Magic, mayhem and the power of love. That’s what Disney’s “Aladdin Jr.” is all about. Audiences can experience it May 18-June 17, when Scottsdale Desert Stages Theatre brings the musical adventure with a prince, princess and magical genie to its new theater home at Scottsdale Fashion Square.
When street-smart Aladdin falls in love with a beautiful princess named Jasmine, he wants to marry her. But first, he must call on a genie’s magic power to turn him into a prince. And through it all, he embarks on an adventure that tests both his character and his will.
Performed in Desert Stage’s Cullity Hall, the show is directed by Lisa Barton-Figueroa. Though this is her third time directing in the theater’s new space, it will be the first time she’s worked on “Aladdin.”
“I grew up watching this movie and was mesmerized,” she says of the 1992 animated “Aladdin,” starring the voice of Robin Williams as the Genie. A live-action retelling of the 1992 film is scheduled to come out in 2019, directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Will Smith. The Broadway touring show “Disney’s Aladdin” is coming to ASU Gammage Jan. 31-Feb. 17.
Barton-Figueroa says she had “a great time working with genies to create such a wacky character. I wanted to allow the actors to access their own creativity, while paying homage to the great Robin Williams.”
“Whenever we work on a Disney show, there is a certain expectation we have to live up to,” Barton-Figueroa says. “Disney characters are identifiable, and loved by audiences.”
She also says that “every show has what I like to call ‘theater magic,’ which is when we bring the story to life. ‘Aladdin’ has ‘theatre magic’ and actual magic!”
To try to figure out how to create all the magic needed, she worked with technical director Lindsey Ihrig. They came up with the idea of using projections across the back wall, lighting effects, and two new fog machines.
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Desert Stages always offers an “early” and a “late” cast for its youth shows. The early cast performs on Fridays and Saturdays, while the late cast performs on Saturdays and Sundays.
“We have so much talent in the Valley, it allows us to give more actors the opportunities to be leads,” Barton-Figueroa says. For “Aladdin,” she has four Jasmines, Aladdins and Genies and three Jafars.
Early cast members playing Jasmine are 17-year-old Chantel Frankson, a junior at Horizon High School in Scottsdale, and 15-year-old Grace Feliciano, a freshman at Chaparral High School, also in Scottsdale.
Playing Aladdin in the early cast are Noah Hatton and Owen Donsker. Noah, 14, is an eighth grader at Cocopah Middle School in Scottsdale. Owen, 13, is a seventh grader at Basis Phoenix. “I love having so many songs to sing, with a range of vocal parts, and I get to interact with so many different characters on stage, especially the royal family and Genie,” Owen says.
Playing Genie are Angelique Restivo, 19, a junior at Arizona State University and Kennady MacDonald, 14, an eighth grader at St. Theresa in Phoenix. Kennnady enjoys bringing her own interpretation to the role. “It’s fun to get to play a comical character. More than anything, I love all the new friends I’ve made during this production!”
Late cast members in the role of Jasmine are Jamie Villarreal, 15, a sophomore at Arcadia High School, and Bridget Rhee, 15, a freshman at Pinnacle High School in Phoenix.
“Jasmine has always been one of my favorite Disney princesses,” says Bridget, “and after seeing the Broadway touring company, I’ve been dying to play her. I love the challenge of playing such a well-known character that little girls can look up to.”
Playing Aladdin in the late cast are Patrick Mullen, 12, who is in the seventh grade at Sunrise Middle School in Scottsdale, and Faden Shapiro, 15, a ninth grader at Chaparral High School.
Late cast members Hudson Wilcox and Austin Butler take the role of Genie. Hudson is 14 and in the eighth grade at Desert Shadows Middle School in Scottsdale. Austin, a DST veteran, is 18 and a senior at McClintock High School in Tempe.
“It is fun to reinvent Genie and make the character new and fresh for every audience that comes to see this fantastic show,” Austin says.
If you go: May 18-June 17; 7:30 p.m. Fridays; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays. Scottsdale Desert Stages Theatre’s Cullity Hall, inside Scottsdale Fashion Square, 7014 E. Camelback Road, Suite 0586, Scottsdale. $15. 480-483-1664 or desertstages.org
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