Disney’s Aladdin took on broadway just as many popular movies have over the decades and as some have been rumored to be cheesy and a waste of time that doesn’t do the classic movies justice, this one truly took each audience member for a magic carpet ride. This being my first broadway show I had low overall expectations based on musicals and such that I had seen here in Denver. However my preset ideas of what the show would entail were blown away. Each character held their own with spectacular voices, superb dancing, and exceptional costuming.

If you have not seen the Disney movie Aladdin it features a young teenage boy on the streets with his friends who steal from every little market shop, and they all often get chased and nearly caught by owners and authority. One afternoon in the market Aladdin runs into princess Jasmine who has disguised herself and run away from the castle wanting an escape. Not long after this encounter Aladdin is led by an evil man named Jafar who seeks to marry Jasmine to a cave in which only he the chosen one can go in. He needs Aladdin to bring him only the lamp so he can use his wishes to marry her, however Aladdin breaks the rules and gets trapped in the cave where the genie magically comes out of the lamp. From there Aladdin is granted three wishes and uses one to get out of the cave and the other to become a prince hoping to win young princess Jasmine over and be the winning suitor. And again he breaks the rules and sneaks up to her room where he takes her on the magic carpet ride and she realizes he is the boy she met down in town when she had run away.

This magic carpet ride was one of the most mystical parts of the show as dozens of special effects worked effortlessly together to display a real flying carpet under hundreds of stars as they sang the most popular and well known song from the Disney movie “A magic carpet ride” and the town people playing Jasmine and Aladdin or at this point Prince Ali and their voices filled the room beautifully together with seamless harmonies. And despite a few more small conflicts the two got married to end the play.

Although Princess Jasmine and Prince Ali were the main characters the genie stole the show. He narrated throughout the show and his pieces were always the most vibrant and filled with subtle comedy to keep everyone fully engaged with current references to pop culture and media that change slightly every show and he is best known for his incredible improv that the cast learns to roll with.

The final scene of the show had tinsel released through the whole auditorium that made sure you knew that you too were apart of the magical journey they had just created on the stage right before your eyes. The props moved themselves on tracks on the stage and grew or collapsed depending on the scene so the show never paused even for a minute and the perception of the journey was never broken.

This show will leave the new york broadway theater in just under a year and begin a nationwide tour. As it ventures into Colorado I would highly recommend anyone who enjoys Disney to make sure and go take part in the story of Aladdin, so you don’t miss your chance of being apart of a magic carpet ride.