'Aladdin' turns 10 this month and it has done more than become Broadway's go-to for young people experiencing their first musical.
James Monroe Iglehart's mom took him to see the animated Disney movie "Aladdin" as a high-school graduation gift in 1992. He fell in love with the Genie, naturally.
There are currently Genies on Broadway and on tour in the United Kingdom and United States, in Japan and Spain, all doing cartwheels, high kicking and singing "Friend Like Me." They call it a Genie Brotherhood. "It's made me the actor I am today. And it's given me a legacy that I can be thoroughly proud of," he says. "It changed my life."
"I was always told that I would have a hard time in this business because the best roles were for skinny white tenors, and I'm not any of those things," says Martin. "So seeing James gave me permission to dream a new dream." "I'm such a theater nerd. I always say I'm a fan first, actor second," he says. Martin likes to look for famous autographs on the walls or under desks in his new dressing rooms.
That third Genie is Michael James Scott - the Genie that Martin and his mom saw when "Aladdin" came to Cleveland.Disney has a gravitational pull in Orlando, Florida, where Scott grew up. He performed as a younger man in the theme parks and at special events, always readying for the spotlight in New York.
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