40,000 young people taking part over 120,000 times each year.
We are also the largest dance campus outside London, home to Birmingham Royal Ballet (led by Carlos Acosta), FABRIC, Dance Consortium, OneDanceUK and digital agency The Space.
Birmingham Hippodrome is an independent charity, run by a board of voluntary trustees with no regular revenue
