Navigating New York: Aladdin on Broadway

When we arrived at the New Amsterdam Theater, the venue of the Broadway show, Aladdin, I was a mess. My hair was in disarray, my face was wet from tears, my eyes red, and I was panting like a horse that just lost a race. The front-of-house staff saw us and assured us that we were just in time. They scanned our tickets, gave us our playbills, and ushered us inside. They said it would be another couple of minutes before they closed the doors. A couple of minutes! That was close…really close! I couldn’t decide whether I wanted to laugh or cry.

After our dinner at the Italian restaurant, we went back to our hotel to change. But my husband took his sweet time thinking that a ten-minute walk to the theatre was all that’s needed, without taking into consideration the line up and the possibility of getting lost or taking the wrong turn or any sort of delay. In short, we left the hotel at the last possible minute and ended up running during the last five minutes as I was in panic while looking at my watch and doing a countdown in my head.

But we made it…two minutes before the doors closed! Oh my heart!

Inside the theatre, we found our seats and I asked my husband to quickly run and get a booster seat for our son. We squeezed our way through our row as we said, “Excuse us, please” to the other people already seated. I barely had time to catch my breath, get comfortable, and admire the Art Nouveau interior of the theatre before the lights dimmed down and the music started playing.

The opening number was spectacular as expected. And the whole time it was running, I was thinking to myself that we had almost missed this. I couldn’t imagine what I would have done because the options were limited. We couldn’t exchange our tickets for another performance because even if I bought ticket insurance, the policy doesn’t cover tardiness as a justification. At best, we would have been admitted inside the theatre after the grand opening.

My husband whispered, “I’m so sorry.” I replied with, “Please, NEVER do this to me again! And please don’t talk to me right now.” I wasn’t mad anymore, but I wanted no interruptions as I watched the Genie and the Company perform the “Arabian Nights.”

The opening of any musical sets the scene of the play and introduces its theme and key characters. For me, personally, it’s the best part. I only relaxed when the opening number came to an end and the show went on with the beginning of the story.

I was glad I chose this over The Lion King. The actor who played Aladdin was Filipino. The actress who played Princess Jasmine was half-Filipina. The actor who played Jafar’s sidekick Iago was Filipino. And they all gave brilliant performances. I also spotted several Filipino-looking actors among the ensemble. I was able to confirm this during the intermission when I had time to look at the playbill. The lead actor was the understudy, but he had the voice and stage presence of a certified lead actor.

I’ve never heard of any of them, but from their bios, it seems like they have made their mark in the performing arts whether on Broadway, off-Broadway, and television for some. But I must say that the best performance was that of the Genie. He was perfect for the role and he was hilarious! Even my husband, who has a dry, sarcastic humour, was laughing all throughout the show.

I remembered the first Broadway show that I watched. In 1993, our university theatre group got invited by our U.S.-Canada Alumni Association to perform our stage musical in several cities in the East Coast including New York City (at Fordham University which is a Jesuit institution). I was the group’s Technical Director. Our Musical Director, a batch mate of mine, happened to be the brother of Ms. Lea Salonga, known for her role as the original Kim in the stage musical, Miss Saigon by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, and who went on to voice the singing parts of Disney Princesses Mulan and Princess Jasmine in the animated films.

 In support of her brother, a budding musician (he went on to study at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, worked at Sony Pictures as an orchestrator,  became the musical director of the ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra founded by the TV network where I used to work, and conducted several national orchestras), Lea travelled with us and sang a few numbers for our show’s intermission.

During our stop in New York City, Lea and Gerard asked if we were interested in watching Miss Saigon on Broadway and a handful of us expressed interest. Lea, at that time, was no longer playing Kim, but she still had connections with the production people. She was able to get front row seats for us at a discounted rate and arranged for a backstage tour for us after the show. I remember watching in awe as the production crew demonstrated to us how they did the play’s special effects.

On that same NYC trip, I also watched Cats with my host dad (an alumnus of our university who “adopted” me and two other girls for the duration of our stay in NYC). He introduced me to the TKTS Discount Booths, where one can purchase same-day Broadway and off-Broadway tickets for 20-50% off. The two other girls didn’t join us. One went for dinner with her relatives in New Jersey. The other one was not feeling well and decided to sleep at home.

I enjoyed both plays - the first, being the talk-of-the-town back in Manila in those days because of Lea, and the second, being one of the more familiar musicals in the Philippines because of the song, “Memory“ which has been covered by several diva singers.

My boys seemed to have enjoyed Aladdin as well. I could see how engaged my son was and during the intermission, and he kept asking me questions, mostly on how the special effects were done onstage. My husband was mostly awake for the duration of the show, which was a good sign, because he would often fall asleep in the darkness of the theatre while a performance was ongoing.

At the end of the show, when all the lights were on, I was finally able to marvel at the beauty of this old theatre with its oversized curvilinear wooden ornamentation in the shape of flowers, fruits, and vines. The splash of bright colours in silvery green, mauve, lilac, pink, red, and gold definitely added to the visual impact. The line of the proscenium arch is accompanied by a chain of peacock reliefs and this feature is repeated in the ceilings. The elaborate pod-like boxes on either side of the stage appeared to be floating in air and each one uniquely designed with floral motifs - lily, buttercup, violet, and goldenrod. Theatres like this truly inspire performers and audiences alike.

 We used the washrooms downstairs and passed by the New Amsterdam Room, a former men’s lounge where cocktail parties are now held. On the ceiling hangs an imposing “Winged Victory” relief and around the lounge are murals that depict the history of New York City. In the ladies’ lounge is a ceiling fresco that depicts classical figures. We exited through the lobby again and this time, since we were not running, I was able to notice the details – an art glass dome, an opulent fireplace beneath it, large murals, marble wall fountains, brilliant mosaics, and bronze busts. 

This was, by far, the most elaborate theatre I have seen in Broadway, and I later learned that this building is one of the oldest surviving Broadway venues, having been built in 1902 and designed to dazzle even the most blasé theatregoer. The lavish look was also meant to mimic the magical quality of the first show that opened here – A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  We were definitely transported into a new era while inside.

Outside, as I looked at the theatre from across the street, I realized how deceiving its narrow façade is. Who would ever think that the small entrance with its ornately sculptured arch in Beaux Arts explosion is hiding a huge theatre behind that reaches all the way to 41^st Street!

My husband brought me back to reality as he reminded me that we made a promise to our son to try for Springsteen’s autograph again. I checked my watch. We had more than enough time to walk back to the Walter Kerr Theatre.

Switching on my “I am on a mission” mode, we marched back to West 48^th Street with a resolve to succeed this time.