As I was only home for a week, my family wanted to celebrate and treat me by watching a highly acclaimed Broadway musical: Aladdin. Yes, this is also the classic Disney movie Aladdin with the crowd favorite Genie – although no talking animals were found to be part of the show. When I sat down to wait for the show to start I wasn’t sure what to expect. I wondered about how the magic that was riddled throughout the movie would be portrayed onstage: after all, moving, talking, glowing statues coming out of sand dunes is not something that one sees every day.

I walked out of the performance satisfied with the show that was put on. It was very cool to be able to see one of my favorite princesses on the stage, although there was very little deviation from the original movie. Being a classic, the musical had a lot to live up to, but the large stage numbers, glamorous costumes, favorite songs, and special effects did the original movie enough justice that I really enjoyed the experience. The costumes were colorful, the sidekicks were in top form, the choreography was amazing: what wasn’t to like about the musical? Especially since there were a couple of extra references to the outdated gender roles of the original setting in the Arab world at the time. Besides the funny Easter eggs that were thrown to the audience during the performance, I really loved it just because there’s something magical about seeing a childhood favorite enacted in real life.