The guys behind the Tiara Talk Show talked with the lead voice actors of Aladdin, Scott Wienger, Linda Larkin and Jonathan Freeman about how they ended up being the voice of popular Disney characters for almost 2 decades, how they got the part,  why they love their work and working for Disney in general. There’s some inside talk  about things like  the Music behind the Magic 4 CD box that contains demo recordings for songs that didn’t make into the final film, the inside joke of Scott Weinger dressing up as Aladdin in that Full House 2 part episode when the family went on holiday to Walt Disney World. And other stuff like the musical stage show in Disney California adventures.

Howard Ashaman’s sister, Sarah Ashman Gillespie s recently started a blog devoted to her brother the amazing lyricist, composer, producer, writer and creative genius who past away far to early now almost 21 years ago to the day. With this blog she recalls her childhood and talks with the many people Howard worked with and became friends like some of the big names at the Disney animation studio in California. One of them John Musker co-director/co-writer/co-producer  of The Little Mermaid and Aladdin anwsers 10 questions about working with Howard Ashman. So far he is on the 3th question. The second one, counting down from 10 it’s actually the 8th, he’s been asked.

“This is a tricky one. How different would Aladdin have turned out had Howard lived? Did Howard ever write a screenplay or did Linda Woolverton write the original draft?” 

In an interview with Broadway World held composer and lyricist Chad Beguelin he revealed that pretty much all movie cut songs make their grant debut on Aladdin the musical. He mentioned Proud of Your Boy, Call Me a Princess, Babkak, Omar, Aladdin, Kassim and High Adventure. Plus a couple of new songs he co-wrote with Alan Menken they are A Million Miles Away, Somebody’s Got Your Back, and A Royal Wedding. We already knew Why Me is back edited in so I have to assume Count On Me and Humiliate The Boy aren’t in because they are similar to Proud Of Your Boy and the earlier mentioned Why Me.
How Quick They Forget might still be in, I mean if they put back Aladdin’s pals why not this song. I remember that Alan told that Howard’s heart broke when Aladdin’s mom was nicked back in the early nineties and so Proud of Your Boy got strike through as well. I love that has in memory of Howard this song makes it’s come back.

As for the new songs it’s everyone’s guess where they are placed and if they push the story forward. Here’s my 2 cents. A Million Miles Away could take place when Aladdin is fighting his back to Agrabah after he is send to the ends of the earth. I imagine there’s room to expand there give Al more obstacles to overcome before the reaches Carpet. Somebody’s Got Your Back could be a bonding song between Aladdin and Genie after A Friend Like Me and before Prince Ali. Or perhaps it’s further up in the show. It’s complex without knowing how the story is structured now. A Royal Wedding makes me believe the AWNW reprise is expanded to a full song near the end of the show although in the Disney film musical adoptions I’ve seen it’s common to reprise the main theme song of the show. And there’s the question if Jasmine has a decent song of her own other than that bitchy Call Me A Princess like the Disneyland California show To Be Free. That’s a nice song but I never really like it that much.
With 11 days before the premiere the excitement is getting bigger and bigger.

Actress Courtney Reed who will play Jasmine in Aladdin: The New Stage Musical preformed “Call Me A Princess” on New Day Northwest show. The song, as you may know, was written by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken while the film was still in it’s early development. Intailly the creators visioned Jasmine as a bratty, obnoxious, spoiled, supervissail girl that only cared about herself and the wealth she lives in. I recall reading that someone, might be Jeffery Katzenberg, commented that it wouldn’t make sense that Aladdin, the boy with the golden heart, would fall for such a girl so her personallity was changed to the kind and loving Princess Jasmine we know and love. In the interview following the performance Courtney explains how the song is used in the musical, as means of scaring the suitors away though I have my doubts it would work. I mean Prince Achmed looks to me like the kind of guy that would like such a brat.
Also Jim Hil has something about Jonathan Freeman and how he ended up voicing Jafar.

Jim Hill talked with Chad Beguelin who was asked to adapt the hit animated movie to a stage musical. While he kept a bit vague on what the stage production exactly will look like when it opens in Seattle in July. He did reveal some details. The most important thing, for us the fans, they don’t mess with the romance between Aladdin and Jasmine. Which to us and most other people who like the movie is, along with the friendship between Aladdin and Genie, the heart of the movie.

That’s why we’re playing the romance of Aladdin & Jasmine straight and sincere,” Chad explained. “That’s an aspect of the movie that people really love. So we’re not messing with that. Likewise that moment when Aladdin gives up his one chance at happiness to win the Genie’s freedom. That’s a scene that audiences are really looking forward to seeing being played out on stage. So we’re preserving all of the heart and the emotion of that moment from the movie.”

Chad Beguelin and the production crew use some but not all of the deleted songs that didn’t make it to the final film.

Of course, there were some drawbacks with Chad’s plan. In order to properly accommodate this material, that meant bumping out the borders of this project quite a bit. Deliberately stepping away from the storyline of this much beloved movie and then doing things like giving Aladdin a trio of street-smart friends — Omar, Babkak and Kassim – to hang out with. Would audiences in Seattle be accepting of a stage version of Disney’s “Aladdin” that differed so significantly from the animated feature?

He also told Jim that it’s still uncertain on what songs will make it to production until the cast is casted. For example he can’t confirm if Jasmine’s solo “To Be Free” written by Alan and Tim Rice for the “Disney’s Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular” is in it. Chad said to him

“It’s a pretty fluid situation right now.”

Personally I’m afraid this stage production will stray to for from the movie I fell in love with 20 years ago by forcing the story around Howard Ashman’s songs just to pay homage to him. A homage is fine, of course, he deserves it but not on the cost of everything. That they haven’t decided on what songs will make it to the production has me worried, as the premiere is just a few months away. Like wise with the casting being done is May.
This interview does reassure me that they plan to keep Genie as he is minus the pop references. I’m not really familiar with Cab Calloway or Fats Waller. I know Cab from Blues Brothers, a favorite film of mine, with his Minnie the Moocher. As for Fats Waller I probably heard his work in many movies but his name doesn’t ring a bell. So Genie could end up more different than I’ll expect which is ok as as long he keeps his serious tone and doesn’t become a clown.
Another good thing is that because Disney Theatrical is making this stage production for the regional theaters and the international market I see it coming to the small and medium theaters of Holland. Normally it’s Stage Entertainment that brings Disney musicals to Netherlands, they have brought TLK, Aida, BatB and MP here as a big production with a big ticket price in it’s own theater in The Hague. Like I went to see Mary Poppins on Wednesday. Got it as seat 1 row 1 on 1e rang which you can compare with Orchestra rang the New York production that cost me 89 euro plus 18 euro train ticket and a small amount for the tram in the Hague. Prices of the other Disney productions where simelair. When this Aladdin production comes here it’ll be a whole lot cheaper I imagine because it’s A) smaller, B) probably different production company, C) in smaller theaters.

Anyway let’s wait a few more months and see what they cooked up.

Not the best redition but song isn’t sang by that many people I felt it was worth posting.

As you might know in an earlier script the peddler would reveal himself to be genie. A demo of Arabian Nights Reprise ended up on Music Behind the Magic, a four cd box with music and songs from The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin. This set included Proud of Your Boy and various other songs that didn’t make it to final film like Humiliate the Boy and Count on Me all three where on the special edition DVD. A missed opportunity was to include this song with storyboards.

The creators of Aladdin and the King of Thieves, the third and last Aladdin film in where Aladdin meets his long last father Cassim and finally marries Jasmine, liked the song so much they used at the end of the film. This and the marriage scene made me often feel a bit down when I thought that there would be no more Aladdin after this. Al and co made a few cameo appearances and Jasmine got her own little film but it’s not the same.

The PC MS-DOS version of the Virgin Aladdin video game was by far the best of all the  ports to inferior consoles. It had higher resolution, something like 480 x 320, better graphics with more detail, smoother animation some of inbetweener’s that worked on the film contributed to the game a first in video game history and the game had stereo 44 kHz 16-bit sound with a bigger wavetable (pre-recorded music notes) than any of the consoles. Worth noting that at the time, we’re talking early 90′s, the PC was still developing itself into a game system and so things like soundcards weren’t yet integrated into the mainboard like today’s modern systems. Most common where Creative Sound Blaster 2.0 or Pro compatible cards.

Worth noting is that today The Little Mermaid will play it’s last preformance in the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. With just 685 preformances and 50 previews it’s the shortest Broadway run adaption of an animated Disney movie. Alan Menken’s new songs will live on in a national tour in the works for 2010 with future international versions as well.
Aladdin vetran Jonathan Freeman will have it’s last curtain all as Grimbsy at least on broadway.

Jim Hill editor Alex Ogle attended “An Evening with Alan Menken” back in February. I haven’t checked Jim Hill’s site for some months and didn’t come across any other mention of Alan Menken giving a concert If I had I surely had blogged about it before.

Alex mentioned how Alan Menken talked some about his old friend the way to eary lost to us genius Howard Ashman and the story of how Howard fought to keep Proud of Your Boy in the film. Alan remised that story before on the 2004 DVD and in the 1992 making of book I believe. Alan opened the evening with Beauty and the Beast and closed it A Whole New World

The BCC Radio show Friday Night is Music Night has a special of on Disney music 2 weeks ago on December 26th. The West End cast of The Lion King plus many guest preformed melodies from classic Disney films like Snowwhite, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. A Whole New World was sang by Heather Headley (1997 Broadway Nala) and Adam Pascal (98 – 00 Aida Radames). Kerry Butler also was guest to sing songs from Snowwhite and the seven dwarfs, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid. On her recent CD Kerry sang the cut-song “Call Me A Princess”

There doesn’t seem to be an option on the site to listen too older shows.

The PS Classics album “Howard sings Ashman” with recording of the late Howard Ashman (1950-1991) comes to stores next week, the 11th of November to be exact.

Howard Ashman gained fame as composer for a number of Disney films including The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin. Even after his death, he passed away before Beauty was released and well before Aladdin was completed Howard Ashman got awards for his work. In the years following his death his music lived on in Broadway and musical productions of these classic Disney films.

Howard Ashman bio is at a number of sites, Wikipedia is a good start. Disney.com has a page dedicated to the great composer they once hired. And Playbill, the site that covered the news on this CD talks about Howard as well.

“Op Zoek Naar Joseph” or “J?” is the Dutch version of the television audition show “Any Dream Will Do” where 11 consterest are fighting for the viewers sympthy and support to win the leading male role of Joseph in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. The famous hit Andrew Lloyd Webber musical based on the Bible story “Coat of Many Colors” You’re probably famillair with the show as it was co-written by Tim Rice. Who we all know as lyricst on Aladdin.
The format was used first for the British revival of The Sound of Music searching for the leading lady Maria and in 2008 Nancy was found for Oliver! In the US NBC viewers voted Laura Osnes and Max Crumm as the new Sandy and Danny in Grease That’s the backstory on to J?

It happens not much that Disney songs are heard on mainsteam Dutch television/media. Dutch Disney voice actors and actresess who have stage success as musical preformer do their promo songs but like Tarzan even got a short TV audition for the lead male and the Dutch Beauty and the Beast stage show got lots of promo gigs. I heard Kala and Belle solos in last year’s “Op Zoek Naar Evita”. The way Belle/Jane understudy won and is now finalishing her tour as Evita.
But those are musical versions of the film not the film songs themselves (the lyrics changed) so you can imagine the delight to hear a reasonable Go To The Distance 3 weeks ago. The same finalist, Mathijs, got to sing Proud of Your Boy last Sunday on the 4th live show. Rumors go that he might make to the final 3 but eventunally will be voted out in favor of Freek (Enjolras in Les Miz) or John (Tarzan understudy). He doesn’t have enough control over his voice, he trembeles in the long high tones and his text control like he puts the accent on the wrong words and his overal English isn’t that great.

Mathijs version

Clay Aiken version

Alan Menken demo version

Copied from Playbill.com:

PS Classics, the label dedicated to the heritage of Broadway and American popular song, will release “Howard Sings Ashman” this fall as the next volume in its ongoing Songwriter Series.

The disc will feature performances by the late Grammy, Golden Globe and Academy Award-winning lyricist of Beauty and the Beast, Little Shop of Horrors and The Little Mermaid, which are among other film and stage projects he worked on. The release date will be Nov. 4.

Read the full article at Playbill News

Animated News pointed to a Jim Hill article on Kelly Butler’s first solo album “Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust”. The Disney album includes several classic Alan Menken songs from Pocahontas and Hunchback as well as rare gems like the never heard before female take on Alan and Howard’s early Princess Jasmine song that got cut from the final film Call Me A Princess She has a 37-second sample clip at her website, kerrybutler.net
Kerry is familiar with Alan Menken’s work ever since she played Belle in Broadway’s “Beauty and the Beast” she was also in “Little Shop of Horrors” did the work demo recordings for the Little Mermaid musical version in 2006.