Disney's Aladdin the Musical

Las Saturday, I got to see Disney's Aladdin musical on tour at Playhouse Square.   That was truly fun and I loved it more than the movie.    Abu is gone, and is replaced by Aladdin's 3 friends.  Iago is still there, but he's now a human.  The show was expanded by Alan Menkin originally for non-professional companies (high schools).   But it was so excellent that it was made part of the Disney stage family.

The magic carpet is an amazing illusion.  Also, the Genie steals the show.  4th wall breaking, pop culture referencing, and massively fun.   He's worth the price of the ticket.   Go see this show if you have the chance.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

We saw the Hunchback of Notre Dame at Great Lakes Theater this past Thursday.   I hadn't seen the movie until the week before.  I really enjoyed this production.   They made the ending closer to the book.   It was nicely un-Disney-like to remove the happy ending.   The music was lovely, lots of Latin.   Also, it is implied that the talking gargoyles may be part of Quasimodo's mind rather than the magical dancing characters seen in the animated film.   This is playing until November 4th, and I highly recommend it.

Freaky Friday the Musical

I have seen all three versions of the Freaky Friday movie franchise.   Although the characters were different in all versions, the premise is the same: a mother and daughter switch bodies and experience one another's lives.   I was quite happy with the musical at Cleveland Playhouse last night.  This show has not been to Broadway yet, but I imagine it will once it earns a following.   CPH has even extended its run by an entire week.  Go see it!

Disney's The Little Mermaid

We got back from a seafood dinner after seeing the Little Mermaid at the Beck Center.  Ok, I admit that dinner was slightly morbid.  But they were singing about delicious fish!

Seriously though, I had low expectations for the show and was happily surprised.   It wasn't all kiddie stuff, which was nice.  They brought back the concept of Ursula as Ariel's aunt (which was cut from the movie) and of course the ending was changed for staging purposes.   The actress who plays Ariel gets to sing her thoughts in the second act though her character is mute.  Also, watching her expression as the fish is served at dinner is hilarious!

Mary Poppins

We just got back from seeing Mary Poppins at the Beck Center.  Now that is how a musical is supposed to be!  It was dozens of times better than White Christmas!

The plot has changed from the movie version, but all changes are an improvement.  You get a little more background on Mr. Banks, and Mrs. Banks has an internal struggle as she adapts from being an actress to a wife.  The children are naughtier in this version, but Mary Poppins sets them straight.  She's not all sugar and roses, but perplexing and enigmatic which makes her an intriguing character.  
This is a very strong production from the Beck Center and is not to be missed.

Beauty and the Beast

Tonight we saw the new tour of Disney's Beauty and the Beast.   I saw the original production on tour in 1996.  The music and storyline remain the same (including the additional songs from the original production that were cut from the movie), but the staging and sets are quite different.  The original run featured greatly detailed sets, which were reminiscent of the 1991 animated feature film.  The new production is more impressionistic, like walking into a French painting.  The colors are vivid and the set structures are more fanciful.

One thing that I found interesting was how they maneuvered the castle set pieces around.  Men dressed up as gargoyles would push the scenes onto the stage and they would essentially disappear.  Actually, the guys would sit really still and fade into the background.  It was really easy to forget that they were there until things started moving again.  They were definitely more than stagehands though.  They danced along with the rest of the company during "Human Again."

I'm really glad that they kept the beer stein clanking part during "Gaston."  It was one of the most memorable parts of the original production for me.   You should definitely watch out for it and enjoy it.  Overall, the production is fun and sweet.  It's got something for everyone, from kids to Broadway veterans.

Restaurant Marrakesh

We went to a Disney Park for the first time since 1997!  Specifically, we went to Epcot, which was my favorite park since I was a kid.  It's a very educational park, with the science leaning Future World and the culturally diverse World Showcase.  We called the week beforehand and made reservations for dinner in Morocco at Restaurant Marrakesh.  There was belly dancing as entertainment with live music!

It was noted on the menu that the national dish of Morocco is couscous, so we ordered some.  This was my chicken couscous.  The chicken was tender and juicy, and the texture of the pasta was just perfect.

My husband ordered the lamb shank couscous.   He really enjoyed it.

If we had realized how large the portion sizes were, we would have shared a dish.   Walking around a theme park, there isn't much you can do with leftovers.  If we had the means, I would call this four meals.