CHAT W/ MAJOR ATTAWAY, THE Genius "Genie" OF BROADWAY’S ALADDIN

Get tickets to ALADDIN: http://www.broadway.com/shows/aladdin-broadway/ In this episode of Character Study, ALADDIN's Major Attaway takes us inside the lamp to witness how he goes from a gentleman to a Genie. FEATURING Major Attaway DIRECTED BY Alexander Goyco

The Broadway company of the Disney musical Aladdin welcomed and celebrated the return of Major Attaway in the role of the Genie beginning September 23 at the New Amsterdam Theatre.

Attaway followed Michael James Scott, who played his final performance on September 22. Attaway previously played the Genie on Broadway from February 2016 through February 2019.

The cast currently features Clinton Greenspan in the title role, Arielle Jacobs as Jasmine, Tony nominee Jonathan Freeman as Jafar, Brian Gonzales, Mike Longo, and Brad Weinstock as Aladdin’s sidekicks Babkak, Kassim, and Omar, respectively, JC Montgomery as Sultan, and Don Darryl Rivera as Iago.

Art Shrian had a interesting chat with Major Attaway about his character, Genie-us, his exciting, well-celebrated comeback at Broadway’s Aladdin and a lot more wonderful stuff! Listen to this mynewyorkeye exclusive interview below:

Based on the Oscar-winning animated film—which was recently adapted into a live-action feature—Aladdin is now in its sixth year on Broadway.

The Disney Theatrical Productions title features music by Tony and Oscar winner Alan Menken, lyrics by two-time Oscar winner Howard Ashman, Tony and Oscar winner Tim Rice, and Tony nominee Chad Beguelin, with a book by Beguelin. The production is directed and choreographed by Tony winner Casey Nicholaw.

ABOUT MAJOR ATTAWAY 

(Genie). Joyous Broadway Debut!  National tour: Aladdin (Genie). Regional: Hot Mikado (Mikado), Stagger Lee (T-Bone), Hands on a Hardbody (Ronald), Little Shop of Horrors (A2), Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Ken), Frosty the Snowman (Frosty). 

Television: “Orange Is the New Black” (DeShaun McAdams).  Video Games: “Borderlands 3 (Clay),” “Battleborn” (Ghalt).

Follow on: @majorattaway #BigTexGenie

To celebrate the 5th anniversary of Aladdin on Broadway, 5 current and former Genies - Tony Award winner James Monroe Iglehart, current star Michael James Scott, tour Genie Major Attaway, and current Broadway standbys Juwan Crawley and Deonte L. Warren - stopped the show following today's matinee with a medley of Aladdin hits.

Chat w/ Clinton Greenspan, the Title Star of Broadway’s Aladdin

Get Tickets to ALADDIN: https://www.broadway.com/shows/aladdin-broadway/ Go beyond the palace walls as as Clinton Greenspan turns into the title star of Disney's ALADDIN before a show.

The Broadway company of the Disney musical Aladdin welcomed Clinton Greenspan, who starred in the North American tour of Aladdin, in making his Broadway debut. He succeeded Jacob Dickey. Major Attaway has returned to the role of the Genie on Broadway which began on September 23. Attaway previously played the Genie on Broadway from February 2016 through February 2019.

Based on the Oscar-winning animated film—which was recently adapted into a live-action feature—Aladdin is now in its sixth year on Broadway.

Art Shrian had a wonderful chat with Clinton Greenspan about his role as Aladdin, his experience at Broadway performing our much-loved disney character and a lot more! Listen to the whole interview below:

About Clinton Greenspan:

Clinton Greenspan (Aladdin) is making his Broadway debut in Aladdin! National Tour: Aladdin. Other credits include Romeo & Juliet; Dreamgirls (Dallas Theater Center) and Fiddler on the Roof (Casa Manana). NYMF (2014). Studied at KD Conservatory. Insta: @clinton_patrick

Aladdin cast:

The cast currently features Arielle Jacobs as Jasmine, Tony nominee Jonathan Freeman as Jafar, Brian Gonzales, Mike Longo, and Brad Weinstock as Aladdin’s sidekicks Babkak, Kassim, and Omar, respectively, JC Montgomery as Sultan, and Don Darryl Rivera as Iago.

The Disney Theatrical Productions:

The Disney Theatrical Productions title features music by Tony and Oscar winner Alan Menken, lyrics by two-time Oscar winner Howard Ashman, Tony and Oscar winner Tim Rice, and Tony nominee Chad Beguelin, with a book by Beguelin. The production is directed and choreographed by Tony winner Casey Nicholaw.

In Theater This week: The Sandstorm by Leonard D. Goodiman at the Hudson Guild Theater

February 26 (9 pm), February 27 (6:15 pm) and March 2 (3:30 pm)

Award-winning playwright, journalist, and actor, Art Shrian steps on stage in Leonard D. Goodisman’s The Sandstorm now playing at the Hudson Guild Theater.

Art Shrian

myNewYorkeye caught up with Art Shrian between rehearsal. Here is an edited interview.

myNewYorkeye:  Tell us about the play? 

Art Shrian: This powerful, tragic love story takes place in the most cultured society of its time, Islamic Baghdad, 1100 CE. The brilliant, beautiful daughter of a loving, tolerant, family, has three suitors. Two are childhood friends, the third a passionate, rising religious leader. His anti-intellectual movement will help destroy society. Ideas and ideals collide, as today, with dire consequences.

mNYE: Tell me about your role in the play? 

AS:  I play DIYA AL-DIN, the passionate, rising religious leader and suitor of the girl, Fatima. She is in love with Diya, his passion, his persona and invites him to meet her family. Diya has ambitious new ideas to spread knowledge and happiness all over the world. But for him, knowledge and happiness strictly comes from the study of Koran and submitting to Allah. When he finds people that do not share his point of view, a storm ensues leading to unexpected results.

mNYE: What is the most challenging part of the role for you? 

AS:  As an actor, when you play a character, you cannot identify it as an antagonist. That's for the audience to decide. So I had to understand and justify Diya's position and feelings. I had to work hard to empathize with him, even though he shares quite extremist views. Thankfully, our director JB Bruno shared the same view and we worked together to present Diya as a highly motivated and opinionated rather than a crazy person. Although challenging, it was a very interesting process and I'm very excited about the results.

mNYE: Talk a little bit about your passion for theater, what is it about a live audience that motivates us to late see you as a thespian? 

AS:  I strongly believe that theater is the highest form of acting, it's the pinnacle of art for the actors. The process of developing a character and story for the theater is just wonderful. From table-read to multiple rehearsals to live audience feedback, you get an opportunity to deeply understand and tailor the character in its best form. It's the best acting teacher and more.

When you are on the stage, you have nothing to hide behind and no do-overs, just like real life . You lay yourself bare in front of the audience. Which may be scary, but it's also highly inspiring and rewarding. To be able to bring characters and stories to life in front of a live audience, to be able to live the life of these characters on stage, non-stop for 90 minutes, and be able to get immediate feedback, hopefully, praises and admiration is unlike anything else.

mNYE:  Last question what do you want people to take away from this place?

AS:  We live in highly divided times right now, with people sharing extreme views and biases on each side. This play is like a reflection of the world we live in and gives a glimpse into the psyche of people. It's based on the truth of a prosperous time in the past, which got destroyed due to extremism and lack of human understand and connect. I hope people see the play and are able to relate to it in some way, which may lead us to realize the importance of acceptance, tolerance, and love.

More details about the play and tickets at:

• http://newyorktheaterfestival.com/the-sandstorm/
  

View fullsize

The Sandstorm Poster

Magic of Ballet: with Spring performance from Ballet Academy East

John Jay College of Criminal Justice of The City University of New York, an international leader in educating for justice, offers a rich liberal arts and professional studies curriculum to upwards of 15 000 undergraduate and graduate students from more than 135 nations. The Theater is dedicated to the creation and presentation of performing arts programming of all disciplines with a special focus on how the artistic imagination can shed light on the many perceptions of Justice in our society.

Ballet Academy East presents its Spring Performance from May 15-17, 2015 at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College of Criminal Justice at 524 W. 59th Street, NYC which the myNewYorkeye team had pleasure to attend on May 17th, 2015.

The exciting parents, guests of lovely kids, all gathered in a nice hall to enjoy the event. Kids were very happy, but a little bit nervous while running and getting ready for the big moment which finally started like this:

"All the lights turned completely off and shortly they switched on focusing only on stage which reflected the magical blue and pink tones and beautiful kids standing there. Music and all the moves of dances were so light that one could feel the spring all over. During the first few performances, there were number of very young dancers and I got to know from Julia Dubno - Founder and Director, that the youngest dancers are about 7 years old!

Then ocean started to move the crazy waves and dances were even crazier. As girl’s hair were not folded they felt like a part of storm and created spectacular waves of motion filling the hall with the spring craziness. Performances were mesmerising and very creative with a sweet modern touch. Also the costumes were pretty nice and perfectly matching with the atmosphere their dance created."

Many guests were holding flowers for performers that was such a nice view to see in NYC, as not for all events you get to see so many flowers. We feel very happy for the kids, their teachers and all the guests who had the opportunity to enjoy this wonderful event, including myNewYorkeye.

It's a myNewYorkeye—what's in it for you—tip and it's worth $39 bucks!

39 STEPS

It's only "39" steps to a winning TONY AWARD® HIT COMEDY 

“ 3 9 S T E P S ”OPENS AT THE UNION SQUARE THEATRE

Note that all seats, for the first 39 performances are only $39 and that's very little to pay for big laughter! 

Two-time Tony Award® winning hilarious hit comedy 39 Steps will officially open on Monday, April 13th. The production, featuring the entire original creative team, will begin an open-ended run at the Union Square Theatre (100 East 17th Street) on April Fools’ Day, Wednesday, April 1st.

To celebrate 39 Steps’ return to New York, all tickets to the first 39 performances will be priced at only $39. These specially priced tickets must be purchased by March 31st by going to:

http://www.ticketmaster.com/promo/pso5uc

or calling 877-250-2929 and using special offer code: 39439. 

As previously announced, the cast of 39 Steps will feature original Broadway cast member Arnie Burton as Clown #2, as well as Billy Carter as Clown #1, Broadway vet Robert Petkoff as the dashing hero Richard Hannay, and Brittany Vicars as Pamela/Annabella/Margaret in her New York City stage debut.

Adapted by Tony® nominated author Patrick Barlow from an original concept by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon, and based on the book by John Buchan and the classic 1935 Alfred Hitchcock film, 39 Steps features Tony® nominated direction by Maria Aitken, Tony® winning lighting design by Kevin Adams, Tony® winning sound design by Mic Pool, and Tony® nominated scenic and costume design by Peter McKintosh.

39 Steps is a comedic spoof of the classic 1935 film, with only 4 “insanely talented” actors portraying more than 150 characters, sometimes changing roles in the blink of an eye. The brilliantly madcap story follows our dashing hero Richard Hannay (Robert Petkoff) as he races to solve the mystery of The 39 Steps, all the while trying to clear his name. The show’s uproarious fast-paced 100 minutes promises to leave you gasping for breath… in a good way! It’s fun for everyone from 9 to 99.

39 Steps came to Broadway in January 2008 and ran over three years, playing a record-breaking 1,135 performance – the longest running play in 7 years. It received six 2008 Tony nominations, including Patrick Barlow for Best Play, winning two for Sound Design and Lighting Design, and three Drama Desk Nominations, winning two including Unique Theatrical Experience.

The production will play the following performance schedule:

• Mondays at 7:00 PM, Wednesdays at 2:00PM and 8:00 PM, Thursdays and Fridays at 8:00 PM, Saturdays at 2:00 PM and 8:00 PM, and Sundays at 3:00 PM.

• Tickets for the show are now on sale via www.39StepsNY.com, through Ticketmaster online and by phone at 1-877-250-2929, and also, starting March 25, in person at the Union Square Theatre box office, which opens at 1PM daily except Tuesdays and remains open until 30 minutes after show time. Tickets are priced at $39-89. Premium seats are $105. $20 tickets for students, veterans, armed forces, NYPD and FDNY are available in person at the box office with ID the day of the show.

For more information, visit www.39StepsNY.com