Sonya Balsara Joins ALADDIN as Jasmine Beginning This Month

Disney's hit musical Aladdin will welcome Sonya Balsara to the company as Jasmine beginning Thursday, January 19. Aladdin marks Balsara's Broadway debut, though she played the role on Broadway for several weeks last fall. Shoba Narayan will play her final performance as Jasmine Sunday, January 15.

Sonya Balsara's theatre credits include: The Karate Kid (Pre-Broadway Lab), Sense and Sensibility (Theatreworks), West Side Story(International). TV: "FBI" (CBS), "Mozart in the Jungle"(Amazon Prime). NYU Tisch. Gratitude to Bloc and Tara Rubin Casting. For Sudha and Irene. IG/TikTok:@sonyabalsara

Aladdin also stars Michael Maliakel making his Broadway debut in the title role, Michael James Scott as Genie and Dennis Stowe as Jafar. The show features Milo Alosi, Zach Bencal and Brad Weinstock as Aladdin's sidekicks Kassim, Babkak and Omar, JC Montgomery as Sultan and Don Darryl Rivera as Iago. Jeremy Gaston, Jared Wayne Gladly and Frank Viveros stand by for several principals.

Aladdin, the hit musical based on the Academy Award®-winning animated film, opened on Broadway at the New Amsterdam Theatre to critical acclaim on March 20, 2014 and quickly established itself as one of the biggest new blockbusters in recent years, breaking 16 New Amsterdam Theatre house records. Worldwide it has welcomed more than 14 million people to nine productions and can be seen currently on Broadway, on tour across North America, and in Tokyo, the Netherlands, Mexico City and Germany, with two new productions slated to open this year. The Broadway production recently joined the list of Top 20 longest Broadway runs.

Produced by Disney Theatrical Productions, under the direction of Thomas Schumacher, the show features music by Tony Award and eight-time Oscar® winner Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast, Newsies, Sister Act), lyrics by two-time Oscar winner Howard Ashman (Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid), three-time Tony Award and three-time Oscar winner Tim Rice (Evita, Aida) and six-time Tony Award nominee Chad Beguelin (The Wedding Singer), with a book by Beguelin, and is directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon).

Aladdin, adapted from the animated Disney film and centuries-old folktales including "One Thousand and One Nights," is brought to fresh theatrical life in this bold new musical. Aladdin's journey sweeps audiences into an exciting world of daring adventure, classic comedy and timeless romance. This new production features a full score, including the five cherished songs from the Academy Award-winning soundtrack and more written especially for the stage.

The animated film Aladdin was released by Disney in 1992 and was a critical and box office smash, becoming the highest-grossing film of the year.

The film won the Oscar for Best Original Score and introduced the hit song "A Whole New World," which won the second of the film's two Academy Awards as Best Original Song. The Peabo Bryson/Regina Belle recording of the tune soared to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Aladdin is designed by seven-time Tony-winning scenic designer Bob Crowley, seven-time Tony-winning lighting designer Natasha Katz, two-time Tony-winning costume designer Gregg Barnes and sound designer Ken Travis.

The production team also includes illusion designer Jim Steinmeyer, hair designer Josh Marquette and makeup designer Milagros Medina-Cerdeira. The music team is headed by music supervisor and music director Michael Kosarin, who also created the vocal and incidental music arrangements, joined by orchestrator Danny Troob and dance music arranger Glen Kelly. John MacInnis is the associate choreographer and Jason Trubitt is the production supervisor.