The Premiere of Disney's Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular, Intro

The Premiere of Disney's Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular
Page 1 of 12

by Michelle Smith and Rebekah Moseley
January 17, 2003
Coverage of the official premiere of Disney's Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular at Disney's California Adventure. Includes a brief interview with Artistic Director Anne Hamburger, coverage of the pre-show ceremony honoring Alan Menken and pictures and video from the show itself.

20964 bytes
The Hyperion Theater brightly lit for television standups for the premiere of Disney's Aladdin: - A Musical Spectacular
Click here for a much larger version of this picture
(550 X 733, 65,690 bytes)

Table of Contents
Below are direct links to key parts of the article:

Audio and Video
There are four video clips and one audio clip available. Each is linked here and at the appropriate place within the article.

On the evening of Thursday, January 16th the Disneyland Resort transported hundreds of invited guests to the magical world of Agrabah. Our journey began as soon as we arrived at the Timon parking lot. Large spotlights shot up into the clear night sky. A large tent was setup in the parking lot and colored lights transformed the structure from fuchsia to blue while a large image of “Disney’s Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular�? remained. As we approached we were greeted by the president of the Disneyland Resort Cynthia Harriss. She directed us to a carpeted pathway which lead to the Hyperion Theather. On either side of the carpet were several camels along with their handlers. Two powerful and intimidating looking palace guards stood with their spears crossed over a covered pathway. As we approached they opened the barrier and we walked along a covered pathway which was lined with various decorations including overstuffed pillows, birdcages, and hookahs.

Suddenly the mood shifted as fog filled the corridor and the unsettling chords of the Twilight Zone could be heard. Rod Serling style narration and numerous billboards told the story of an ill-fated hotel. Lightning bursts illuminated the attraction currently under construction which was visible as this part of the pathway was covered in a transparent material.

Once again we were transported back to Agrabah by the sight of numerous palace guards. They were all standing at perfect attention holding their tall spears with eyes locked straight ahead. The carpeted path took us straight to the queue for the Hyperion for our check-in to receive our tickets for the evening performance.

The front of the Hyperion Theater was brightly lit as numerous camera crews set up for shots from the premiere of Disney’s Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular. A pair of musicians played Disney tunes with an Arabic flair. As we entered the theater we recognized numerous Disney celebrities and executives including Art Linkletter who hosted Disneyland’s opening day ceremonies, Imagineering Senior Executive Marty Sklar, Chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Jay Rasulo and others. We noticed Cynthia was making her way around the Theater chatting with the various guests, especially those with children.

For tonight’s performance each guest received a full color show program which listed the various actors and their roles as well as offering quotes from those involved in the project’s development including Anne Hamburger, Francesca Zambello and Lynne Taylor Corbitt. The program was sealed with a dated vellum. Once inside the theater each group of guests was escorted by a cast member to their seats as they attempted to fill each seat in orderly fashion.

The musicians who had been entertaining us just outside the Hyperion entrance were now inside playing tunes that included Heigh Ho and Prince Ali. As curtain time drew near they departed and the usual medley of tunes from the show filled the theater.