Designed and created by Jennifer Matthews, the wardrobe is stunning and rich both viewed from the audience and up close.
So, when I heard I’d be working on Aladdin, I thought of Jasmine, Abu, and Jafar…but it wasn’t like that. This was the original Chinese version of Aladdin where the Arabian story originally derived…or so that is what the author of the libretto claims. Aladdin’s mother was thrown in the mix, and two genies instead of one – and an evil magician looking for the lamp to rule the world. I suppose it was a good story – a little cheesy but love and friendship was the overall message taught to the thousands of children we performed it for.
There was a tradition with the CPCC Children’s show. After each performance the cast meets with the kids in the audience for autographs. Can I just say – madhouse. It was ridiculous, Aladdin, Genie and all the rest of the characters walk into the foyer to meet the thousands of children waiting. Six plus schools and day cares brought their students to see the show and there were kids every where! Tons of kids were waiting to hug the Genie and take pictures with the Princess. After each show, I would run up to the foyer with the cast and monitor the whole charade. They had 20 to 30 minutes before I would stand up on a table and yell over the mass crowd, “Okay, kids! Aladdin and his friends have to go back to China now…Say goodbye!” Another 15 minutes after that the foyer was finally cleared.
Our performance was at 10:00am – and the 7 principals all had some pretty lavish makeup to make this Chinese show come to life. One character in particular that had a face full was the Genie. Long time company member, Adam Morse, was cast as the loveable Genie, and every morning at 8:00am he was called to get covered in blue paint and glitter. His face took about 20 minutes to complete by make-up artist, Ryan Fischer. There were a few make-up assistants but they worked on all the children in the show, while Ryan used his talents on the company leads. The Magician, company member, Michael Seward had about the same wait for his makeup too, but wasn’t totally blue. He had streaks of black and red and a fake moustache evil eye-brows and sequence. Even the girls had elaborated elements. Fatima the dancing doll had butterfly confetti glued onto her face while the princess had beads on her forehead. Needless to say taking it all off wasn’t as fun as putting it all on.
One morning I was working on my checklist and making sure props were in the right place when I got a call from an actor who said he wasn’t feeling well and was running late. When he arrived it wasn’t just a small stomach ache. It was much more than that. It turned out the Genie, Adam Morse, had a sudden case of stomach flu. He couldn’t stand up straight without fear of throwing up. It was a mess. We had no understudy, no one really even close to being able to go on for him, and a full house of kids waiting to see him. He got into makeup, costume, and laid down in the green room to sleep while the crew made preparations. We had water bottles on each side of the wings and in the hallway behind the stage in stations waiting for him. Cool towels and napkins waiting, and in four places, SL and SR, trash cans ready for him to go to if he felt the urge when he came off stage. Adam, danced, rapped, ran all over, and he even rode in a big cart for the flying scene that spun around like a tea cup at Disney Land – we thought it was inevitable that the poor guy would loose it on stage. I also worked as a dresser backstage so I was able to keep up with him just in case – but he did it; the whole show without getting sick and standing in the foyer for the kids for a bit before he looked at me and shook his head and said good bye. I don’t know how he did it – but it was truly incredible. He told me he went straight home and to the bathroom.
Designed and created by Jennifer Matthews, the wardrobe is stunning and rich both viewed from the audience and up close.