NEW YORK—Even in a show with plenty of magic, a special sort of it happens right after intermission at “Aladdin” on Broadway.
No sooner have you settled back into your seat than a revolving door of what seems like hundreds of dancers performs the song “Prince Ali” at a hyper-caffeinated pace. They. Never. Stop. Coming.
The dancers wear brilliant sequined costumes, brandishing everything from swords and banners to feather fans and parasols. They spin like dervishes and bang drums and leap on wooden boxes.
It’s perhaps the most exciting 3½ minutes on Broadway.
It’s also one of the most complicated musical numbers to create — some 71 looks created by only 24 actors in 47 quick changes, some lasting as little as 10 seconds.
“It’s really organized chaos,” said stage manager Holly Coombs.
What looks like a flowing, never-ending parade is actually a tightly controlled precision dance. It’s so elaborate that it required the creation of a flowchart.
“I have to say, it probably is the most complicated number I have ever dealt with,” said costume designer Gregg Barnes, a Tony winner in 2012 for “Follies” and for “The Drowsy Chaperone” in 2006. “It’s epic in a very short amount of time.”
