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[0:00] Kirsten Andersen: Hey, listeners! Just want to give a quick thanks to our Patreon members, including Cat Hicks, Cheryl Hodges-Selden, Linda Lee, Phoebe Stewart, and many, many more. We've been bolstering our Patreon offerings in the last couple months, so make sure to check us out at patreon.com slash The Ensemblist.

[0:32] Kirsten Andersen: You're listening to The Ensemblist, the only podcast that shows you Broadway from the inside out. I'm Kirsten Andersen. Tony's Aladdin, beloved animated classic turned hit musical, opened on Broadway at the New Amsterdam Theatre in March of 2014. Directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, with a score by Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, Tim Rice, and Chad Beguelin. Featuring both iconic songs originally written for the animated movie, as well as some brand new tunes, it received five Tony nominations and gave James Monroe Iglehart his first Tony win. Audiences have been dazzled, not only by the hundreds of thousands of Swarovski crystals, but by the timeless story of street rat-turned-prince and trapped princess-turned-independent-woman.

Since then, the magic of Agrabah has been brought all over the world and to every corner of North America. On today's episode, we share some of our favorite stories from members of the Broadway and national tour casts of Aladdin, originally shared on the podcast or on our blog. First up is Michael Callahan. He talks about the wild ride of going on for Aladdin as an understudy on the national tour in his article, It Takes a Village to Do This.

[1:57] Michael Callahan: I was sitting on my bed in my hotel room watching Modern Love when unexpected knocks struck my door. Kat Purvis, our PSM, stood on the other side of the doorway with a smirk. "You're on for Aladdin tonight. Sound good?" Kat delivered this message to my door because she wanted to see the look on my face. She was not disappointed. I hesitated, laughed, and gave her an affirming, "let's go." I closed the door and realized the first thing I needed to do was shave everything. A hilarious truth of playing Aladdin. At this point, it was 4:15 PM before a 7:30 PM show, three hours I was very thankful for. My best friend and Aladdin's assistant dance captain, Michael Bullard, kindly met me at the theater so I could review lines.

I wanted to speak all the words before having to say them in front of an audience for my first time. My put-in for Aladdin was back in May, however, over the summer, my dance captain duties were exhausted teaching the show to eight brilliant new company members. Needless to say, my personal Aladdin rehearsal had been scarce, but I made sure to stay on top of my game. I was ready for this moment. It was time. Brad Gardner, our associate music director and conductor for that evening, offered to run "Proud of Your Boy" with me. By sheer luck, my boyfriend was in town. He brought me dinner and gave me space to get my head in the game. This is the point where I turned off my phone. No distractions.

The other principals, ensemble, wardrobe and crew came by my room to express their excitement and offer assistance. Through my own nervous excitement, this was a humbling reminder that it takes a village to do this. Theater is a team sport. I may have been playing Aladdin, but I was being held up by every person on and off stage. I couldn't have done it without them. I heard places and walked backstage. The orchestra tuned and I said my pre-show mantra. People high-fived me as they made their way to the stage. The lights dimmed and it began. No turning back. Breathe. Holy moly, this is happening. I think there's a false narrative around debuting as an understudy. In the moment, it is not blissful and magical.

Your palms are sweating, adrenaline overload. You're trying to do the correct blocking and stay in the moment with your scene partners, most of whom you've never actually worked on stage with. You've certainly never had an audience. It feels like a version of what you've rehearsed, but it's not the same at all. This can't be helped, but those rare moments in your debut when you get to let go and be, they're golden. So it happened. I played Aladdin on the first national tour. Was I perfect? No. Could the audience probably tell? No. But at the end of the day, I breathed life into a beautifully imperfect hero, a young man whose love defies social constraints and whose integrity ultimately leads him to success. I did him justice, and I can't wait to do him more justice the next time. Never stop working. Never stop exploring. And wow, am I grateful to say I got the opportunity to do it once. Thanks, Michael.

[5:07] Kirsten Andersen: Next up, Heather Makalani shares her journey from growing up on the island of Guam to making her Broadway debut. Here is Life Threw Me the Best Curveball.

[5:27] Heather Makalani: After my put-in rehearsal as Jasmine, the associate director walked up to me and said, "Heather, welcome to Broadway." I had the biggest excitement rush into my stomach. I felt like a giddy little girl. That was the oh-my-gosh moment. This is crazy. This is actually happening. I grew up on the island of Guam until I was 21 years old, and I left because I wanted to further my training. And the owner of the dance school I trained at suggested I look at some of the schools Australia had to offer. And in my research, I found the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, also known as WAPA, in Perth, where Hugh Jackman studied acting. The music theater program there only takes 10 men and 10 women every year, so 20 in total.

But I decided to fly to their Sydney round of auditions anyway and give it a shot. Long story short, I got in, I moved to Perth, and I got my bachelor's of arts in music theater. And in my final year of university, I was debating whether or not I should move to the States after graduation. And around the same time, Aladdin was auditioning for their Australian production. So I auditioned. And I was in the Australian production for two and a half years in the ensemble, as well as understudying Princess Jasmine. And when my visa to stay in Australia was coming to an end, I emailed the associate director and casting director of Aladdin, asking if there were any opportunities to audition for the tour or Broadway, and to please keep me in mind if there were any opportunities.

Right before my contract was ending in Australia, they replied and they emailed me that there was a temporary opening on Broadway. So they asked if I was interested in auditioning. And at that point, I flipped and I hadn't even booked the job yet. I sent in a self tape of me doing some of the material for the show. And about a week later, I found out that I booked the job. I didn't even tell my parents I was auditioning. I was supposed to go visit them after my contract in Oz ended. So I called them up saying, "I have good news and I have bad news." And they said, "Oh boy, what?" And I said, "I'm not going to be able to go home this Christmas." And they disappointedly responded.

[7:37] Heather Makalani: Aladdin is such a wonderful show to be a part of, and it's so beautiful to see the show transcend and touch people from all over the world. And it's really special because each production is a little bit different from the other. Costume and plot and the set are mostly the same, but there are different magic tricks in each production and lines that are changed slightly. For example, Jasmine says Royal Nappies in Australia, and on Broadway she says Royal Diapers. And some of the choreography differs, where it's a right arm up instead of a left arm, or it's a flex hand instead of a straight hand. And after doing it the same way for two years, the habits were a little hard to break. If you were to have told me earlier this year, Heather, this year you're going to move to New York, you're going to make your Broadway debut in Aladdin, I would have laughed in your face.

Life threw me the best curveball and gave me an opportunity to make a lifelong dream come true. And I've always told myself that I wanted to be on Broadway, and now I'm here and I'm getting to do what I love and seeing people enjoy themselves in the audience, nothing beats that. Thanks, Heather.

[9:05] Jacob Gutierrez: He shares with us how the men's ensemble, also known as the Agra Boys, bond and unwind, proving what we all know to be true, that your castmates become like your family. In his article, every person is valued. Aside from the tradition of the trip itself, there are several cornerstones that have found their way into every Agra Boys outing. The choreography game usually follows a big family style dinner. Cast member Angelo Soriano hits a beat, and every person is required to make up a four count of choreography that is added on, person by person, as we go around the circle. What you don't realize at the start is how, in a few short counts, every single person's personality shines. Their humor, their style, and believe me, these Agra Boys got style, their exuberance, the very essence of them. What occurs is a celebration of each individual, but in the larger sense, their individuality as it makes up the whole.

[10:19] About twice a year, the men of Broadway's Aladdin take a moment away from our everyday at the New Amsterdam Theater and escape the city to celebrate brotherhood. It's a time to unwind, bond, and just be. Sans, hashtag guyliner, turbans, and about 14 costume changes. Since its inception in 2014, the same year Aladdin opened on Broadway, the trip and traditions have grown. It began with our former male dance captain, who had a connection to a large house out of town and hosted several ensemble guys there to enjoy their day off. Other destinations have ranged from upstate New York to Fire Island, and talks are already underway for our next outing. The only requirements for a location are, number one, a house big enough to host, and with the record-breaking 17 guys who went this time, it's got to be a pretty big house.

Number two, a hot tub. Number three, anywhere between one and two hours away. Thankfully, with where we live, a plethora of escapes are a quick trip away via Airbnb or the HomeAway apps. As any New Yorker knows, there's something instantly relaxing the moment you get off the island of Manhattan.

[11:29] Once at the house, vacation immediately begins. Guys are cooking, hot tubbing, playing ping pong, pouring cocktails, laughing, and laughing, and laughing. Laughter is never in short supply with the men of Agrabah. The trips have found some tried and true staples. A signature cocktail, a walk or hike out in nature, group games, rotational cooking of feasts in the kitchen, drone footage, and a pretty rockin' highlight video that recaps the trip in the days following. The trip is a blast, but it's also a commitment. As a Broadway actor, that singular day off and an eight-show week is so precious. It's your personal time to catch up, rest, audition, meal prep, see loved ones. So to commit to going out of town with your cast on that day off can feel daunting, but the commitment is tenfold in reward. The bonds of brotherhood that stem from even a mere 36 hours away is unparalleled ground work that can take weeks to form at the theater.

[12:26] I tend to get into work mode while at the theater. I have a pretty strict pre-show routine that I hate being late for, so sometimes I sacrifice socializing in the dressing room for the sake of being warm and ready for the show. And then, with the nature of theater, interactions during the show itself tend to be 30 seconds here, two minutes there. The trip gives us all a moment to just be present with each other. No fight calls, no five-minute calls. The strictest call we have is a, hey, dinner is ready. And with a cast full of chefs, those dinners do not disappoint. As we sat in a big circle before our final group dinner, Dennis Stowe gave a toast. Although I'm paraphrasing, the takeaway was this.

There is a lot to be said about the familial bonds that exist in the company of Aladdin. Considering the cast is 75% men, the bonds among the brothers of Agrabah speak volumes, and the audience sees that night after night up on the New Amsterdam stage. They see men and women who love coming to work, who genuinely care about each other, and who possess a deep sense of shared joy, a joy that cannot be manufactured.

[13:26] Someone asked me at the show the night we got back what my favorite part of the trip was. My initial response, without hesitation, was one tiny moment. It could otherwise seem meaningless, but the joy it captured was priceless. A living room full of guys lying by the fire, Jazz Seeley playing acoustic guitar, and Trent Saunders in the corner serenading Mark DeConzo with John Mayer's Stop This Train, sung without consonants, which was, of course, accompanied with communal gut laughter. And therein lies the reason we take the trip, to celebrate what each person brings to the family. Every person is valued, men and women alike. There are few companies like the company of Aladdin. Grateful doesn't even begin to describe it. We got a good thing going over there in Agrabah, and anyone who sees it in person will likely say the same thing.

[14:23] Kirsten Anderson: Thank you, Jacob. A very special thanks to Michael Callahan, Jacob Gutierrez, and Heather Makalani for allowing us to reshare their stories today. The Ensemblist was produced today by Mo Brady, Jackson Klein, and me, Kirsten Anderson. Please rate and review The Ensemblist wherever you listen to podcasts, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or bpn.fm, the home of Broadway Podcast Network. Our Patreon members have on-demand access to our archive, including full conversations with our guides and early access to episodes. You can support us for between $5 to $20 a month at patreon.com slash The Ensemblist. Thank you for listening. Until next time.