The record-breaking blockbuster musical, adapted from the 1992 animated film, will open next August at the Capitol Theatre.

The hit Broadway adaptation of Disney’s Oscar-winning 1992 animated classic Aladdin will have its Australian premiere in August 2016 at Sydney’s Capitol Theatre, it was announced today. Nominated for five Tony Awards and a Grammy Award after its Broadway season in 2014, the creative team behind the production reads like a who’s-who of musical theatre royalty.

With music by the eight-time Oscar-winning composer behind Beauty and the Beast, Sister Act and Little Shop of Horrors, Alan Menken, and lyrics by the late Howard Asham, Tim Rice and Chad Beguelin, who between them boast five Oscars, this stage interpretation of Aladdin is directed and choreographed by the Tony-winning man behind the global smash-hit The Book of Mormon, Casey Nicholaw. Seven-time Tony-winning designer Bob Crowley and five-time Tony-winning lighting designer Natasha Katz have taken the Arabian magic of the original animated film and translated it for the stage using cutting edge set and lighting techniques.

In addition to the cherished songs from the original, including the Oscar-winning A Whole New World, the musical also features a catalogue of new songs written especially for the stage production. During its debut season in New York over one million people saw the show, breaking eight house records at the Amsterdam Theatre. President and Producer of Disney Theatrical, Thomas Schumacher shared his delight at bringing the block-busting show Down Under. “Aladdin is our third production to premiere in Sydney. Director Casey Nicholaw and his team have created an entertainment as full of heart as it is joy, and I cannot wait until we get to play it in Sydney, one of the world’s great theatre cities,” he said.

The announcement of the hit musical coming to Sydney is a major coup for New South Wales tourism, with more than 120,000 local, interstate and international visitors expected to attending during this debut season, generating $39 million for the NSW economy. NSW Minister for Trade, Tourism and Major Events Stuart Ayres said, “Disney Theatrical has a long and successful history of producing first-rate musical theatre productions here in Australia and we are thrilled to announce that Sydney’s magnificent Capitol Theatre will be the venue for the Australian premiere of this huge Broadway hit.”

Casting detail will be announced early next year, and tickets will be on sale from March 2016.

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