Disney’s Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular

Thank you for listening to the number one podcast that entertains that space between your ears! Our normal Thursday episode will publish tomorrow, Friday February 12th. In the meantime please enjoy a pre-recording of Disney's Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular. 

Disney's Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular was a musical show with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, at Disney California Adventure. Inspired by Disney's 1992 animated film, the show premiered on January 16, 2003, and played inside the Hyperion Theater in Hollywood Land. The venue is located next to the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.

In September 2015, it was announced that the show's final day of operation would be January 10, 2016. The show was then closed on January 11, to be replaced by a Frozen-inspired musical stage show. The 45 minute production took place in the 2,000 seat Hyperion Theater, located at the end of Hollywood Blvd.

The production was a Broadway-type show. Many of the classic scenes and songs from the movie were re-created on stage and some of the action spilled out into the aisles, like Prince Ali's arrival in Agrabah on elephant back. Alan Menken composed and wrote lyrics for a new song for the production, called To Be Free. While much of the show was scripted, the dialogue of the Genie constantly changed to reflect current events in popular culture and the news. The music was orchestrated and arranged by Timothy Williams (composer) and produced by Bruce Healey, and Audio By The Bay (Paul Freeman, Bob Wackerman).

In spring 2010 it was initially announced that Disney's Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular would close and be replaced by Toy Story: The Musical, similar to the version on the Disney Cruise Line. However, later that year it announced that the plans were cancelled and that the Aladdin musical would remain for the time being. In September 2015 it was announced that the show's final day of operation would be January 10, 2016. The show was then closed on January 11, to be replaced by a Frozen-inspired musical stage show.