Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended
"...The production values are very decent, the singing is generally good, and Bill Larkin’s Genie and Yando’s lip-smacking villain are fun. And unlike other versions of this show I’ve seen, this production has an actual flying carpet that descends from above and takes Aladdin and Princess Jasmine on what looks like a cool voyage."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...Brilliantly animating all this for the live stage is director-choreographer Devanand Janki, who infuses the show with a sort of Bollywood-meets-vaudeville energy. Janki, who scored with an earlier family show here ("How Can You Run With a Shell on Your Back?"), clearly deserves an adult project next. He has been wonderfully aided and abetted by music director Ben Johnson and his band; the ever-morphing actors Sean Blake, Alex Goodrich, Erik Kaiko, Karissa Barney and Jillian Jocson, and the glorious Islamic picture book designs of Brian Sidney Bembridge (sets), Jesse Klug (lighting) and Debbie Baer (costumes)."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...Much of Aladdin's success is due to the fine songs by Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, and Tim Rice, and to Devanand Janki's well-directed, high-spirited cast. As usual, the villain (Larry Yando, reprising in the villainous Jafar his star turn as Scar in the national tour of The Lion King) steals the show. My eight-year-old daughter has managed to see this production twice, first with her summer camp, and then with me; on the way out of the performance we saw together, she asked to see it again."
Chicago Free Press - Highly Recommended
"...Devanand Janki’s sprightly staging and choreography is reinforced by the 1,001 delights of Brian Sidney Bembridge’s busy marketplace, sumptuous palace, and gorgeous hanging lamps. But the unburied treasures are picture-perfect, sweetly-sung performances from athletic Tony Clarno as Aladdin (recalling the young Brendan Fraser at his hunky funkiest) and Melissa Espinosa as a new kind of democratic princess. Delivering richly crafted caricatures are two gay powerhouses, Larry Yando as the melodramatically villainous Jafar (instantly recalling his Uncle Scar in another Disney musical involving a feline potentate) and Bill Larkin, mainstay of the Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus, as the stand-up Genie, easily matching Robin Williams’ original for sassy spunk and a dynamite deadpan."
ChicagoCritic - Recommended
"...Through a mixture of a magic carpet ride and several Broadway-styled show stoppers, Aladdin is a brisk, 65 minute ride through a fable of friendship, loyalty with the timeless message of the importance of staying true to oneself. You’ll laugh and enjoy this slick production. This is terrific family entertainment."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Highly Recommended
"...The story features songs such as "A Whole New World" (with a magic carpet ride), "Why Me?" and the hysterical show stopping "Friend Like Me". Jafar has rigged the law so that if Jasmine doesn't find her Prince by a deadline, she must wed him and he will take over as Sultan and have "the Power". Aladdin, using his wits must end this threat so that he can marry Jasmine and allow the people of the town to live in harmony and be free to make their own choices. A marvelous message for our children and some of our adults to learn!"
