Excerpted from the Aladdin study guide. Adapted from an article by Albert Evans, with permission from The 5th Avenue Theatre. The Aladdin story, on which the Broadway musical is based, has its origins in One Thousand and One Nights. Although the stories were compiled by Antoine Galland, a French translator, around 1710, the tales themselves […]
Riverdance 25th Anniversary Show is celebrating its silver anniversary and it’s a double whammy — 25 years performing for 25 million fans. But that was not the original expectation. Riverdance started as a one-time, seven-minute performance. “It came from the Eurovision song contest, which is a big contest in Europe and it’s watched by about […]
This article originally ran in Disney twenty-three, a publication of D23: The Official Disney Fan Club. Early in the evolution of Aladdin, composer Alan Menken, book writer and lyricist Chad Beguelin and director/choreographer Casey Nicholaw got together to write a brand new song for the stage musical – a unique collaboration that could only happen […]
Alain Boublil (Book & Original French text) and Claude-Michel Schönberg (Book & Music) share their insights on Les Misérables. A few years after the huge success of the original Les Misérables in Paris, we met Cameron Mackintosh to discuss an English version. He told us excitedly, “You do not realise what you have written.” Neither […]
The most critically-acclaimed new musical of the season, KIMBERLY AKIMBO, will launch a National Tour with the Denver Center for the Performing Arts in September 2024. The 75-week tour will play 60 cities across North America. Casting, exact dates and additional cities will be announced on a later date. “KIMBERLY AKIMBO is the kind of […]
If I was to say what had happened to Les Misérables is the dream I dreamed, it would not be true – Les Mis has been a success beyond my wildest dreams. The show in 1985 that few people had booked in advance to see was coolly, if not hostilely, reviewed by the early critics. […]
CATEGORY 1: SHOW TRIVIA The title of this musical is correctly pronounced: Lay Miz-Ah-Rob Less Miserabels Lace Miserah-blays Jean Valjean attempts to elude Inspector Javert by disappearing: Across the lake below the Paris Opera Into the sewers of Paris Into the tavern run by the Thénardiers What is the significance of the number 24601? It […]
Twenty-two years later, the worldwide phenomenon of Riverdance continues to play to enthusiastic audiences across the globe.
This article is reprinted with permission from Les Misérables. Written by Set & Image Designer Matt Kinley. I had already worked on several original productions of Les Misérables for John Napier when I was asked by producer Cameron Mackintosh to start looking at other ideas for a tour of Les Misérables. Having been involved in […]
