A new principle cast will be arriving to headline Disney’s Aladdin, the hit Broadway musical. The news comes just as Aladdin hits its sixth anniversary. The title role will be taken up by Ainsley Melham, who was the star of the Australian production of Aladdin. He also previously portrayed the title role on Broadway in 2019. The exact date that he will take over the role hasn’t been announced yet. Rodney Ingram will return to play the role starting on Monday, February 17, until Melham takes over. The current Aladdin, Clinton Greenspan, will have his final performance on Sunday, February 16.
Marina Pires will be making her debut on Broadway as Jasmine for a limited run in the role. She has been in the On Your Feet! National Tour. She will begin on Tuesday, March 24th and continue through May 31st. A permanent Jasmine replacement will be announced later. Arielle Jacobs, who is currently playing the role, will have her final performance on March 22.
The new cast will join Disney’s Aladdin on Broadway along with an incredible cast that will continue on. The show also stars Michael James Scott (Something Rotten!; The Book of Mormon; Tarzan) returning to the role of the Genie on February 28th. Jonathan Freeman (Mary Poppins, The Producers, She Loves Me), a Tony Award® nominee, portrays Jafar. He also created this role for the Disney animated feature. Brian Gonzales, Mike Longo and Brad Weinstock play Aladdin’s sidekicks Babkak, Kassim and Omar. JC Montgomery portrays the Sultan and Don Darryl Rivera plays Iago. They are supported by Juwan Crawley, Dennis Stowe and Deonté L. Warren who are standbys for several of the principle roles. Juwan Crawley, and Deonté L. Warren will be covering the role of the Genie ahead of Michael James Scott’s arrival after Major Attaway departs from the role of Genie on Sunday, February 16th.
New Disney’s Aladdin Cast Biographies
AINSLEY MELHAM (Aladdin). Melham returns to Aladdin having made his Broadway debut in the title role in 2019. He recently filmed the show in London for later release, having created the role in the first Australian tour for which, he earned a 2017 Helpmann Award nomination. His other theatre credits in his native Australia includes Molina in Kiss of the Spider Woman and Sonny Malone in Xanadu. Television credits include Seasons 1-3 of “Hi-5 House” (Nickelodeon/Disney/Netflix) as a member of iconic musical group Hi-5. He received his training at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. Twitter: @ainsley_melham. Instagram: @ainsleymelham.
RODNEY INGRAM (Aladdin) is overjoyed to be back in Agrabah, this time playing Aladdin! Ingram made his Broadway debut with this company in 2015 understudying the title role. He was last seen starring as Raoul in the 30th anniversary Broadway cast of The Phantom of the Opera. His favorite regional credits include Prince Eric in The Little Mermaid, Laurie in Little Women and Gremio in Kiss Me Kate. His television credits include a recurring role on “Jane the Virgin” on the CW. rodneyingram.com
MARINA PIRES (Jasmine) is honored to be making her Broadway debut in such an iconic Disney classic! She is a trilingual actress and singer-songwriter born in Brazil, and raised in sunny South Florida. Her credits include Gloria Estefan in On Your Feet! (National Tour & Regional), PHISH (Madison Square Garden), Vanessa in In The Heights (Dallas Theatre Center), and Rapunzel in Into The Woods with Tituss Burgess. As a songwriter, Pires lyrics have been featured in the Off-Broadway musical A Never-Ending Line. Her band “The Heartstrings Project” is releasing their debut album Shadow People in 2020. @marinampires
About Aladdin
Aladdin, the hit musical based on the Academy Award®-winning animated film, opened on Broadway at the New Amsterdam Theatre to critical acclaim on March 20, 2014 and quickly established itself as one of the biggest new blockbusters in recent years, breaking 14 New Amsterdam Theatre house records. Worldwide it has welcomed more than 10 million people, grossed over $1 billion and its global footprint encompasses Tokyo, Germany, and on tour across North America.
Produced by Disney Theatrical Productions, under the direction of Thomas Schumacher, the show features music by Tony Award and eight-time Oscar® winner Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast, Newsies, Sister Act), lyrics by two-time Oscar winner Howard Ashman (Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid), three-time Tony Award and three-time Oscar winner Tim Rice (Evita, Aida) and six-time Tony Award nominee Chad Beguelin (The Prom), with a book by Beguelin, and is directed and choreographed by Tony Award® winner Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon).
Aladdin, adapted from the animated Disney film and centuries-old folktales including “One Thousand and One Nights,” is brought to fresh theatrical life in this bold new musical. Aladdin’s journey sweeps audiences into an exotic world of daring adventure, classic comedy and timeless romance. This new production features a full score, including the five cherished songs from the Academy Award-winning soundtrack and more written especially for the stage.
The animated film Aladdin was released by Disney in 1992 and was a critical and box office smash, becoming the highest-grossing film of the year.
The film won the Oscar for Best Original Score and introduced the hit song “A Whole New World,” which won the second of the film’s two Academy Awards as Best Original Song. The Peabo Bryson/Regina Belle recording of the tune soared to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Aladdin is designed by seven-time Tony-winning scenic designer Bob Crowley, six-time Tony-winning lighting designer Natasha Katz, two-time Tony-winning costume designer Gregg Barnesand sound designer Ken Travis.
The production team also includes illusion designer Jim Steinmeyer, 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.
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