40 Fun Facts About Aladdin (Broadway Musical)

Which sidekick replaced Babkak, Omar and Kassim in the 1992 film before the Aladdin stage musical restored them?

Abu, the hero's pet monkey, pushed the three human pals out of the 1992 film. They had been created for the film by its songwriters, and the stage show gives them back their songs.

Which comedian voiced the Genie in the 1992 Disney film that the Aladdin Broadway musical is based on?

Robin Williams voiced the Genie on screen, while the stage Genie gets an extra job: he also delivers the opening narration that the film gave to a peddler.

The Tony-winning original Genie of Aladdin on Broadway left the show in 2017 to join which other hit musical?

Hamilton gave the departing Genie two parts at once, the Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson, after about three years of granting wishes at Aladdin.

Which Genie showstopper did the cast of the Aladdin Broadway musical perform at the 2014 Tony Awards ceremony?

Friend Like Me is the number in which the Genie proves his powers to a doubting Aladdin, who has just been sealed inside the Cave of Wonders.

Telly Leung, who took over the title role in Aladdin on Broadway in 2017, played a Warbler on which TV series?

Glee cast him as Wes, a member of the Dalton Academy Warblers, years before he flew the magic carpet at Aladdin.

Which composer wrote the music for every song in the Aladdin Broadway musical, film favourites and new numbers alike?

Alan Menken wrote four new songs for the stage show and revived three that had been written for the 1992 film but never used.

Which opening number of the Aladdin stage musical is sung by the Genie instead of the film's peddler?

Arabian Nights was sung in the 1992 film by a peddler whom the directors later confirmed to be the Genie in disguise, a link the stage show makes plain.

Which Oscar-winning duet do Aladdin and Jasmine sing during the magic carpet ride in the Broadway stage musical?

A Whole New World was also the first song from a Disney animated film to top the US Billboard Hot 100.

Josh Dela Cruz, a longtime understudy for Aladdin on Broadway, became the host of which preschool TV series?

Blue's Clues & You! chose him from more than 3,000 actors who auditioned, after about five years covering the title role in Aladdin.

In which city did the Aladdin stage musical play the Prince Edward Theatre from 2016 until 2019?

London's West End run was seen by more than two million people across 1,361 performances before it closed in August 2019.

In which city did the Aladdin stage musical have its Australian premiere in 2016, at the Capitol Theatre?

Sydney's first Aladdin was Ainsley Melham, who came to the role from the children's music group Hi-5 and later played it on Broadway.

Which Disney musical ended its Broadway run in 2013, freeing the theatre where Aladdin opened the following year?

Mary Poppins closed in March 2013 after more than six years in the house, and Aladdin began previews there the following February.

In the Aladdin stage musical's second-act parade, the disguised hero is announced as the prince of which invented land?

Ababwa is the made-up homeland of Prince Ali, whose arrival parade, led by the Genie, opens the second act.

Which new song do Jafar and Iago sing while leading Aladdin to the Cave of Wonders in the Broadway musical?

Diamond in the Rough takes its title from the Cave of Wonders' own phrase for the one worthy person allowed to enter.

In the Aladdin stage musical, which office does Jafar hold under the Sultan while plotting to seize the throne?

Grand Vizier Jafar ends the show trapped in a lamp of his own, after being tricked into wishing to become a genie.

Which actor won a Tony Award for playing the Genie in the original Broadway cast of the Aladdin musical?

James Monroe Iglehart won Best Featured Actor in a Musical, the show's only win from five Tony nominations.

At which Broadway theatre, restored by Disney in the 1990s, did the Aladdin musical open in March 2014?

The New Amsterdam opened in 1903 and spent 1937 to 1983 as a cinema before Disney restored it; Aladdin played its 4,000th performance there in May 2025.

Which ballad, cut from the 1992 film with Aladdin's mother, became the stage musical's signature song?

Proud of Your Boy has Aladdin promising his late mother he will change his ways; a Disney executive had ordered both her and the song out of the film after a test screening.

Which actor voiced Jafar in the 1992 film and then played the villain in the Aladdin musical on Broadway?

Jonathan Freeman stayed with the Broadway show for nearly eight years, giving his final performance as Jafar in January 2022.

In which city was the Aladdin stage musical first staged in 2011, at the 5th Avenue Theatre?

Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre is a regular testing ground for Broadway-bound shows, having also launched Hairspray and The Wedding Singer.

Which Canadian city hosted the pre-Broadway tryout of the Aladdin musical at the Ed Mirvish Theatre in 2013?

Toronto's run lasted from November 2013 to January 2014, and Broadway previews began the month after it ended.

Which lyricist, who pitched the idea for Disney's Aladdin in 1988, wrote the cut songs the stage musical restored?

Howard Ashman died in 1991 before the film was finished, and three of the songs it dropped were revived for the stage about twenty years later.

Which lyricist, a collaborator of Andrew Lloyd Webber, wrote the words to One Jump Ahead in the Aladdin musical?

Tim Rice was brought in to finish the 1992 film's songs after its first lyricist died, and his numbers carried over to the stage version.

Which actor originated the title role in Aladdin on Broadway, years before his sister Arielle played Jasmine there?

Adam Jacobs had already played Simba in The Lion King on Broadway, and he left Aladdin in 2017 to lead its North American tour.

Which actress originated Princess Jasmine in Aladdin on Broadway and later starred as Satine in Moulin Rouge?

Courtney Reed played Jasmine on Broadway for nearly four years, then returned to the part in the closing cast of the West End production in 2019.

Which co-director of The Book of Mormon directed and choreographed the Aladdin musical on Broadway?

Casey Nicholaw had staged the show since its first production in 2011, and his Aladdin choreography earned a Tony nomination.

In which German city did the Aladdin stage musical open in 2015, before transferring to Stuttgart four years later?

Hamburg's Neue Flora housed the production from December 2015 until February 2019, when the show moved south to the Apollo Theater.

Which song, new to the Aladdin stage musical, does Jasmine sing to her attendants after refusing another suitor?

These Palace Walls comes just after the Sultan orders Jasmine to marry a prince before her birthday, which is only three days away.

The Broadway theatre where Aladdin opened in 2014 was home to which famous revue series from 1913 to 1927?

Ziegfeld Follies producer Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. kept an office in the building and ran a second theatre on its roof.

In the Aladdin stage musical, which song cut from the 1992 film do Babkak, Omar and Kassim sing on a rescue mission?

High Adventure sends the trio storming in to free their arrested pal, only for all three to be thrown into the dungeon themselves.

What position are Aladdin's pals Babkak, Omar and Kassim given at the end of the Broadway stage musical?

Royal advisors is the trio's reward, while Jafar's sidekick Iago is arrested as the newlyweds fly off on the magic carpet.

Which former Sugababes singer played Princess Jasmine in the original West End cast of the Aladdin musical?

Jade Ewen had also sung for the United Kingdom at Eurovision in 2009, finishing fifth with a song co-written by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

In which Midwestern city did the first US national tour of the Aladdin stage musical launch in April 2017?

Chicago hosted the launch, with the show's original Broadway Aladdin heading the touring cast.

Which writer, also behind The Wedding Singer and Elf, wrote the book for the Aladdin Broadway musical?

Chad Beguelin also wrote the lyrics for the show's new songs, earning Tony nominations for both the book and the score.

Which Cork-born designer, a seven-time Tony winner, created the sets for the Aladdin musical on Broadway?

Bob Crowley came aboard for the 2013 Toronto tryout, replacing the first production's set designer, and later earned an Olivier nomination for the West End sets.

Which illusion designer, who made the Statue of Liberty vanish for David Copperfield, created Aladdin's stage magic?

Jim Steinmeyer holds four US patents for illusion apparatus and has also advised Siegfried and Roy and Lance Burton.

Which original Broadway Sultan in Aladdin also wrote the Jackson 5 hit Never Can Say Goodbye?

Clifton Davis wrote the song in his mid-twenties and went on to star in the sitcoms That's My Mama and Amen.

Which country hosted the European premiere of the Aladdin stage musical in 2012, before the show reached Broadway?

Denmark's Fredericia Teater staged it in October 2012, and the production later moved to the Copenhagen Opera House.

Which costume designer, a Tony winner for The Drowsy Chaperone and Some Like It Hot, dressed Aladdin on Broadway?

Gregg Barnes had dressed the show since its first staging in 2011 and stayed on when the scenery was handed to a new designer before Broadway.

In which city did a Korean-language production of the Aladdin musical open in 2024 before moving to Busan?

Seoul's Charlotte Theater hosted the show from November 2024 to June 2025, a decade after its Broadway opening.