November 30, 2023 By Roy Harris
As Hingham Town Hall’s Sanborn Auditorium stage prepares for a thrilling three-day presentation of “Aladdin Jr.,” opening this Friday (Dec. 1) at 6:30 p.m., dress rehearsals reveal that the excitement is running high among its cast of 28 local youths. And also its director.
“When I look at the stage, I’m blown away at what they’ve accomplished in such a short period of time,” says that director, Meghan Rowan. And “what’s more amazing is the bonds that they’ve formed” with other cast members from Hingham and surrounding suburbs. “It’s really something.”
The production itself is filled with surprises for the audience.
At one run-through this week, Aladdin—played by Cohasset’s Miles Watkins—seemed to float among the clouds with the show’s Princess Jasmine (Scituate’s Izzy Remington) in a cleverly designed magic-carpet flight scene during the song “A Whole New World.” (The thrilling music is by Alan Menken, with lyrics by Howard Ashman, Chad Beguelin and Tim Rice.) The Hingham show’s dazzling Arabian-style costumes are designed by Kathryn Ridder. Most cast members are not yet in their teens, and some are as young as six years old.
Introducing the show to the audience, as something of a “host” for “Aladdin Jr.,” is Hingham’s Winslow Levin, as the Genie. The production is brilliantly choreographed by Rowan, with music direction by John and Katie Duff.
There are villains, too, of course, especially the evil Jafar and his henchman Iago (Scituate’s Liam Sharpe and Hingham’s Caleb Levin, respectively), key servants of the Sultan, played by Sahil Howell. (The Anchor featured an earlier preview of the show, before dress rehearsals began.)
Sunday’s Dec. 3 closing show, with a 2:30 p.m. curtain time, is sold out. But tickets for Friday’s and Saturday’s 6:30 p.m. shows, at $25, and can be purchased througn the website https://hcmttickets.ludus.com/index.php, by phone a 339-793-1821, or at the stage door at Hingham Town Hall, 210 Central St.
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Roy Harris is a semi-retired journalist and long-time HCMT performer, living in the World’s End area of Hingham.