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18
SUMMER PROGRAM 2012
About Tonight
We’re so happy you’re here for the magical Muny premiere of Disney’s
Aladdin
.
The Muny “children’s show” is an important part of our history here at The
Muny. We hear stories from subscribers who fell in love with musical theatre at
this important St Louis tradition. Tonight is even more special because one of the
authors of the show, Chad Beguelin, grew up in Centralia, IL and fell in love with
musicals largely thanks to The Muny. Hopefully tonight in our audience will be
other members of American Musical Theatre’s future.
ͳͻͺͻǡ ϐ
The Little
Mermaid
, a new generation discovered the power and joy of musicals. Following
the form and structures of a Broadway musical, and written by people who
revered and celebrated traditional musicals, the animated
Mermaid
led to the
even greater triumphs of
Beauty & The Beast
(1991),
Aladdin
(1992) and
The
Lion King
(1994).
Aladdin
is the latest Disney stage adaptation, and fortunately for us, it contains
seven new songs by Oscar and this year’s Tony
®
winning composer Alan Menken.
He has a rare and soulful gift for melody which brings to mind the works of
Richard Rodgers. Think of
Mermaid’
s
“
Under The Sea,” the title song from
Beauty
& The Beast
, or tonight’s “A Whole New World.” These songs are the dreamscape
of a generation. Tonight’s show contains two new Menken gems, “Proud of Your
Boy” and “A Million Miles Away.”
Aladdin
also marks the return of choreographer Alex Sanchez, who enchanted
us last season with his great dances in
The Little Mermaid
. (He makes our Muny
ǤȌ ǯ
ǯ
ϐ
has a sterling reputation for serious work in musical theatre on Broadway, The
Stratford Festival and the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, where he is the artistic
Ǥ
ϐ
come to The Muny to create a grand family pageant, he gave me a smile as wide
as our stage.
Finally, if the amazing actress playing Jasmine looks familar, she should.
Samantha Massell has been in our ensemble for the past two seasons. Tonight
she hops a magic carpet and becomes our leading lady. Trust me, this won’t be
the last you’ll be reading about Samantha. We’re so “proud of our girl.”
Enjoy our magic carpet ride!
Mike Isaacson
Executive Producer