Uploaded February 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago

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Aladdin

Music by Alan Menken
Arranged by John Owen Weber ′26

Conducted by Mitchell Dubin ‘25
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ABOUT THE WORK

Disney’s 1992 animated feature Aladdin is one of the studio’s most popular films, inspiring multiple adaptations, including the dazzling Broadway show and the less-enthusiastically received live-action film. The vibrant animation, memorable characters, and enchanting jazz-inspired music have cemented Aladdin’s status as a favorite among both children and adults. The original movie’s songs, composed by Alan Menken with lyrics by Howard Ashman, won two Academy Awards for Best Original Score and Best Original Song (“A Whole New World”). The Broadway musical features music by Alan Menken and a book written by Chad Beguelin.

While our music tonight is from the better-handled Broadway show, and even though the original is well-loved by many Arabs including myself, it is crucial to confront the significant failings of the original movie’s handling of Arab and MENA representation. Disney’s Aladdin perpetuates orientalist stereotypes, portraying the Arab world as exotic and barbaric. The film also homogenizes and thus erases the diverse and rich cultures of the MENA and South Asian regions. Moreover, neither the original animated film, original Broadway casting, nor the live-action adaptation featured Arab actors in the main roles, contributing to the exclusion of authentic voices and experiences. These misrepresentations reinforce harmful stereotypes and contribute to the continued and profitable dehumanization of peoples from these lands. We must scrutinize beloved classics with a critical eye, recognizing both their artistic merits and their cultural failings.

Despite its cultural and representational inadequacies, the film’s music continues to capture hearts decades later. Join us as we set the stage and highlight some of the musical’s most beloved pieces in the “Overture,” played by DPops as it is on Broadway. Then, journey with us as we arrive in the great mythical city of Agrabah during the “Arabian Nights,” and pick up the pace as we meet Aladdin in “One Jump Ahead,” who dreams of showing the world that he’s more than a street urchin. Then, we meet sheltered princess Jasmine, who sneaks out of the palace and meets Aladdin in the Broadway-exclusive number, “A Million Miles Away.” After Aladdin finds a mysterious magical lamp while doing a favor for Jafar, the evil Royal Vizier, we are amazed as we meet the Genie, who insists that there’s just no “Friend Like Me.” After the Genie’s impressive introduction, which includes a variety of references to classic Disney tunes, our story re-focuses on Aladdin. Granted three wishes, he uses his first to impress Jasmine and become “Prince Ali,” and flies away with her on the magic carpet as they embrace “A Whole New World!” Exposed by Jafar as “merely Aladdin,” our hero relies on a series of twists and trickery to both escape Jafar’s dungeon using his second wish, and to trap Jafar into a lamp of his own. He then uses his final wish to free the Genie. Aladdin and Jasmine are finally married, and they live happily ever after.

We hope you are as excited to relive this enchanting journey as we are to be performing it. Thank you, and please enjoy.

~ Karim Najjar ′27