'Someday and soon, I'll make you proud of your boy' rings out across the auditorium, silencing the audience to the level that you could hear a pin dropping. And I'm sure that Gavin Adams' Mum must be truly proud of her boy, because he delivered a stellar performance in the lead role of Aladdin. Gavin Adams has the purest singing voice I have ever heard, and he beautifully encapsulates the feeling within each song.
The scene is set the moment that you walk into the auditorium, with the sounds of the orchestra warming up adding a lovely touch to the atmosphere, demonstrating the dedication and practice that goes into creating a wonderful show like this one. Having the stage curtain as a large number of magic carpets sewn together was a nice nod to the 1992 film, and the resemblance between this performance and the film during the song 'one jump ahead' will definitely make life-long Aladdin fans such as myself happy.
The whole soundtrack for the musical was brilliant, with a wide variety of song tempos and styles which was a joy to witness, my personal favourite being 'a million miles away' sung by Gavin Adams and Desmonda Cathabel which absolutely stole my heart from the moment they began, and has a beautiful melody to carry it through.
There was the perfect balance between dialogue and song, ensuring you experience the best of both worlds, and the acting was very strong on all sides, particularly from Yeukayi Ushe as the Genie who brought so much energy to this role throughout and never once stepped out of character in such a demanding part, that he really gave the audience a buzz feeling to remember.
Adam Strong was a sinister Jafar, and you know a villain has played their part well when half of the audience boo them during the encore.
I loved the added backstory of Aladdin's parents that we don't get to hear in the film, it really added dimension to the plot, and the lack of animal sidekicks was cleverly replaced through Aladdin's friends – Babkak (Nelson Bettencourt), Omar (Adam Taylor), Kassim (Nay-Nay) and Jafar's assistant, Iago (Angelo Paragoso) who injected comedy in high measure through the show.
And then there was the Cave of Wonders – which was truly a wonder to behold. The entire set was elaborate and magical, with the shimmering gold really lighting up the stage.
I wasn't a fan of how revealing some of the costumes were, but they worked well with the setting of Agrabah and added nicely to a sense of location.
'A whole new world', which one might expect to be the standout song, fell strangely flat however this could have been due to the ability of comparing it to even more superior scores such as 'a million miles away'.
Overall, it was a lovely retelling of the much beloved story of Aladdin, and though it was a long show, didn't feel excessive and I didn't want it to end!
I would definitely recommend watching and all things considered, give it five stars – be prepared to experience a very exciting family musical, because 'there's high adventure in the air'.
I watched this show on the 13th November 2024 at the Theatre Royal, Glasgow. Aladdin is running at Liverpool Empire from the 11th December 2024 – 5th January 2025. Tickets are available here.
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