Dec. 21--After an astonishing 13-year run, the "Aladdin" musical at Disney California Adventure will come to an end on Jan. 10 after entertaining 13 million people during 14,000 performances.
Over the years, I probably saw "Aladdin" a dozen times in the Hyperion Theater, and I always found the 40-minute production to be familiar yet refreshing -- thanks in large part to the Genie's constantly updated pop culture-skewering jokes. The production quality was always top-notch -- from the aerial stunts and clever puppetry to the elaborate props and beautiful costumes. And the 100-plus performers in the constantly revolving cast never lost enthusiasm for the show throughout its tremendous run.
To this day, "Aladdin" remains my favorite attraction at California Adventure, and I'll be sad to see it go. To me, it was always kind of amazing that a Broadway-caliber show -- albeit a shortened one -- was included in the price of admission to Disney California Adventure. The show was always much more than you would have expected from a theme park, where no show can ever run more than 25 minutes. And for a lot of kids, it was their first exposure to Broadway theater.
Based on the 1992 Disney animated film, the musical retells the Arabian folk tale "One Thousand and One Nights," which follows street rat Aladdin, who falls in love with the beautiful princess Jasmine with the help of the Genie and his magical lamp.
My favorite scenes in the musical have always included Genie and his acrobatic clones dancing in a "Friend Like Me" Aladdin and Jasmine soaring over the crowd on a flying carpet during "A Whole New World" and the spectacular procession through the audience of "Prince Ali" on the back of a puppeted elephant.
Through the years, "Aladdin" has withstood rumored and even announced closures and recovered after a frightening flying carpet malfunction that left two performers dangling upside down above the audience. But the popular show has kept chugging along, with versions of the show created for the Disney Cruise Line and Broadway.
