Composer Says Disney Bringing ‘Aladdin’ to Broadway

Tony Award-winning composer Alan Menken recently revealed that Disney’s “Aladdin” will be heading to Broaday.

Playbill reports that Menken debuted a new song called “Somebody’s Got Your Back” at a recent concert at the Disneyland resort. Menken said the song is written for the stage version of “Aladdin” and said the show is heading Broadway. Unfortunately, no Broadway timeline or casting has yet been announced.

A Disney spokesperson, however, had no comment about a possible Broadway production for the musical. The stage adaptation of the animated Disney film is currently playing a limited engagement at The Tuacahn Amphitheatre in Utah. That is engagement is the first regional engagement of a newly revised and expanded version of “Aladdin.” The new version debuted in July 2011 at Seattle’s 5^th Avenue Theatre.

Production notes promise “illusions, camels, magic flying carpets, giant water effects and a live interactive 3DS movie created specifically for the production.” The latter movie features the Cave of Wonders scene, according to Perez Hilton.

Menken also wrote the music for the original 1992 “Aladdin” film. The lyrics to the Academy Award-winning songs in the production were by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice. Chad Beguelin, known for his work on “The Wedding Singer,” wrote a new book for the production and also wrote lyrics for new music by Menken. The stage production also features several songs that were cut from the original movie.

If “Aladdin” does make its way to Broadway, it would be following the lead of other Disney animated films that have made a successful transition to the stage. These include, of course, “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Lion King.”

The latter show is currently the fifth-longest-running show in Broadway History, and is the highest grossing Broadway show of all time. As of earlier this year, the production had grossed nearly $1 billion.