It’s hard to think of a more iconic animated film than Disney’s Aladdin. With iconic catchphrases, amazing characters, and some of the catchiest songs in the history of Disney, this 1992 film catapults audiences into the fictional city of Agrabah and tells a timeless tale of a poor man named Aladdin, who is granted three wished by a genie.
Although the musical adaptation maintains many of the things that makes the animated film special, there are a couple changes that dedicated fans might notice. There’s some fresh takes on old songs…and some fresh takes on old characters too!
That’s where Aaron Choi comes in. Playing the role of Iago (who is a parrot in the animated film!), Choi is a hilarious and sinister human sidekick to the show’s villain Jafar. We caught up with him to learn more about this exciting production!
I heard that you knew you wanted to be in Aladdin as soon as you saw it on Broadway. What makes this show so special to you?
Aaron Choi: First, it’s a story that I grew up with. I grew up with the animated feature. It was one of my favourites and Iago was a character I always found funny. Don’t get me wrong, I love Robin Williams as The Genie but there’s something about Iago’s sarcasm and character that I resonated with, even as a child!
Then, when it became a Broadway musical, it was one of the first times I saw another Asian performer represented in a role that I wanted to play. Representation is getting better in the theatre, but it still is a little behind. When the musical came out, I was at the beginning of my career and I was kind of disappointed with the lack of representation there was. There’s wasn’t a lot of roles that I saw myself in. And then I got to see this and I thought, oh, wow. I see myself in this role and it happens to be a character that I love. So when I got the chance to audition for it, I auditioned and seven times later, I finally got it.
This is your first national tour! What have you learned from being on the road?
AC: I think for me as a person, this is kind of the best time for me to tour. If I was any younger, I would’ve been a mess and if I was any old, I probably wouldn’t have done it. But, I’m in my late thirties and it’s kind of the best time for me because I have a better grip on who I am as a person and who I am as a performer.
Also, I love travelling. And then on top of that, I love performing. So touring is just kind of the perfect thing for me.
What’s your favourite part of the show to perform?
AC: The one musical number I have, “Diamond in the Rough,” which is a song that was written for the stage production. And it’s a duet that I have with Jafar, when we’re essentially seducing Aladdin into going to get the lamp for us. It’s a fun number! I get to do a lot of fun stuff with it.
On the flip side: what your favourite part of the show that others perform?
AC: My favourite number that I don’t get to perform is actually another song that isn’t in the animated feature. It’s called “Babkak, Omar, Aladdin, Kassim.” It was written for the original version of the animated feature but it was cut. There’s actually a lot of songs and characters in our version of the show that were actually characters and songs that were written for the animated feature and were cut. So, when they were writing this version of the show, they grabbed those.
But yeah, “Babkak, Omar, Aladdin, Kassim,” is probably my favourite song in the show. It also happens to be one of my breaks in the show so because I’m offstage I can watch it. It’s so fun and so lively. In the song, it’s where Aladdin and Jasmine first see each other. So it’s this very musical theatre moment where they see each other and there’s kind of a slow-mo sequence.
One last question. What’s your favourite part of working with this company?
AC: For me, the thing that’s been the best part about working with this company, and this goes back to representation, is that we’re almost a completely full cast of people of colour. Which is the first time I’ve ever worked in a show. So for me, that’s very special to me and very, very much what I love about this.
Catch Aaron in Aladdin, on at Edmonton’s Jubilee Auditorium July 11–16.
