November 21, 2023 by Roy Harris (photos by Kerry Tondorf and Joel Leonard)
“Aladdin Jr.,” Hingham Civic Music Theatre’s next show, offers “A Whole New World” of exuberant fun in its three performance, Dec. 1, 2 and 3, on Town Hall’s Sanborn Auditorium stage.
Singing, dancing and telling the exciting story of Aladdin and his Arabian nights will be a gifted troupe of South Shore teenagers, along with talented pre-teens as young as six years old. Together they’ll tell the exciting story of Aladdin as presented in the hit Broadway musical, with songs by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman, Chad Beguelin and Tim Rice.
HCMT’s production, directed by Meghan Rowan, is music-directed by John and Katie Duff. Sharing the stardom are dazzling costumes, designed by veteran HCMT costumer Kathryn Ridder. The show’s producers are Pat Sherman and Ellen Spadorcia.
The story—introduced onstage by the Genie, played by Hingham’s Winslow Levin—involves the battles that Aladdin (Cohasset’s Miles Watkins) must fight against the Sultan’s villainous agents, led by Jafar and Iago (Scituate’s Liam Sharpe and Hingham’s Caleb Levin, respectively.)
From afar, Aladdin admires Princess Jasmine, played by Scituate’s Izzy Remington, as she seeks the freedom to make her own choices in life. In “These Palace Walls,” she sings of her predicament with her attendants, before following their advice and escaping to freedom.
While free, Jasmine becomes entangled with Aladdin’s plan—involving a magic lamp—to prevent Jafar from taking power from Jasmine’s father, the Sultan. Many adventures ensue, and the Genie (singing “Friend Like Me”) does all he can to grant Aladdin three wishes that will help him win Jasmine’s trust and take her on a magic carpet ride, singing “A Whole New World.”
The adventure continues toward a happy ending, introducing the audience to a “Cave of Wonders” and colorful characters galore.
Director Rowan, a Hingham Civic Music veteran who teaches at Old Colony Montessori School, feels “passionately about children taking the lead” in what they do. That includes putting on a show like “Aladdin Jr.” Hingham High School sophomore (and stage veteran) Annie Daly serves as her assistant director, and recent Hingham graduate Ashley Buerkeridge is assistant director and costume assistant.
The Friday and Saturday shows, Dec. 1 and 2, start at 6:30 p.m., with the Sunday matinee starting at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $25, and can be purchased through the website https://hcmttickets.ludus.com/index.php, by phone at 339-793-1821, or at the stage door at Hingham Town Hall, 210 Central St.
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Roy Harris, a semi-retired journalist and long-time HCMT performer, lives in the World’s End area of Hingham. In his first Hingham Civic role he sold his soul to the devil in 2003’s “Damn Yankees.”
The above photos of “Aladdin Jr.” rehearsals are by Kerry Tondorf and Joel Leonard.
