I was trying to find out a breakdown of the number of lines per character. Does anyone know how many lines Aladdin and Jasmine each have? This is for the Aladdin Disney Kids musical. Thanks!

I would also love to see Rachel's spreadsheet for Aladdin. I am doing Aladdin Jr...and am currently holding auditions. Ah, the stress and excitement!

Ooopss.... kshanley@cheshire.k12.ct.us

I would love to see Rachel's spreadsheet on Aladdin. I am going to do it this Spring and need to start planning. michael@hannabanana.com

Zoicks.. I've been very busy with our current production (Mulan Jr), but I will share the excel sheets when I'm done (June 3/4).

Well, I start delegating AFTER this excel page is set. Makes it so much easier for the whole production team. :)

I'll host the excel party...you guys are a riot and deserve a Tony for making organization easier for yourself and kids. Remember, the key word is "delegate". Lets share your game plans!! CR

I was wondering if I was alone in my use of excel for breaking down the shows. Perhaps we need a new discussion topic just to share these tools.

I do the same Christie! (But I have the students do it, and make about 4 of them...this helps them learn the order of the show, and it's one less thing I have to worry about!)

Show is all cast! Extremely excited. I'm trying to put together some form of a rehearsal schedule right now, but unfortunately we still don't have the scripts. I'm expecting them this week. For my piece of mind, does anyone remember how many scenes there are, what they are, and who is in what?

I love the idea of the kids doing the breakdown...but I find that I can't wait that long. I can't operate efficiently without my color coded actor/scene/breakdown. :) I need the breakdown to plan the schedule (because I break it down so that we don't have actors at rehearsal when they are not actively in the scene. ie. Genie is called ONLY for scenes genie is in, and all her scenes are scheduled at the same time...or as close to that as I can. :)) When breaking down a play, I color code groups. For Aladdin, Aladdin, Jasmine, Genie, and the Narrators were in the blue group. Carpets and named townspeople (baker, etc) were in the red group and did more singing and dancing than some of the other groups. The harem girls were in the pink group, the younger dancers in the village were in the purple group, The guards were in the grey group, and the newest performers who were in only the opening and closing numbers were in the green group. Then I put together a calendar that the cast can view online at www.daretodreamtheatre.com/rehearsal.html for the cast to know when they were needed based on their color group. I have this all done before rehearsals start, and I do EVERYTHING in my power not to change the schedule...but if something changes, I change it online and send an e-mail telling people to check the online schedule for a change. Takes a LONG time to set up...but I can keep track of it all better. I like the method, cuz it works for me...but I know that some people find it hard to follow. :) But since I am the director, they just have to learn to follow it my way. I just don't have the time to translate it to each different way of thinking. :)

I'm sure you're stuff was shipped as soon as the contracts and $ were clear. I know school district time moves a little slower than private sector time because of all of the approvals that need to happen. Do you have any idea when your package will arrive? Has it shipped, yet? You can call your rep and seek the status. You can also track your packages online with your order number. It's pretty tough to create a rehearsal schedule without reading the script. There are 7 scenes in Aladdin. The first scene is the entire cast except the Genie and carpet. Scene 2 is Al, Jas, Raz, Guards; Scene 3 Narrators, Jafar, Iago; Scene 4 Raz, Guards, Al, Narrators, Genie & carpet, Chorus; Scene 5 ALL/Company; Scene 6 Al, Jas, chorus opt., Raz, Guards, Genie, Iago, Jafar; Scene 7 ALL/Company You're welcome

Whenever I direct a show I do an indepth breakdown by character and scene in excel listing who is in what scene/song/or number. Let me know if you want to see it. :) we did Aladdin JR last year.

Thank you, Christie! I am going to have to give you a shout-out in the program. Rachel, if you could e-mail me your excel list that would be great! That's how I work as well. jeffrey.m.hogan@gmail.com

You guys are tech-tastic! I'm old school with a poster board gaffed to the wall in the wings :) I'm so glad we all have each other for help. I might be asking you guys for some "break downs" in the future! cj

We did one of the pilots for Aladdin Kids and we, too, had a girl play the Genie. She was GREAT! (She's pictured in the ALaddin KIDS script). Pictures of our kids are here on Showspace, too. For a KIDS version, this show does have A LOT of music, characters, scenes and action!

My callbacks are tomorrow and the package still hasn't come in the mail. As a result, I am going to order digital sheet music from MusicNotes.com. Can anyone tell me what key "A Whole New World" is in in Aladdin Jr.? I want to order the music in the same key. Thanks for all of your continued support and help.

I guess I owe you a roll of gaff tape! A Whole New World is in the key of C and modulates to Eb in measure 44 - End. I'll send you a link to the audition central in case you couldn't find it. I know the music doesn't include accompaniment, but the script/score/view section is so super useful in casting. cj http://www.broadwayjr.com/audition/auditionlist.asp?ID=12

Thank you for all of your help. Auditions are this week. I am incredibly excited. What's MTI's policy on adding an Abu into the cast? I saw some productions on YouTube where some directors did just that.

You can see just about ANYTHING on youtube, no?"Embarassed" As I understand the contract, you may never add or subtract characters, or alter the material in any way. It is an infraction against the intent of the authors and definitely not allowed. That said, I have seen Abu costumes for rent and quite a lot of footage of the addition of that character in Aladdin, Jr. and Kids. I wonder if Abu could be a character within your Ensemble? Playing in sections where you are using the Ensemble in the Market Place, etc... Kids definitely remember that character from the animation. It also seems like a great opportunity for a younger cast member to develop an interesting and likeable character. Who doesn't love Abu? If you didn't add lines or music, couldn't Abu be part of the Arabian tapestry in Agrabah? Have a great time, Jeffrey. Godspeed on your maiden voyage in Broadway Jr. land. cj

We just finished Aladdin Jr. yesterday, actually. It went really well and the kids had a blast! It's a great show and I wish you the best of luck. If you are looking to rent costumes, we have some beautiful ones that will be listed in community rentals soon! Let me know if you would like some pictures and other information. Best of luck!!! :) Claire

I assure you that I WILL have questions about renting costumes. "Tongue Thank you both for your help. I really appreciate it. I actually have a new set of questions. We called up MTI and found out we will be able to do Aladdin Jr. Unfortunately, we are on limited time and we have no choice but to schedule our auditions for next week. There is a possibility that I won't have a script when casting the show. I am not too worried about the audition process. I have a piano arrangement of Aladdin from the movie that students can sing from and I can type up sides from the film for students to read. All I need is to get an idea of talent, ability, and type for casting. What concerns me is the actual casting/assigning roles required for the show. The MTI website lists the following roles: Aladdin, Genie, Iago, Jafar, Jasmine, Magic Carpet, Razoul, Sulton, Visiting Princes, Narrators, Guards, Chorus. How many Visiting Princes are there and how many Narrators are required? Are there any other roles? Also, what's the rule on having girls play some of the male parts (such as the Genie)? I have to look into this because unfortunately only 5 boys seem to be interested in auditioning. Has MTI allowed any productions to add an Abu (the monkey) to the script? Thanks! As always, I appreciate any assistance you can provide.

Put your audition anxiety to rest, my friend. Go to Broadwayjr.com and click on Audition Central. You will be able to download and print out audition segments for all characters (script/score/view) and read audition suggestions for each character. You can even provide a link to your students to download and print it themselves! It's all leagal and perfectly on the "up and up" as long as you are leasing the materials. It's a perfect service for exactly this situation and one of the reasons I love MTI and Broadway Jr. 3 Visiting Princes (with entourage if you like), 5 Narrators. I had a girl play Genie - she was great - and it's allowed, no problem. I'd say if you have 5 boys, Aladdin, the Sulton, and Jafar are the 3 most important to cast as males. (Nearly implausible with a girl playing the part.) You could stretch the right girls into Razoul and even the 3 princes, if need be. Don't be above getting the girls in the cast to ask their brothers, boyfriends, etc. to participate. No guts. no glory!

I agree with Christie. We also cast a girl as Genie. She was wonderful. We had a great guy for Aladdin, a funnu guy for Sultan, and a strong actor for Jafar. I think we maybe had 3-6 other boys in the ensemble. It's a great show and I LOVE the broadway JR audition central.

Either show is AMAZING. Our production last year was a HUGE Success...and the costumes from our show rented out almost constantly since we made them available this fall. It was a beautiful show...and completely doable. :) I wish you all the best (break a leg) on your production and let us know if you want to know more about renting costumes!

You'll be surprised how quick it arrives. I'll bet ya a roll of gaff tape you have it within 2 weeks. The books that each child receives include the entire script and libretto. It's really sweet (and easy) to hand out those books and not worry about collecting them in 4 months - mangled or lost! The Director's Guide is super helpful, as well. Enjoy your magic carpet ride - sorry, I couldn't resist. "Laughing"

Broadway Junior materials are typically appropriate for Middle School- aged performers and Broadway Kids materials are usually appropriate for Elementary to Upper Elementary-aged performers. That said, I think Aladdin Kids bears examination for your Middle Schoolers because of it's brilliant and fresh format. I produced and directed Aladdin Jr. a few years back and I'm reading the Aladdin Kids script now. Aladdin Jr. is a 70 minute show, while Aladdin Kids is about 40 minutes. So, Aladdin Jr. has more material and will require more blocking time, etc. I'm planning on doing the Aladdin Kids script this summer with an older group of kids because the format includes more story-telling (featues) within the ensemble. I also love the idea of the flying carpet being played by an actor/acrobat which is part of the Kids script. In the Junior script, the carpet is suggested to be puppeteered. Jafar sings more in the Junior script, but the characters of the lamp salesman (a narrator of sorts), the Tiger God, and the Junior Djinn are added in the Kids script. I think all of these have great possibility. Your favorite songs are part of each show, but some of the solos are spread out in the Kids script. Break a Leg what ever you choose! cj

Thank you for your reply, Christie. I believe we will be going with Aladdin, Jr. My school began the rights/royalty ordering process today. Typically, how long does it take for all that including scripts, librettos, scores, etc. to be squared away?