This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:35] David Alpert: Welcome to E-Ticket to Broadway, where Broadway meets Main Street.

[0:35] David Alpert: Here's your host, my pal, David Alpert.

[0:35] David Alpert: Welcome to the 50th episode of E-Ticket to Broadway, the only podcast that asks Broadway stars if they know where to find a specific churro cart in the Magic Kingdom.

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[1:50] David Alpert: Now, on with the show.

[1:52] David Alpert: This Tony Award-winning performer has been seen on Broadway in Memphis, the 25th annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Freestyle Love Supreme, Hamilton, and of course, in Aladdin, where he brought everyone's favorite genie to the Broadway stage.

[2:06] David Alpert: You ain't never had a friend like him. Here is James Monroe Iglehart.

[2:19] David Alpert: It is finally happening. Everyone has been asking me when is James Monroe Iglehart going to be on the podcast? So it is time. James, is it true that you're a big Disney Parks fan?

[2:29] James Monroe Iglehart: No, I have never been. Um, it's something I've always wanted to try to go to, but with my schedule.

[2:36] James Monroe Iglehart: Oh my god, yes, please. Oh my god. The first I was I think I was, uh, I want to say, I want to say I was maybe nine or ten the first time I went.

[2:48] James Monroe Iglehart: And the only reason why I was nine or ten is because, uh, my parents are horrible people, and they felt that they had to bring my little brother along. No, no disrespect to Jason. I love my brother Jason. You know, they were like, we gotta bring both kids together.

[3:04] James Monroe Iglehart: So, you know, I had to wait. Like I'm sitting there looking at the camera, I'm looking at the Disney show on Sundays at my grandma's house going, can we go? And then look at my brother like, he's not old enough. I'm like, forget him, man. Let's go!

[3:13] David Alpert: Exactly.

[3:14] James Monroe Iglehart: Once he was old enough, we went. As a California native, what was your relationship to Disneyland before you went?

[3:19] James Monroe Iglehart: It was just this magical thing south of you. Yeah, I mean, you know, I'm from the San Francisco Bay Area, so it was just something that I would see. Um, we most of the time we would go to my grandmother's house on Sundays, and the wonderful world of Disney would come on.

[3:32] James Monroe Iglehart: And so, you know, you know, the world is a wonderful ace of color. So we would watch that, you know. There's something that this is terrible to say, but there's something about a group of white voices singing, and that sound is that Disney sound.

[3:46] James Monroe Iglehart: So when they all do that, color, color, color. It's just, uh, it just does something to my heart and just makes me all giddy and happy and warm. And so I used to watch that show, and I used to see him go, ladies and gentlemen, I can't wait for you to see my place. And I was like, I can't wait to go, Walt.

[4:02] James Monroe Iglehart: So I was just like dreaming of going to this place. So when we finally got to go, I oh, I lost my mind. My mom still has pictures, still has pictures. And I always laugh because there's pictures of me and my brother standing next to Robin Hood and me with this look on my face, because at the time, the costume that Robin was in had green gloves.

[4:22] James Monroe Iglehart: And I was like, Robert, don't wear gloves. Why are you wearing gloves, man? You know, my mom was like, stop asking questions. I was like, but Robin doesn't wear gloves. And I knew, like, I know those old movies by heart. Like, I can do the all of Robin Hood right now. And so to see him live and be in the park, so my relationship to the park was this one of like mad dreams. And when I got there, it was even more than I thought it could be. And I've just fallen in love with it more and more over the years.

[4:52] David Alpert: Do you remember any of the attractions that you went on that first trip?

[4:55] James Monroe Iglehart: Oh my gosh, yes. I remember, um, going on, um, uh, the Matterhorn and being scared to death because I am scared of death of roller coasters, uh, till this day. And I'm that guy who goes, you know, if I'm afraid of it, I need to conquer it, which is the stupidest thing. There's no need, there's nothing, nobody's gonna put nobody's gonna dock points off of me. No one's gonna like put it on my, you know, tombstone. He didn't go on a roller coaster, but I was like, I must conquer.

[5:22] James Monroe Iglehart: So I go on the Matterhorn. I loved it, and then, uh, my father, um, he's a character, he got the whole family to go on Space Mountain, and my mother literally hates roller coasters, so she didn't know what it was. So there's four people in the family, there are four people in a car. So my brother sits in front, I sit in the behind him, my mom behind me, my dad. And that bad boy goes up, and we start coming around, and all of a sudden I just hear my mother.

[5:52] James Monroe Iglehart: Now, she's a good Christian woman, she knows Jesus personally. They have him on speed now. She did everything in her power not to curse, but I know doggone well that when my brother and I were told to go off, you guys go off and play. As I turned around, I saw my mother's finger wagging in my father's face, and I was like, he is being cussed out right now. To this day, my mother won't even go close to Space Mountain.

[6:15] James Monroe Iglehart: But oh no. I remember, I remember, I remember, um, going on the Haunted Mansion and being petrified. But once we came down out of the, you know, once we came out of the room and down the hill, and we made that turn, and I heard, um, the mellow men start singing, and you know, there's something about Thurlow's voice. And when you hear, you know, when the crypts creak and the windows creak, that song has been stuck in my head literally for 36 years.

[6:44] James Monroe Iglehart: And so I, that's my favorite ride. If you got no, you're gonna ask my favorite, my favorite ride is the Haunted Mansion in both, uh, Disneyland, Disney World, and Disney Parks. Um, though, so I, I, I the bad part is we need to go on with the podcast because I can go on about that first visit for years, and so, um, yeah, I remember all of that. I remember all of it.

[7:15] David Alpert: Do you remember when there was a moment when you were like, I think I like this more than anyone around me?

[7:21] James Monroe Iglehart: Yeah, because, um, I got back home and, um, we were in the, we were in Southern California, and so we went to go to my grandmother's house in Bakersfield, and nothing like talking to your cousins about Disneyland. And, uh, I'm talking about how great the place is. Now, this is before, uh, you know, California Adventure. This is before California Screaming or now the Incredicoaster. This is before all that cup. This is just Disneyland and the only, it was Disneyland and that big old parking lot.

[7:50] James Monroe Iglehart: We parked in Chip and Dale. Oh, you had to walk to the front door then because Chippendale is really far away, you know. And if you parked in Claire Bell Cow, you're not making it to the door before the place closes. It's like by the time you get there, it's like it's close. We'll just sleep in the front till tomorrow, you know.

[8:08] James Monroe Iglehart: So that's how, you know, we went back to Bakersfield and my cousins were all about Magic Mountain because Magic Mountain had, you know, all the roller coasters, and like that guy said that wasn't me. Same. You know, and you what we had in the Bay Area was, uh, we had, um, Marriott's at the before it became Paramount, Marriott's Great America, and they had the Warner Brothers characters, you know. They had, you know, Bugs, but any of those guys.

[8:30] James Monroe Iglehart: Um, but they still had giant roller coasters I didn't want to ride. And Magic Mountain didn't really have any shows. You know, you know, you can go to Disneyland and you could see America Sings, which is still one of my favorite things ever. I have the Disneyland soundtrack and I listen to at least, you know, monthly. Um, you know, the Country Bear Jamboree. You know, you can go to these wonderful shows, you know, to check things out, and it was so much fun.

[8:57] James Monroe Iglehart: And my cousins, I realized, oh, I love this place differently than everybody else does. And so I kind of kept it to myself. But when I got back to elementary school, especially when you went to public school, um, I accidentally made the mistake of having the reputation of being rich, even though my parents didn't have no money at all. But when I said I went to Disneyland, then people were like, You went to Disneyland, you must be wealthy.

[9:25] James Monroe Iglehart: I was like, No, I'm not wealthy. My parents just saved. Your parents don't save. You know, okay, that's a whole different subject, you know.

[9:31] David Alpert: So I mean, James, I'm the same. I mean, my cousins were like, how about this trip we go to Legoland? And I was like, Legoland? Are you kidding me?

[9:37] James Monroe Iglehart: Right. Yes. Yeah, yeah. Nothing compares.

[9:39] James Monroe Iglehart: No, but it does, I mean, it does seem like I'm fiercely a Land boy. Do you prefer Land to World?

[9:47] James Monroe Iglehart: Ah, that's the problem. Now, see, uh, I like I said, I lived most of my life in the Bay Area. But for the past, oh, it's so weird to say this. For the past 15 years, I have been in the East Coast. And I knew it was time to start kicking it in Disney World.

[10:07] James Monroe Iglehart: When I was walking down Main Street of Disneyland, and there was a family that was lost, and they couldn't find anybody to tell them where to go. And you could, I heard them say, I just don't know where we're going. And my wife and I turned around and literally did the two-finger point. Well, what you wanna gonna do is you want to go to go past, uh, the Cartha Circle and you're gonna make a left. And when you make a left, you'll be in Tomorrowland.

[10:30] James Monroe Iglehart: And then when you get to Tomorrowland, that's where you keep going to your right. Actually, you go to your right, and you'll be in Tomorrowland. You keep going to your right, and that's where what used to be, uh, Captain Eel, which is now Honey I Shrunk the Kids, which you'll go there and you'll find Space Mountain. Now the line is pretty long. You're gonna have to go. And I was like, oh my god, we need to leave here.

[10:49] James Monroe Iglehart: So, um, we started going to World, and there are, I will say this, I don't love one more than the other, but how I separate the two is the Magic Kingdom in Disneyland is my favorite. But Disney World is incredible. Um, you know, uh, Holly, you know, to go to Epcot, to go to Animal Kingdom, to go to Hollywood Studios.

[11:18] James Monroe Iglehart: And there's a couple things in, uh, the Magic Kingdom in Disney World that the Magic Kingdom in Disneyland doesn't have, like, you know, the Snow White Mine Train, the Snow White Mine Train, which is amazing, you know, um, the Beauty and the Beast, uh, restaurant, which I'm probably gonna get kicked in the face for. Y'all, y'all messed me up when y'all, when y'all changed, when y'all changed the menu when it went from we could order what we want to like it's a set menu.

[11:42] James Monroe Iglehart: I'm like, y'all made a mistake. Bring it back. Bring, bring, bring back the food we can choose, people. Come on, come on, Orlando. That's my thing. And so for me, Disneyland, there's nothing like making that, you know, making that turn, uh, from either, uh, Fantasyland or coming in from Adventureland and seeing the magnitude of it's a small world. That backdrop is just breathtaking.

[12:11] James Monroe Iglehart: And then to walk into Fantasyland into Disney World, and it's literally across from like Peter Pan, you're like, where's the spectacle, man? Just, I mean, it's big, but why is it what no? It needs to be the small world, needs to be a small world, not a little. I mean, it's a small world, but it looks like a small wall. You're like, what's wrong?

[12:31] James Monroe Iglehart: So that's my, that's my only thing. It's an amazing quote. Yeah, so that's the thing. But I mean, I love, I can't, um, I can't say which park is better. I just know that when it comes to the original Magic Kingdom to me is the Magic Kingdom. But there's that moment where you do do a 2.0 and you go, we can make this better. And when they went to Disney, when they went to Orlando, they did. They, they really made it better. But I can get nitpicky, I can get mad nitpicky because the speaking of Peter Pan ride, the, uh, the, you know, the fiber optics that they redid into in Disneyland is just incredible.

[13:11] James Monroe Iglehart: Whereas the one in Fantasyland is very classic because people from, you know, it's international, everybody comes there, they want it to look like it did when it first opened in nineteen, I believe seventy-one. They want it to look like that. So they give a lot of things are kept that way. Where, you know, in Disneyland, because it's always repeat customers, they want to make sure that everybody is not bored. There's some things that each one of them has their thing, but to me, the Magic Kingdom in Disneyland is the classic best Magic Kingdom. But Disney World, that place is hard to beat. Oh, that place is hard to beat.

[14:00] David Alpert: James, let's talk about the rest of Disney. Do you have any of the films on repeat as a kid besides Robin Hood?

[14:06] James Monroe Iglehart: Oh god, yes. Um, let's see. Uh, Alice in Wonderland, number one. Uh, Jungle Book, number two. Um, I know people are gonna be shocked by this, but uh, Aladdin. Um, let's see. Uh, the other ones, uh, I really, really love a very obscure movie that I would love to redo or have something to do with in comic book form or something. Um, most people know this man as the Phantom, and I know him as Condor Man, which is a wonderful action movie that tanked so bad. And it was so bad they just put it on video. And so when Disney used to come out with VHS movies, you would watch the movie, and at the end of the VHS movies, you would see trailers. And my brother and I saw this trailer for this movie called Condor Man, and it's pretty much a superhero movie, and it's Michael Crawford playing Condor Man.

And uh, it's awful. Absolutely. I don't know if you can cuss on this podcast. I won't, but I'll just say, uh, you know, it's the doo-dos. You know what I want to say, but it's doo-dos. It's terrible. But it has such a wonderful nostalgic thing in my heart. But there are some things in it that I have seen stolen from Condor Man, the car scene in Condor Man. Uh, they had a great Batmobile before the Batmobile was even like a cool thing. Like, yeah, Adam West Batmobile was cool. But Condor Man's Condor Man car was so dope. It was a truck, then it became a car, then it became a hydrofoil. And it did things. This movie had some great moments. It's terrible, but I can't help but love it. And my brother and I know it by heart.

Um, another movie, uh, Hot Lead and Cold Feet, starring uh, Jim Dale and uh, Don Knotts, uh, one of my favorite Disney films. Um, um, Pete's Dragon, because of Jim Dale. I'm such a big Jim Dale fan. Um, as far as the cartoons are concerned, I love Sleeping Beauty. Maleficent is my favorite uh, villain. Then after that is Peter Pan, because I love Captain Hook. I can do, you know, whatever I, whenever I, I can't say Peter Pan correctly. I've said Peter Pan. I have to say, you know, you have to say it like that. Um, so there are so many that are coming to my head, it's kind of hard to like, you know, go through it, but yeah, there's so many.

[16:24] David Alpert: You were really a Disney kid.

[16:25] James Monroe Iglehart: Oh god, yes. My mom was a school teacher, a music school teacher. And uh, when I was in school, she had this one song list that she took to every school, and it was basically it was zippity doo-dah, and it was this medley of Disney songs. And I was in one of the choirs, and so she took it and she made shirts and that hat. She was a wonderful artist and drew all the Disney characters, so we all wore it. And so I loved these things. So I would, and also I was one of the first kids on my block to have the original Disney Channel. So this is before uh, original Disney content. So I remember when it came on, you know, the only thing, the only original content they really had was DTV, which is basically they took animated cartoons, spliced them together, and cut them with um, rock and roll songs at the time.

So it was like MTV, but Disney style. So they would take something like Take On Me, and then like cut it with like Donald dancing with Daisy and the three kids dancing, and they would cut it with different cartoons of different cartoons dancing. And so you had that in between whatever show they had, and like Welcome to Pooh Corner, which was an original thing, and then the Alice in Wonderland with the guy with the two with Tweedledee and Tweedledum on like, you know, rollerblades. And then they would go, and ladies and gentlemen, tonight on the Disney Channel, we're gonna show you the original and only showing of Snow White. And when they played Snow White, we were all sitting at home. We were like, you gonna break that out of the vault and put that on TV?

And that's when Disney realized we should never do that again. As a matter of fact, what we should do, put it in the vault, put it on DVD, and bring it out every thirty years and make you pay for it. And we all do. We did.

[17:58] David Alpert: And so talk to me about favorite characters.

[18:01] James Monroe Iglehart: Oh gosh. Um, do you have a current favorite character?

[18:06] James Monroe Iglehart: Um, you know, no, I have so many. That's the problem. There's too many. But there's one, there's a couple, I have a couple of lines that always are said in the house. They've become famous lines in our house and in our family, and the kids don't even know why. So the word mustard cannot be said in the house without the rest of the line going with it. So Alice in Wonderland. Uh, the White Rabbit comes through and he has his watch, and the watch doesn't work. And so the Mad Hatter played by Ed Wynn and Jerry, uh, the March Hare, they take it and they start doing things to it. And they start going through it and they start taking two spoons, yes, just just two spoons. They put the two spoons in, and then everybody goes, and then the March Hare goes, mustard, and he goes, mustard, yes, mustard.

Oh, let's don't be silly. Lemon, that's different. And you know, when you say mustard in my house, somebody said, mustard, mustard, lemon. That's, you know, we go through the whole line. Um, or if somebody says jam, a jam, oh, there's always time for jam. That one. Um, it's really sad. Um, no, it's not sad at all, and especially for our listeners. We're all nodding our heads, being like, yes. I mean, like, I can never be in front of a teapot and not say pour the tea from Mulan to my sister. I mean, like, it can’t, it's so many of those great lines of stuff.

[19:34] James Monroe Iglehart: Oh yeah, well, someone says tea, my wife. Tea, just half a cup, if you don't mind. And they cut the cup in half, and it's just tea in the cup, you know. So, um, Baloo is a favorite. Baloo has been, Baloo was my original favorite Disney character because he was the first movie I saw in the theaters. My father took me to uh the drive-in and we saw Jungle Book, and I heard um Bear Necessities, and that was it for me. I, that was when I became a Disney fan. That was when I knew I had to go to Disneyland because I knew I might see Baloo there. And um, I know all the lines. I, I love um, I always say this, and I say this to myself, and it doesn't really matter. I don't know why. He's like, it's like uh, what's the line?

The line is um, uh, what one more word out of you, one more hiss out of you, um, and you are walking to Nottingham, and then his goes snakes don't walk, they slither so there, you know. That kind of crap, like that. I say that too. I don't know why it comes to my head, but those things come to my head. So, uh, those old films always kill, or especially um, Jim Dale and uh, Red Buttons, uh, when they're in uh, Pete's Dragon, when he says, he's, he says, I need someone to go and talk to the dragon. Well, who'll be stupid enough to do that? And then he looks at him and he goes, No, no, it's something about that. Or red, red buttons talking to um, Mickey Roddy and goes, Ah, he's drunk as hell. I want the path of, I want the pet them.

And it's something whenever I see something, I want to pet. I look at my wife and go, I want the path them. I want the pet up. It's like stop it. So these, it's good. These things come to, it's I've got so many. It's sad.

[21:19] James Monroe Iglehart: It's really sad.

[21:20] David Alpert: It's not sad.

[21:21] James Monroe Iglehart: It's perfect.

[21:22] David Alpert: It's perfect. Okay, really quickly. Do you have a favorite Muppet?

[21:25] James Monroe Iglehart: Oh God, yeah. I have too many Muppets. But um, my favorite all together Muppets is the Electric Mayhem together. I, my dream is to sing with the Electric Mayhem. Um, I love Kermit, period. Top Muppet of all time. Uh, but I love Pepe. I love Pepe and Pepe has like come through the ranks. Um, I could listen to Gonzo sing Um I'm going to go back there every single day of my life. And I, if you go on YouTube, you can see me singing it, and it's one of my favorite songs. It makes me cry every time I hear it or when I see it. Um, but yeah, those are, those are my favorites. I mean, Pepe, Kermit. I mean, I have favorite lines from the Muppets, uh, you know, from the Muppet Show or for the Muppet movies, but Kermit, Pepe, and the Electric Mayhem are like, you know, my ones is, you know.

[22:15] James Monroe Iglehart: I just love how much you love this. My favorite line from a Muppet movie is an obscure line, which is really, really funny. It's from the Muppets Take Manhattan. No, excuse me. It's from the Great Muppet Caper. They're all sitting in the room, and uh, Kermit says, and this, the line I'm about to say is not the favorite line, it's coming up. Um, Kermit says, We can all catch them red-handed. And of course, Kermit, Fozzie says, Well, what color are the, no, some either Fozzie or somebody? I think it's Fozzie or um, I've got the Waldorf's um, I can't, Beauregard says, What color are their hands now? Which is still funny. But there's a moment where they're all arguing. They're all arguing. They're trying, and Fozzie, uh, Kermit's trying to get them to be quiet so they can talk about the plan of getting a freeing, you know, Miss Piggy, of getting, you know, the diamond back and everything like that.

And all of a sudden, uh, Fozzie goes, Quiet. And everybody goes, quiet. And all you hear is Janice going, talking to Kerm, talking to Gonzo, saying, Listen, mom, it's my life. And so if I want to walk around naked, um, uh oh. And I, as a kid, that cracked me up because it just, it was funny as a kid because she was the only one talking. As I got older, if you listen to that joke, there's so much to it. She, of her saying, I told her, listen, mom, it's my life. And if I want to walk around naked, um, it's like you could not do that in a Disney Muppet movie today. That joke would be way too, what's funny is they did it on the TV show and it didn't work. Because I think it's because they just, it's you don't force it.

You let things like that happen and let the audience just go, did that just happen? And then move on to the next joke. When you try to force it, like, oh look, the Muppets are being edgy. No, they just are. The Muppets just are. And if you let the Muppets just be, I think that's what makes it fun. But I'll, from the moment I, that line in the, uh, the other line from that movie when they're doing the first song, you know, hey, a movie, and Sweetums goes, is there any way to stop it? Because things just keep happening to him in this whole intro film. So we could do a whole podcast with just Muppets.

[24:14] David Alpert: I know.

[24:27] James Monroe Iglehart: James, let's talk about Aladdin. If you could magically transport yourself back to the New Amsterdam Theater to relive any moment from the show, which moment would you choose?

[24:37] James Monroe Iglehart: Again, um, there are too many. Um, I think the first one that comes to mind is opening night. Um, opening night was the most, one of the most magical moments of my entire life because for, nobody thought we could do it, because nobody thought we could do it. When we left Toronto, uh, there is nothing like coming back to New York and your friends going, hey man, uh, heard you was funny, but I heard the show ain't that good. You know, okay. You know, and the whole thing about, you know, I love New York City, and New York City's been so good to me. But New York loves, I mean, they love to diss Disney. I mean, oh my God. If there is one thing that Broadway folks love to do, it is disrespect Disney theatrical.

They just can't wait to say something horrible about Disney. But you know damn well that if Disney picked up their mouse ears and left, it'd be a giant money hole in the middle of Times Square. And they'd be like, When didn't we begin it? We need something to help us. And that's right. I said it, I said on the podcast, and I dare y'all fools to say something to me. Because so they just knew we were gonna, they just knew we were gonna crash and burn. They knew we were gonna crash and burn. And when we, I told the cast, I said, guys, you know, this is our moment. We have to take it. We have to take it and we have to run it, and we have to destroy this place and have fun doing it.

[26:08] James Monroe Iglehart: And when we when friend like me ended that first opening night, and you know, free night where all your friends come and they stand up for you, you go, great. That's a bunch of actors who all got the tickets for free. So they of course they're gonna stand up. When previews happen, you're like, oh, there's a bunch of people who've never seen a show before. Great. They're they're all standing up. But when opening night happened, and I look out there and there's Sting, Sting standing on his feet with his wife, and there's you know, Tina Fey, and there's the you know, the cast of, you know, I almost said the Goonies, which is so funny. I mean, cast of Newsies, you know. And all these people, and I look up, and they're my colleagues, my friends, uh, and the only people who were not standing up was my family.

And the reason why they weren't is because my wife was in such shock. She told she looked over and she said, her the kids were like, Should we stand? Should we stand? And my wife looked into the aisle and saw me, and I was in almost in tears. And she goes, We can't stand. If you if we stand and your uncle sees us, he he won't be able to finish the show. So they stood, they sat seated. Everybody thought my family was like just the meanest people in the world. They're like, You can't stand for your husband. She was like, I couldn't stand because I was crying and he was crying. We couldn't, we had the show to go on. That moment was so magical for for me. But then we've had some other moments. We've had moments where you know, a kid, a kid walked up to me and he said, You're the real genie because you have feet.

I mean, come on. I come on. When you can when you can make other artists that you love forget they're at a show and have a good time, you know. When I when Leia, when I met Leia Salonga and she came to the show, and she was like, You're incredible. You're like, what? Or now that I can say this crazy, I can say I'm friends with Sarah Michelle Gellar, because she brought her and her her daughter, her beautiful daughter Charlotte, and her friend to see Aladdin that we've been friends ever since. Just, you know, magical moments like that are magical moments backstage that had nothing to do with us being on stage, just joking with Jonathan Freeman, the original voice of Jafar, or I can talk about it now.

The horrible, wonderful, terrible pranks that Don Dell Rivera and I played on each other every single night for three years straight. I mean, every night we did something different to each other. And it was so great. It was so amazing. Like we never did the same joke twice. And we just kept, we spent time. We spent more time thinking of things to do to each other than the actual show. Or when things would go wrong, like when Whoopi Goldberg came and I told I told the audiences, hey, can I finish the show and some little kid said no? And I was like, really? Really? You you want her to do it, not me? These are magical moments that I can never ever forget. This that show, that pocket of time of the three years I spent on Broadway with Aladdin, I don't think there'll ever be a show, unless I write it, that will ever top that. Everything else is just gonna be just icing on a cake that has just been a magical moment of my life.

[29:21] David Alpert: Well, speaking of all that, I mean, the mad you you keep me mentioning the word magic and magical. I love that in your career, in addition to Aladdin. You know, you you brought Phil from Hercules to the stage, and you've given voice to projects like Tangled the Series, Elena of Avalor, Disenchanted, DuckTales. Do you think it makes Disney more magical when those behind the scenes are so invested in the magic?

[29:42] James Monroe Iglehart: Yes. Yes. Yes, because the only way it works is if those if those who are behind the scenes working on it believe in the magic. Um, I have a friend of mine named Justin, and he is a VIP guide at um at Disney World, and he always says, if we could bring a little magic to the people who come to the park, then we've done our job. They're not joking. This isn't something. They they they're they're called cast members, but they hire people specifically because they they've drunk the Kool-Aid. They hire people that are drinking the Kool-Aid too. You can't, you can't do this unless you're drinking it too. And I I have fully, you know, got gallons of it, you know? And you know, it's fine for me. I know other people don't do it, but that's this is how I I enjoy it.

And so you have to have folks behind the scene. The folks behind Tangled, um, our wonderful executive producer, Chris Sonnenberg, he loved that project so much. He believed in the project so much to make it great. That's why that show is the Emmy Award-winning show that it is. Um, Eden Espinoza, Jeremy, Zach, Mandy, they all believed in the show so much. I mean, the guys who do DuckTales whose names are escaping me, and they're all gonna slap me in the face for their name escaping me, um, believe they they are serious DuckTales fans. I'll tell you the story now because I can. Um, when they were auditioning for they were auditioning for Darkwing Duck, and they called in a bunch of guys, and I was one of the guys that got called in.

And I was so excited. I was so excited and I was so nervous that, but I knew that the only way for me to do it without like cracking up and flipping out was to wear Darkwing Duck. So I had a um a Darkwing Duck um hoodie that said, Let's get dangerous. So I wore that to the audition. So when I walked in, they were like, Oh my god, you're a fan. I'm like, listen, man, I after high school, during high school, junior high, I would run home and watch the Disney afternoon just so I could watch Darkwing Duck. And here I am auditioning for it. Now I didn't get it, and that's fine. But those guys remembered that. They remembered me walking in and wearing that thing, and then called my agent and said, We know how much James loves this project.

Would he like to come in for another character? And I came in for Taurus, you know, Taurus Bulba. And when they told me what it was, I cried again because that's you know, Tim Curry's character. That's the original villain of Darkwing Duck. These guys believed in it so much that they wanted to have someone else like myself who believed in a dead match to be a part of the cast. The people behind the these projects have to believe in it just as much. Because if you if they don't, you won't feel the magic coming through the screen or from the stage. You know, no dis you know, I don't want I don't care what anybody says. The people at Disney Theatrical believe in the magic so much and what they put out there, whether they whether people like it or don't like it, they believe in the magic so much, and that's what they want to put out there. They want to put a good time, they want to put magic, they want to put that that feeling that you can't get from other shows out there. And I think you you have to have that or it won't work.

[33:21] David Alpert: Jefferson, or Mitch Mahoney?

[33:23] James Monroe Iglehart: Oh, Mitch Mahoney. What do you think? If Mitch Mahoney were to get a job at the parks, what job would he have?

[33:30] James Monroe Iglehart: Oh, Mitch Mitch Mahoney would probably he would either be um one of the uh the captains on the jungle cruise ride. Yes. Or he would uh they would probably put him as one of the um one of the handlers who walks around with the characters. Oh, sure. And he would get in so much trouble. Because kids would be grabbing on Mickey and he'd be, hey, hey, we grabbed it on the mouse, man. We grabbed it on the mouse. Step back. You know, can you take a picture? Take one picture. One picture. Lady, let's say one picture. Why'd your child grabbing up? Hey, get your child, get your child. I can see that. If he was, you know, and he was if he was on the boat. He was like, yeah, oh, on this side is some alligators.

They about to eat you. Yeah. Oh over here, over here is some uh really, really um there's a there's a rhino that's uh pushing hunters up a tree. Y'all deserve it coming over to, you know, my country trying to take over things. You know what I'm saying? But what's funny is um the question you should be asking is um what job do do I want?

[34:31] David Alpert: Well, that's next.

[34:32] James Monroe Iglehart: Oh, the next question. But so let me so no, go for it. What do you what job do you want?

[34:38] James Monroe Iglehart: The job that I want at the park. I've I've I've thought about this long and hard, and I know exactly what job I want. I want to be the voice of Disneyland. I since I was a child, I have loved voiceover. I have always wanted to be a cartoon character, and I have gotten to live that dream. I still get to live it every day. Um, but here's I I have studied the guys. I know I sound different, but my goal before I die is at least for one year to be the guy who uh announces the park. I mean, I've always, you know, I I found something I wanted to do. Hear ye hear ye. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to the Magic Kingdom. You are warmly invited to join Mickey Mouse and his fantasy land friends for a magical celebration in the streets.

Dreams will come true, hearts will soar, and you will become a part of the magic. For the time has come to take your places. Prepare and welcome to the wondrous and wonderful Disney Festival of the Fantasy Parade. At five minutes with your family, just sit and wait for Mickey and his friends. That is what I want to do. That is for my life.

[35:51] David Alpert: Yes, yes. You know what? I want that for your life and my life. That needs to happen.

[35:57] James Monroe Iglehart: That was wonderful. When when I was a kid, where most people uh knew who all the basketball players were and knew who all the football players were, I only knew two groups of people. The WWE professional wrestlers and the any professional wrestlers, NWA, WWE, all that kind of, we can get that's a whole different conversation. But the voiceover guys, and um John, I mean, uh Paul Freeze is one of my favorite people. And Paul Freeze's voice is all over the park. I mean, to hear him as the ghost host, but to also hear him in Pirates of the Caribbean, and then to turn around and then to hear him inside of uh, you know, the tiki room. I mean, this man, he's also the voice of Ludwig von Drake, if you don't know, and if you if you haven't seen um Santa Claus is coming to town, he's two different voices.

He's the voice of uh Burgermeister Meisterberger, but also he's the voice of his guard. Paul Freeze is is is most people talk about Mel Blank, but Paul Freeze is like the master voice person. And when I would hear him, and when I would hear him in the haunted mansion, and you know, your ghost host. That I even last year, during during uh last year I did a um I did a whole track of the haunted mansion just so I could, you know, and I put on YouTube just so I could, you know, do it at Kevin Michael Richardson, who is a wonderful voiceover artist now. Uh he's he did it for the uh the Halloween show um in the park. Um, but to to be a voiceover in that park and to be that voice, to be the voice that announces the parades, to be the voice that announces you, ladies and gentlemen.

Welcome to welcome to you know Disneyland or Disney World. That would be um, that would just be a dream come true because that's the voice that's so welcoming to you. And it's the one that tells you it's only five minutes, only two minutes, only 30 seconds to the parade of Mickey and his friends, and I would, oh God, and I would do it. My wife it just makes me happy.

[37:55] David Alpert: Will you do me a favor and say, like, good morning, David, and welcome to this magical day, so I can change it to be my alarm.

[38:02] James Monroe Iglehart: Sure. Good morning, David, and welcome to this magical day. This day is going to be the day that you've been dreaming of. So, David, go out there and live your life. Five minutes to brushing your teeth. David, five minutes to brushing your teeth and starting this day.

[38:52] James Monroe Iglehart: James, this is Fast Pass Answers. I'll put 30 seconds on the clock after I ask the first question for you to answer as many as possible. Here we go. Ready?

[38:54] David Alpert: That is perfect. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[38:56] James Monroe Iglehart: Oh, sorry. We'll be right back.

[38:58] David Alpert: Oh, what's town for sponsors.

[39:00] James Monroe Iglehart: Okay.

[39:00] David Alpert: James, name any country in Epcot.

[39:04] James Monroe Iglehart: Norway, Japan.

[39:08] James Monroe Iglehart: Uh Robin Hood, Little John.

[39:11] David Alpert: Name one song from Hamilton.

[39:13] James Monroe Iglehart: What did I miss?

[39:15] David Alpert: Name any Disney princess.

[39:18] James Monroe Iglehart: Um Aurora.

[39:19] David Alpert: Name any animal mentioned in the song Prince Ali.

[39:23] James Monroe Iglehart: Elephants.

[39:24] David Alpert: Favorite snack in the parks.

[39:28] James Monroe Iglehart: Uh the ice cream Mickey Heads.

[39:30] David Alpert: Name a ride in Fantasyland.

[39:33] James Monroe Iglehart: Peter Pan.

[39:34] David Alpert: Time.

[39:34] James Monroe Iglehart: Oh, we're we're gonna accept that.

[39:36] David Alpert: Peter Pan.

[39:37] James Monroe Iglehart: James, that was very exciting. You were very ambitious. You answered so many, but we love it.

[39:42] David Alpert: We love a Disney nerd. This is perfect.

[39:44] James Monroe Iglehart: I thought I thought it was how many can you announce it from each one of those?

[39:47] David Alpert: Oh no, no, no.

[39:48] James Monroe Iglehart: No, just one.

[39:48] David Alpert: You did great.

[39:49] James Monroe Iglehart: And so go back. Your favorite snack in the park is the Mickey Mouse Ice Cream Bar.

[39:53] David Alpert: Mickey.

[39:53] James Monroe Iglehart: Well, yes, the Mickey Mouse Ice Cream Bar. So good.

[39:56] David Alpert: I'm the sandwich, but I love the bar.

[39:58] James Monroe Iglehart: The best part is we called them the Mickey Heads.

[39:59] David Alpert: Mickey, Mickey Mouse, we call them the Mickey Heads, which is terrible.

[40:02] James Monroe Iglehart: Uh because they were they they remind us they're the closest thing to the Eskimo Pies that you used to get at the um in the at from the ice cream truck.

[40:09] David Alpert: And also the great thing is they put them on uh is it hydrogen ice or something something?

[40:14] James Monroe Iglehart: It's it's like dry eyes, I know.

[40:16] David Alpert: Dry eyes.

[40:16] James Monroe Iglehart: Okay, so nothing, nothing is better and nothing is worse than being in front of it.

[40:22] David Alpert: It's always in front of the haunted mansion, no matter which park we're in, no matter what Disney World, Disneyland.

[40:25] James Monroe Iglehart: We grab one of them bad boys, and we always forget that it's a rock first.

[40:25] David Alpert: It's a rock.

[40:30] James Monroe Iglehart: And you open it and be like, and this but the problem is, especially if you're in Orlando, Orlando, whenever we go, it's usually like 95 degrees.

[40:40] David Alpert: So the first bite is rock.

[40:42] James Monroe Iglehart: But if you don't bite it within the next 10 seconds, it is water all over your hand.

[40:47] David Alpert: So you need to you need to like bite it, take a second, pray, bite again, because it'll be fine.

[40:52] James Monroe Iglehart: Because if you don't finish it, you ain't making it to the next ride.

[40:55] David Alpert: You're just gonna be like, I it's everywhere.

[41:03] James Monroe Iglehart: Hold on, you're thinking ears.

[41:05] David Alpert: It's trivia time.

[41:06] James Monroe Iglehart: Oh boy.

[41:09] David Alpert: James, it's time for trivia. So on July 17th, 1955, Disneyland had its invitation only opening day gala, which was broadcast live on ABC.

[41:19] David Alpert: While nearly half of the American population watched the festivities from the comfort of their own living rooms, 11,000 people were invited to the park.

[41:27] David Alpert: Several thousand more arrived and tried to game with counterfeit tickets.

[41:30] David Alpert: The day was filled, of course, with record level heat and mishaps, lots of things went bad, but Walt was ecstatic.

[41:36] David Alpert: And when the park opened to the public the next day, visitors were lined up as early as 2 a.m.

[41:42] David Alpert: Apparently there were 15,000 people in line before 10 a.m.

[41:46] David Alpert: Clearly the rest is history with millions of people across the world enjoying the magic of the parks.

[41:51] David Alpert: Now, for the OG park in Anaheim, within how long did it take for the one millionth guest to enter the gates?

[42:00] James Monroe Iglehart: Ooh.

[42:04] David Alpert: That's hard.

[42:05] James Monroe Iglehart: I know. This, I mean, I I would I would I would say if it was 11,000 the first time and the next time was 11,000 again, or at least so many people waiting.

[42:16] James Monroe Iglehart: I'd probably take two years.

[42:20] David Alpert: It's actually they hit their one millionth guest within 10 weeks.

[42:25] James Monroe Iglehart: Jesus!

[42:26] David Alpert: Isn't that crazy?

[42:27] James Monroe Iglehart: And by 1960, that number would rise to 5 million visitors a year.

[42:32] David Alpert: It's crazy.

[42:33] James Monroe Iglehart: That's amazing.

[42:34] David Alpert: McDonald's can't say that.

[42:35] James Monroe Iglehart: McDonald's can't say that.

[42:44] David Alpert: James, in the musical Aladdin, you brought to the stage the wonderful song, Friend Like Me, and you even won a Tony Award by doing so.

[42:51] David Alpert: The song, written by Howard Ashman and Alan Menkin, is a delight with fun lyrics in which the genie explains how great he is to Aladdin.

[42:58] David Alpert: One of those lyrics is Life is Your Restaurant, and I'm Your Matre D.

[43:03] David Alpert: And that's the inspiration for this game. I'm your matre D for Disney, where I will tell you a dish, and I need you to tell me which of the two restaurants I mentioned can you enjoy this dish.

[43:14] David Alpert: So you're gonna need some punch, pizzazz, yahoo, and how to complete this game. Are you ready?

[43:20] James Monroe Iglehart: Yes.

[43:22] David Alpert: Perfect. Number one for I'm your matre D for Disney. Where can you enjoy a pork belly skewer?

[43:28] David Alpert: Is it the Bengal Barbecue in Adventureland or Restaurantosaurus in Animal Kingdom?

[43:35] James Monroe Iglehart: Pork belly skewer.

[43:38] David Alpert: Ooh.

[43:41] James Monroe Iglehart: I wanna say the dinosaur one.

[43:47] David Alpert: And what would your second guess be?

[43:50] James Monroe Iglehart: I guess that would be the tigerwood.

[43:52] David Alpert: Bangle tiger.

[43:54] James Monroe Iglehart: It's the Bangalore Barbecue and Adventure.

[43:55] David Alpert: Because the reason why the only the only one I've only had the chicken at the Bangalore Tiger, so I didn't realize the pork belly was there.

[44:00] James Monroe Iglehart: There's so many food options, but here we go for number two for I'm Your Matre D for Disney.

[44:04] David Alpert: All right. Monte Cristo Sandwich in Chef de France in World Showcase or the Blue Bayou in Disneyland's New Orleans Square.

[44:13] James Monroe Iglehart: The Blue Bayou.

[44:16] David Alpert: That is correct.

[44:17] James Monroe Iglehart: That is very true.

[44:18] David Alpert: I'd be blue by you a couple times.

[44:20] James Monroe Iglehart: Yeah, it's so dark.

[44:22] David Alpert: It's so dark in there.

[44:23] James Monroe Iglehart: It's so good.

[44:24] David Alpert: And I always and I always miss a rest.

[44:26] James Monroe Iglehart: There's a restaurant like that in Disney World, but it's not the blue bayou.

[44:31] David Alpert: It's different.

[44:31] James Monroe Iglehart: You know, it's it's not like it's not that, you know, it's not the same.

[44:34] David Alpert: Okay, number three, you're doing very well.

[44:37] David Alpert: The New England style clam chowder served in a bread bowl.

[44:40] David Alpert: Is that Disneyland's French Market or the House of Blues restaurant and bar at Disney Springs in Orlando?

[44:48] James Monroe Iglehart: You say clam chowder?

[44:50] David Alpert: I did.

[44:57] James Monroe Iglehart: I'm going to go with wait, what was the first one again?

[45:01] David Alpert: Disneyland's French Market.

[45:02] James Monroe Iglehart: I'm going to say the Disneyland French Market only because I know that they also serve a really good gumbo in a bread, uh in a bread bowl there as well.

[45:10] James Monroe Iglehart: So I'm going to go there.

[45:17] David Alpert: And you are correct.

[45:19] James Monroe Iglehart: That is right.

[45:20] David Alpert: And I always get that sourdough bread bowl, and it's so hot.

[45:24] James Monroe Iglehart: Yes.

[45:24] David Alpert: It's so hot, but it's like, I will suffer for this.

[45:27] James Monroe Iglehart: And then I get my ice cream sandwich and my poor body when I go to Disney.

[45:30] David Alpert: Okay.

[45:31] James Monroe Iglehart: Number four. The Incredicookie, which is a gluten-friendly blackberry jam-filled cookie.

[45:36] David Alpert: Is that available at the Trolley Car Cafe on Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood Studios?

[45:41] David Alpert: Or at Jack Jack Cookie Num Nums on Pixar Pier?

[45:46] James Monroe Iglehart: This is a trick question, but I'm pretty sure it's Jack Jack Cookie Numnums.

[45:50] David Alpert: It is.

[45:50] James Monroe Iglehart: That's exactly right.

[45:51] David Alpert: And the the actual chocolate cookie, the Jack Jack Cookie Num Num.

[45:54] James Monroe Iglehart: Yeah.

[45:55] David Alpert: One of my favorite.

[45:55] James Monroe Iglehart: One of my favorites.

[45:56] David Alpert: It's fantastic.

[45:57] James Monroe Iglehart: See, I'm a chocolate chip cookie fan.

[45:59] David Alpert: Oh, yep.

[46:00] James Monroe Iglehart: And I've had to like, you know, chill on that just because, you know, weight issues.

[46:04] David Alpert: But trust.

[46:06] James Monroe Iglehart: You know, calories don't count at Disneyland.

[46:08] David Alpert: No, bruh.

[46:09] James Monroe Iglehart: Listen, there's some at Disneyland that I'm still they they brought out one year and they haven't brought it back, and I'm pissed at them.

[46:14] David Alpert: Disneyland, it was right in front of um a couple feet away from uh uh it's a small world.

[46:20] James Monroe Iglehart: Wendy the Pooh was taking a picture where they now do all the princess pictures, and it's in front of the Matterhorn.

[46:25] David Alpert: They had a churro cart there, and it had strawberry churros.

[46:30] James Monroe Iglehart: They have never had strawberry churros again.

[46:32] David Alpert: I don't know what I don't know if it was Valentine's Day, I don't know what we were doing there, but we got one.

[46:36] James Monroe Iglehart: And every time I go, they look at me like I'm crazy.

[46:38] David Alpert: It's supposed to also no disrespect.

[46:39] James Monroe Iglehart: It's also some 18-year-old who goes, We we we don't have that.

[46:42] David Alpert: I'm like, listen, you pimple faced kid.

[46:44] James Monroe Iglehart: We had that one time, okay?

[46:46] David Alpert: Don't look at me like I'm old because my my my beard is gray.

[46:50] James Monroe Iglehart: I know what I'm talking about.

[46:50] David Alpert: They look at me like this man is insane.

[46:52] James Monroe Iglehart: He's better thinking we got you.

[46:54] David Alpert: Yeah, like you had it.

[46:56] James Monroe Iglehart: Well, that is not part of the game, but I I I'm glad you know where to find it when it comes back, which is great.

[47:01] David Alpert: So here comes number five.

[47:02] David Alpert: The classic French onion soup.

[47:04] David Alpert: Is that the BR guest restaurant in the Magic Kingdom or Liberty Square Market in Liberty Square, also in the Magic Kingdom?

[47:04] James Monroe Iglehart: Liberty Square.

[47:11] David Alpert: It's actually the BR guest restaurant.

[47:12] James Monroe Iglehart: Really?

[47:13] David Alpert: I know I know you're I know you're mad at them, so it's I am.

[47:17] James Monroe Iglehart: I am no, it's okay.

[47:18] David Alpert: Here comes number six.

[47:19] David Alpert: And on the menu, this is literally just called chicken.

[47:23] David Alpert: But it's three, hold on, but it's three pieces of chicken fried to a golden brown and seasoned with distinctive herbs and spices, served with mashed potatoes, buttermilk biscuit, and a mixture of vegetables.

[47:33] David Alpert: Can you get that at Plaza Inn on Main Street at Disneyland?

[47:36] David Alpert: Or Poultry Palace on Pixar Pier?

[47:40] James Monroe Iglehart: Plaza Inn.

[47:41] David Alpert: That's right.

[47:42] James Monroe Iglehart: You know why I know?

[47:44] David Alpert: Because I get it every time I go.

[47:46] James Monroe Iglehart: Yeah, perfect.

[47:47] James Monroe Iglehart: I get it at the Plaza Inn every time I go.

[47:50] David Alpert: And also in Disneyland, in Disneyland, I don't know what the restaurant's called, but it's all Main Street.

[47:56] David Alpert: And you watch, you it's a little, it's a white building, and you walk past it, and you wait till nighttime till the parade starts.

[48:03] James Monroe Iglehart: And you go in there and you go in there, you get all kinds of it's I'm this is getting so black, and I'm so sorry.

[48:07] David Alpert: This is so racist.

[48:08] James Monroe Iglehart: But every time I go in there, my family and I, we go in there and we just destroy the fried chicken place.

[48:12] David Alpert: And we and they know we're coming because I walk past it everything like that's the same dude every year.

[48:17] James Monroe Iglehart: He comes here, and we go in there and we destroy.

[48:19] David Alpert: We're like, I don't care what family's in here, we're about to it's like 12 of us, and we walk in there and we bum rush that place.

[48:25] James Monroe Iglehart: And my wife knows I have to go.

[48:27] David Alpert: She's like, babe, I know before we leave the weekend, you have to have the fried chicken here.

[48:30] James Monroe Iglehart: And the other best fried chicken to have, if you go, is to go to the um hoop de doo review over there, and it's a terrible, it's a wonderful, terrible show.

[48:40] David Alpert: Wonderful slash terrible show.

[48:41] James Monroe Iglehart: It's a great show, but they have buckets.

[48:43] David Alpert: When I say buckets, I mean buckets of fried chicken, and also they have the best strawberry shortcakes, and these are giant biscuits.

[48:49] James Monroe Iglehart: You could kill a person with these biscuits, and they are the best thing, but that's don't don't talk about the food in Disneyland.

[48:54] David Alpert: You can go down there.

[48:56] James Monroe Iglehart: I thought this game was gonna be fun because of the lyric, but I love how much you love the food.

[48:59] David Alpert: But uh, let's keep going.

[49:00] James Monroe Iglehart: We've got four more.

[49:02] David Alpert: Uh pineapple split, which is a pineapple dole whip with coconut caramel sauce, tropical fruits, and hibiscus toasted coconut with a souvenir boat.

[49:10] David Alpert: Can you get that pineapple split at the tropical hideaway in Adventureland at Disneyland or at Aloha Isle in Magic Kingdom's Adventureland?

[49:22] James Monroe Iglehart: What's the first one?

[49:24] David Alpert: The first one is the Tropical Hideaway in Adventureland.

[49:28] James Monroe Iglehart: I think it's the Tropical Hideaway at Adventureland.

[49:30] David Alpert: You are right.

[49:31] James Monroe Iglehart: You're because it's right next to it's right next to uh the tiki room and it's right across from the Aladdin uh where the um Yeah.

[49:40] David Alpert: It replaced Aladdin's Oasis.

[49:41] James Monroe Iglehart: Yeah.

[49:42] David Alpert: And because because uh the the um the carpets are still there, but the um the place has changed with what you get something to eat.

[49:49] James Monroe Iglehart: So yes, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[49:50] David Alpert: Okay, here comes number eight.

[49:51] David Alpert: The Moana Smoothie, which is a vanilla smoothie with flavors of watermelon, mango, guava, and ginger, topped with whipped cream, edible flowers, chocolate disc.

[50:00] David Alpert: Is that available at Ohana at the Polynesian village resort, or at Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor on Disneyland's Main Street?

[50:09] James Monroe Iglehart: No, I've never been to either one.

[50:10] David Alpert: So I'm going to guess, and I'm going to say Ohana.

[50:14] James Monroe Iglehart: You guessed correctly.

[50:16] David Alpert: Because I've been to the I've stayed at the Polynesian, but we didn't get to go to Ohana because we only stayed there for one night because we were moving on to the uh the other park.

[50:23] James Monroe Iglehart: So yeah.

[50:24] David Alpert: Gibson Girl is an Eltward family tradition every night on the way out.

[50:28] James Monroe Iglehart: Gotta go to Dyson Girl.

[50:29] David Alpert: Okay, two more.

[50:30] David Alpert: This is my favorite dish.

[50:32] David Alpert: The Countdown Chicken Fizzuli.

[50:34] David Alpert: Is it Alien Pizza Planet in Tomorrowland at Disneyland?

[50:38] David Alpert: Or the Friar's Nook in Fantasyland at Walt Disney World?

[50:42] James Monroe Iglehart: What's it called again?

[50:44] David Alpert: The dish is called the Countdown Chicken Fazoulli.

[50:49] James Monroe Iglehart: And what are the two places again?

[50:51] David Alpert: Alien Pizza Planet in Tomorrowland at Disneyland or the Friar's Nook in Fantasyland at Walt Disney World.

[50:58] James Monroe Iglehart: I want to say the Friar's Nook.

[51:00] David Alpert: See, I I I told you earlier I was a land boy, and I realized that was a big hint.

[51:05] James Monroe Iglehart: So it has to be Alien Pizza Planet.

[51:07] David Alpert: You're right, you're right.

[51:08] James Monroe Iglehart: You know why?

[51:08] David Alpert: Because I've only been to Alien Pizza Planet once, and I had the pizza day, which is not bad.

[51:12] James Monroe Iglehart: But you're you're right.

[51:13] David Alpert: You're right.

[51:14] James Monroe Iglehart: Come on.

[51:15] David Alpert: It is my favorite.

[51:16] David Alpert: I got three wrong out of the out of the great.

[51:18] James Monroe Iglehart: I got three wrong.

[51:20] James Monroe Iglehart: But you're doing so well.

[51:21] David Alpert: Here's the last one.

[51:21] David Alpert: So this one is a spoonful of cereal, which are brand flakes and raisins garnished with yogurt covered pretzels served with whole milk and a ripe banana.

[51:30] David Alpert: Is that spoonful of cereal available at the Pym Test Kitchen at Avengers Campus in DCA?

[51:35] David Alpert: Or Jolly Holiday Bakery Cafe on Disneyland's Main Street?

[51:39] James Monroe Iglehart: I want to say Jolly Holiday because I haven't been to the Pym place yet.

[51:43] David Alpert: So that is, I did try and trick you because it sounds like spoonful of sugar, but that spoonful of cereal is at the Pim Test kitchen.

[51:50] James Monroe Iglehart: See, I haven't been to the Pim Test kitchen yet.

[51:52] David Alpert: It did it just opened.

[51:57] James Monroe Iglehart: And you will find How dare you!

[52:01] David Alpert: A plane ticket.

[52:02] James Monroe Iglehart: We're going to Disneyland.

[52:03] David Alpert: Oh my god!

[52:04] James Monroe Iglehart: Congratulations, you won for I'm your maitre D for Disney.

[52:08] David Alpert: Thank you for playing along.

[52:09] James Monroe Iglehart: Well done.

[52:10] James Monroe Iglehart: Thank you so much, Mike.

[52:15] David Alpert: Now let's hear from some of you.

[52:17] James Monroe Iglehart: Uh-huh.

[52:23] David Alpert: James, we put it on our Instagram account. Your fans know you love Disney. They're ready. This first one I think you're gonna like. Alana asks: if you could go to any of the parks with your favorite WWE superstar, which park would it be and what ride would you have to go on together?

[52:39] James Monroe Iglehart: Oh gosh. I I am going to get beat up because I I have a couple of WWE superstars who uh we're supposed to go to Disneyland or Disney World together. So I I'm I'm going to say I'm gonna say I'm gonna I'm gonna cheat and take uh one superstar and one wife of a former superstar. I'm gonna take uh Kevin Owens uh and I'm also going to take Amanda Huber, who was the the wife of what of my dear friends, uh John Huber, Luke Harper, and we'll go to Disney World, and we will probably uh I would probably go on to um the Twilight Zone ride. The uh the Tower of Terror.

[53:24] James Monroe Iglehart: I have a love hate relationship with that ride.

[53:25] David Alpert: Oh, I have a hate relationship.

[53:27] James Monroe Iglehart: Oh, I I hate I hate going on it, but once I'm on it, I love it. It's one of the most it's one of the best ride put together rides ever.

[53:36] David Alpert: Yeah.

[53:36] James Monroe Iglehart: Yeah. Leot and the Muggle Bees both want to know what is your favorite Disneyland and DCA ride?

[53:44] James Monroe Iglehart: Um my favorite Disneyland ride, period, is the Haunted Mansion. And the haunt the original Haunted Mansion in Disneyland is my favorite. Uh the haunted mansion and what they've done with um what they what they did with it in Disney World is great. And also the brand new story, which is based more on the bride in Disney Parks. Um I love it. It makes me happy. I can't go to the parks without riding it, and I will sing Grim Grinning Ghosts all day long.

[54:15] David Alpert: So yeah. Have you we have to get you to Mystic Manor as well?

[54:20] James Monroe Iglehart: Where's that?

[54:20] David Alpert: That's that's in Japan?

[54:22] James Monroe Iglehart: No. That one's in Hong Kong, Disneyland.

[54:25] David Alpert: Yeah, that's that the only the the ones we have, Don and I have not been to, the family and I our next trips are to Shanghai and Hong Kong, though. Those are the ones we want to go to yet, because we've been to three of them, so we have to go to the all six, you know, to all the parts. Do you have a favorite ride in California Adventure?

[54:41] James Monroe Iglehart: Yeah. Um it's it's a it's a toss-up between um California between the Incredicoaster and also the Little Mermaid Ride is so wonderful. The Little Mermaid Ride is so wonderful because it it's such a great throwback to the original when the Imagineers went back and did that ride, they went back to what Walt had thought of for fan. That ride would fit right next door to Snow White and Mr. Toad's you know ride, you know.

[55:12] David Alpert: So yeah. Emily is curious. What influence did Robin Williams have on your portrayal of the genie?

[55:20] James Monroe Iglehart: Um, you know what's funny? Um I I tried my best not to uh use Robin because of a hip hop reference and a comedy reference. In hip hop, not now, not now, but back in the day, when Astor first started in hip hop, the term was you can't bite off people. And that basically meant you can't steal people's material, you can't rap like somebody else, you can't you can't use other people's rhymes, or at least if you do, you gotta make it your own. You can't just you can't steal people's stuff. And in comedy, you can't steal people's material. And I was so afraid that people would think that I was just doing a ripoff of Robin Williams, that I didn't want to uh steal his stuff, but I also know you can't do the genie without it being a little like Robin because he was so much of the genie.

[56:19] James Monroe Iglehart: So what I learned from watching the cartoon since I was 17, all the way up to the time I was 36 when I first started Aladdin, um, was to be genie-esque. Robin was the genie. So I had to be the genie. So genie-esque is bringing all of your silliness and bringing all of your ness to this character, but also be so much bigger than life that it would be uh magical. So I never tried to take uh Robin's jokes or Robin's moments, or you know, I try to make them my own, but I saw what he did. And to be genie-esque, you have to one uh love Aladdin, two, you have to really, really want to be free. And three, you have all this pain, but the only way that you can get rid of this pain is to be the showman and put that up as a big big front until you trust the kid enough to where you can be yourself. And so that's being genie-esque.

[57:14] James Monroe Iglehart: And so the best way to do it, and the best way to honor Robin was to bring all of myself. I always say my genie was is James Egelhart turned up to the volume, turn the volume up to 20. That's what it is. And uh that's so the influence of Robin for me was to be also, I will say there is one influence to be fearless. Because if you watch any of Robin's concerts from his first concerts in the 70s, where he's um at the comedy store and John Britter's in the audience, or even when he would see him at Carnegie Hall, he is absolutely fearless with what he does, and he never ever likes censors himself and takes a back seat. And he just goes for it. If you watch the clips of him recording uh genie in the studio, he just goes and he knows they're gonna cut some stuff out, but he just goes.

So I would do that in the studio, I would do it on stage, and I felt bad for some of the people who were working with me because they'd be like, where's James going? I'm like, look, just follow me. Trust me, I will bring you back to where we're going. But that's that that was his biggest influence on me.

[58:07] James Monroe Iglehart: Speaking of the genie, Johan wants to know if you could take home one of your genie costumes, which one would it be?

[58:15] James Monroe Iglehart: Probably the blue one, the original blue one. It was it was so much fun to wear. It was so much fun to wear. Because the uh the Prince Ali one was full of magnets, and I used to get stuck on all the lockers. Uh, and the white one is a little tight. I was like, huh. It's like I that's why if you watched, if you watch uh, you know, uh Prince Ali, both of those costumes, I didn't move that much. I was trying not to rip anything. But the blue one I can move, it can breathe, it's very breathable.

[58:38] David Alpert: And speaking of clothing, Annalisa wants to know what's your go-to Disney hat?

[58:45] James Monroe Iglehart: That's my little sister. Um, you know, honestly, my Disney go-to hat, I am about to get it. I am about to get it, and I know it. There's no there's no way around it, there's no way of saving it. Only a few people know that I have this, and those who have seen it have given me crap for it, but I will wear it to my dying day. And a matter of fact, I shouldn't even admit this. I have I have it in several colors. I have a see-through visor, and it's made for women from Dior.

[59:27] James Monroe Iglehart: And there's a black one, I have a blue one, I have a white one, I have a yellow one. And whenever I go to Disneyland or Disney World, whenever I go to Disney Parks, period, I put that. I love a visor, a visor, because it it one, it gives it's it's still a hat, but also keeps my bald head from getting too hot. And also because it's see-through and UV, it's like sunglasses because I'm blind, so I gotta wear my glasses and I wear the hat. But that's that's my hat. Also, it's it um I could take it off and put it on my shoulder and use it like a shoulder pad for all the rides. So I put it up here and the visor just hits me right in the neck, ba-boom, I ride the ride, nothing happens, slip it back off, put it back on.

It is the best hat. Once I got it, and what's so funny, my my wife said, You want that hat? I'm like, I want that hat. And she goes, 'You know, that's a woman's hat.' I'm like, Yeah, but you know me. I don't care. I have I have more women's clothing. That's gonna sound really bad. No, but as far as like socks and things, yeah, the the they make women's clothing more comfortable. So I wear don't get wrong, you I I have a limit, but you know, certain things like but the hats, oh, I wear that bad boy, and I literally I have four of them. And I please, please, no one, please, and I know me saying this is gonna make people do no one go look up this hat because I don't want to hear it. You paid what for what?

I don't want to hear it. Uh, it's my hat, it's what I do with my this is what I do with myself. On this podcast, we do not judge, and there is no such thing as there is no gender. This podcast won't judge. The people who see who listen to podcasts will judge, and that's my but listen. Here's the thing. When you see me in the park, that's probably if this I probably shouldn't take this. When you see me in the park, I'm the only brother walking around wearing it. But I will say this every time I've worn it, and I say this, and I do mean brothers. When I say brothers, I mean black men. I've worn this thing in the park, and I've seen brothers going, damn, that's cool. Where'd you get that? Damn, that damn.

What hey, hey man, where'd you I've had more brothers stop me in the park and ask me where I got this hat. So I'm waiting for me to go to the park one day and just see a bunch of brothers wearing Dior C uh Dior visors. And I'm like, damn it, they didn't took my I did.

[1:01:38] David Alpert: It's time for some tough choices. Let's play Tweedledee or Tweedledum.

[1:01:45] James Monroe Iglehart: Okay, it's time for Tweedledee or Tweeddledum. I will give you two options. Let me know which one you prefer. Here's the first one Tweedledeeer, Tweedledum, Peter Pan or Pinocchio.

[1:01:49] James Monroe Iglehart: Peter Pan.

[1:01:56] David Alpert: Tweedledee or Tweedledum Galaxy's Edge or Animal Kingdom.

[1:02:01] James Monroe Iglehart: Ooh. Not fair, not fair. Gotta go with Galaxy's Edge.

[1:02:09] David Alpert: Okay. Tweedledee or Tweedledum, churros or Dole Whips.

[1:02:14] James Monroe Iglehart: Churros.

[1:02:15] James Monroe Iglehart: Yeah, specifically Strawberry. If I can find it. If we can find it.

[1:02:19] David Alpert: And final Tweedledee or Tweedledum, one jump ahead or Prince Ali.

[1:02:26] James Monroe Iglehart: Ooh. You know what? I’m conceited. I say Prince Ali because I sing that.

[1:02:31] David Alpert: Perfect. No, no, don't disrespect uh Aladdin, but you know, I like the songs I sing.

[1:02:52] David Alpert: James, what's the first thing you're going to do the next time you go to the parks?

[1:02:56] James Monroe Iglehart: Oh my gosh. Um I am going to try my best to be patient and not run over children to get to uh the Marvel campus. Um that that's a problem for me, because you know, I I really love Marvel, and you know, don't get me wrong, I understand. I understand that the parks are for families, but I'm like, look, if your child is slow, and I don't mean bad, I mean like if he can't if he or she can't run fast. That's not my fault. They need to, you know, hold on to your child. So write to Avengers campus. And also probably, probably uh I will probably do my best to uh eat good, I should say eat well, and then in a healthy way so I can have um the the fried chicken dinner wherever I go, and also to have the uh the Mickey Mouse bar, ice cream bar, because I have to have one of those.

[1:03:50] David Alpert: Well, James, thank you so much for joining on Eticket Abroadway. You were a perfect guest in sharing your love of Robin Hood, Haunted Mansion, America Sings, Pete's Dragon, Maleficent, Captain Hook, Baluth, the Chicken, the Ice Cream, the Churros. Thank you so much.

[1:04:05] James Monroe Iglehart: My pleasure, my pleasure. I I I love um it's it's always been my dream to be a part of the Disney family and to be able to not just be a part of it business wise, but also just be a part of it as a fan and um to still have those memories. You know, certain things in the parks are gone, and I have soundtracks that have that. Then when new things come into the park, I I want to race and go and go be a part of that as well. And so I can't wait. So I, you know, I'm I'm only um I'm only 46. I'll be 47 in September of 2021. And so there are many, many more uh, you know, things that I know that the parks will have, and I can't wait to just be an old man, you know, with cane going, hold on, I got to get on to the Space Mountain. And, you know, move away, you know. So I'm looking forward to that.

[1:04:51] David Alpert: Well, we'll see you at the parks.

[1:04:53] James Monroe Iglehart: See you there.

[1:05:06] David Alpert: I think I'll significantly review this episode.

[1:05:10] James Monroe Iglehart: Oh boy.

[1:05:11] David Alpert: Thanks for listening.