As an all things musical theatre
and Disney nerd, I was so excited to find out the National Tour cast of
Disney’s Aladdin was hosting an
cabaret event at Sidetrack Video Bar in Chicago’s Boystown, fittingly dubbed
“Club Agrabah,” as a fundraiser for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BCEFA).
I jumped at the chance to be a part of this event and all of the fun mixing and
mingling with the cast and hearing them belt out a killer mix of their favorite
pop hits, show tunes, and Disney Classics as soon as I heard about it – and,
boy, am I glad I did.
After being greeted by one of the hosts for the evening, the fantastic "Fairy Bradshaw," the three genies of the Aladdin cast Anthony Murphy, Korie Lee
Blossey, and Ellis C. Dawson III (or “Threenie” as they have now been nicknamed)
demonstrated their “phenomenal ‘comic’ power,” kicking the night off with their
original parody of Dreamgirls’ title
number.
With the Aladdin tour’s “Kassim” Broadway vet Mike Longo playing
guitar, “Babkak” Zach Bencal on keys, and
ensemble members Charles South and Jaz Sealey also on bass and guitar composing
the night’s house band, ensemble member Michelle West blew everyone away with
an opulent rendition of Jill Scott’s “Golden,” with Blossey and fellow ensemble
member Kameron Richardson flanking her on background vocals.
Richardson then
took over center stage and the impressive interpretation of the classic
standard made famous by Nina Simone “Feelin’ Good” that ensued had the entire
place reeling.
The ladies of the #AladdinChi ensemble or “Agrababes,” including
Celina Nightengale, Mary Antonini, Angelina Mullins, Olivia Donalson, Annie
Wallace, Lisa DeGuzman, and West were absolute goddesses as they took on the
role of “The Muses” and offered of hand-clapping, foot-stomping, rollicking
performance of Hercules’ “Zero To
Hero.”
All of the fun, excitement, and magic didn’t
stop there, as Aladdin’s right hand man “Omar” a.k.a. Phillipe Arroyo became
the toast of Sidetrack’s “Club Agrabah” when he self-professedly “lived out his
Frankie Valli dreams” and offered a swoon-worthy take on “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You” (which he sang
while looking directly into my eyes, eat your hearts out ladies :p).
Then, Chicago’s resident
Jasmine Izzy McCalla showed her extreme versatility and left everyone in
complete stitches when, after performing a brief medley of classic Disney
Princess jams such as “Part Of Your World” and “Colors of the Wind,” declared
she was “tired of the Disney Princess gig” and did impressions of Broadway and
pop queens such as Barbara Streisand, Liza Minnelli, Bernadette Peters, Julie
Andrews, Celine Dion, and Britney Spears called out to her by her roommate/cast
mate Michael Callahan while belting out Mulan’s
“I’ll Make a Man Out Of You.”
From there, Jeff Award winner
Antonini and her beau of over 7 years Sealey (both members of the original
Broadway cast and tour ensemble) gave the entire venue major #couplegoals as
they teamed up for a super sweet, adorable mash-up of Guys and Dolls’ “If I Were A Bell” and Aladdin’s signature song “A Whole New World.”
From there, Blossey
and the rest of the genie crew kept the event flowing as the emcees, and joined
forces with the inimitable “Fairy Bradshaw” to raffle off some unbelievable
prizes such as coffee with McCalla (which went for $800) and an #AladdinChi
backstage tour and orchestra seats (which a gentleman celebrating his birthday
won with a cool $1,000 bid).
After moving solos by ensemble superstar Manny Stark
and Dawson, Donalson, Stark, De Guzman, and Richardson traveled back in time
and transformed into Hair’s “Tribe”
as they blew the roof off with their spin on “Let The Sunshine In.”
Then, one of the night's greatest
treats and highlights, was a complete reenactment of the finale number “Joyful
Joyful” from the 1993 hit Sister Act 2
from beginning to end, with the ensemble’s Michael Bullard providing ASL
interpretation as Bencal imitated Lauryn Hill’s riffs in the beginning of the
number, and then much of the ensemble including Adrienne Howard, Kenway Kua,
Michael Graceffa, Nightengale, Richardson, Donalson, and De Guzman becoming the
“St. Rita’s Choir” and offering up the most spirited imagining of the cult
classic’s iconic scene/choral number (including Graceffa bodying the “Sketch”
and “Fran-kay” rap verses).
The night then ended with the street rat himself, “Aladdin”
a.k.a. Jacob Dickey clad in green channeling his inner Elphaba and bringing the
house down with a soaring performance of Wicked’s
“The Wizard and I” and "Fairy Bradshaw"/Blossey raffling off a roof-top, V.I.P.
dinner after the show with Dickey.
After the official event ended, the
cast hung out and mingled at the bar with family, friends, and all the
attendees (some of which included #HamiltonChi ensemble/swing cast Candice
Quarrels, Samantha Pollino, and Amber Ardolino) while Sidetrack resumed with
it’s traditional “Musical Monday” event – playing video clips from Broadway and
movie musicals on each of the many screens lining the space’s walls and
encouraging everyone to dance and sing along at the top of their voices to
their favorite Disney on Broadway songs and show tunes.
I even got an opportunity
to talk with and warble along to some numbers from Beauty and the Beast and Anything
Goes with Richardson, West, and a host of other new friends.
From beginning to end, there certainly was “a party here in
Agrabah.” The event was an utter blast and simply reaffirmed that, when it
comes to putting together successful, high-quality events and having the best
time (while raising over $5,932 for BCEFA in the process), no one does it quite
like Broadway in Chicago. With all of the wonderful talent highlighted and
distinctly Disney-flavored fun, it is without doubt that this was an entirely
unique evening choc full of unbelievable sights and indescribable feelings; and
the First National Tour cast of Aladdin
and Broadway in Chicago showed us “A Whole New Cabaret.”
Make sure to keep up with and
participate in future Broadway in Chicago events like this by following them on
social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) and at their official website
BroadwayinChicago.com. Also, don’t miss “Musical Mondays” every week and other
really cool happenings at Sidetrack – you can follow this North Side “diamond
in the rough” at @SidetrackChicago on the previously mentioned social media
platforms and at SidetrackChicago.com.
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