ALADDIN to Welcome Jacob Ben-Shmuel as 'Omar' Beginning Next Week

Aladdin will welcome Jacob Ben-Shmuel as Omar beginning Tuesday, November 19, joining current cast members Colt Prattes (Kassim) and Michael Schimmele (Babkak) as Aladdin’s trio of sidekicks. Nathan Levy (current Omar) will play his final performance Sunday, November 17.
 

Jacob Ben-Shmuel

(Omar). Broadway debut! National tour: The Book of Mormon. Off-Broadway: Amid Falling Walls (NYTF). Regional: Beautiful (Paper Mill Playhouse), Godspell (PCLO). Composer/playwright: One Million Musicals podcast.
 

ABOUT ALADDIN

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.
 
The Broadway production has set 17 New Amsterdam Theatre house records and spawned 11 productions on four continents. Worldwide it has welcomed nearly 20 million people and can be seen currently on Broadway, on tour across the U.K. and Ireland, as well as in Japan and Spain, with a new production in Seoul, South Korea opening this fall. 
 
Produced by Disney Theatrical Group, under the direction of Andrew Flatt, Anne Quart and Thomas Schumacher, Aladdin 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 two-time 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, eight-time Tony-winning lighting designer Natasha Katz, three-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, Jason Trubitt is the production supervisor and Myriah Bash is the general manager. Anne Quart serves as executive producer.