I saw the musical Aladdin at Place Des Arts in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, a few weeks ago. It was incredible. It was the first show I attended after the pandemic. The actors’ performances were fantastic. The costumes were colourful and beautiful.
As someone who enjoyed both the Aladdin movies – the cartoon version and the live-action from 2019, I truly enjoyed watching the musical. The play had a modification to remove animals (Abu the monkey and Yago the parrot). However, the changes/replacements were instead of Abu, Aladdin had three friends: Kasim, Omar and Babkak. Instead of Yago, the parrot, it was Jaffar’s assistant, Yago (Aaron Choi). The actors did an excellent job with their performances, especially the musical numbers. It was a fantastic cast. Adi Roy did an amazing job as Aladdin – tremendous and funny. Senzel Ahmady was bold and dynamic as Princess Jasmine. The chemistry between them was great. Aladdin’s friends Omar (Ben Chavez), Kassim (Colt Prattes) and Babkak (Jake Letts) added an exciting twist to the musical.
My favourite musical numbers include Friend Like Me, One Jump and A Whole New World. The piece Friend Like Me was fun and dynamic when I heard it. The Genie (Marcus M. Martin) was funny, with witty remarks and references (such as mentioning Wakanda from Black Panther).
The decor for the number of A Whole New World was incredible, especially the illusion of creating the magic carpet effect. It was impressive!
It was an impressive musical—fantastic work by the cast and crew. The songs brought back memories from my childhood and, recently, the live-action movie.
Flora Youssef
