[Music] Hi everyone!
Welcome to the Balancing Act.
I'm Olga Villaverde and I'm Amber Milt.
Okay a strong female character, who's also
princess, a handsome leading man, a
magical genie, and a sinister villain!
That would be my character, sinister
villain!
Gorgeous costumes, iconic
music, and show-stopping dance numbers,
can you guess?
It's a favorite of mine
that's now on stage!
Very exciting!
Our Broadway Across America series
kicks off with Disney's Aladdin, oh my
gosh it's one of my favorites and I got to
sit down with the actors playing
Jasmine and I tried my best to tap-dance
with some of the cast.
Did you dress up like
Jasmine?
I was wearing a nice Aladdin
t-shirt and I was wearing the shoes but,
man is that tough!
I could show you the world.
I'm not very good.
The real one is coming up, she's great!
I mean well you know, speaking of
things that stink like my tap dance, do
you have a signature scent?
I do, I love vanilla
I always put candles around and soaps
that have vanilla I just love that.
Nice calming reminds you of
childhood.
Well today we're gonna learn about how
to find your signature scent and also
maybe your next career!
Are you giving me
hint?
Not yours, maybe your next career.
Thank you for that right?
And speaking of
things that smell, we've got something
yummy cooking in the kitchen courtesy of Chef Brian Tyrell!
Hi Brian!
Hi ladies, I'm filling in for Ralph
Pagano today and I know I have some
awfully big shoes to fill but I'm gonna
make him proud.
I'm cooking with the
original sliders and I'm gonna show you
why the competition is still chasing the
best.
Well back-to-school dinner dilemmas
solved.
Amazing, well let's get this show
cooking.
Let's do it, The Balancing Act
starts right now!
[Music] Broadway Balances America
brought to you by Broadway Across America.
Bringing the best of Broadway to a city near you.
Time now for Broadway balances America,
our series that takes you behind the
scenes of some of the most beloved
Broadway musicals as they appear across
the country and in your local theaters.
Today we're taking a magic carpet ride
with Disney's Aladdin.
Ah one of my
favorites and I got to meet some of the
stars of the national tour and I reconfirmed why Jasmine remains
one of my favorite princesses ever.
I even got
to put on a pair of tap shoes thanks to
a very talented duo, a brother and sister
team though it could have used some help
from your girls.
I even discovered a whole new world in
this musical that was just magical, based
on the Academy award-winning Disney
animated film.
You're glowing so let's
take a look!
It's been called pure
genius for a reason.
This new production
of Aladdin is filled with unforgettable
beauty, magic, comedy, and breathtaking
spectacle.
It's an extraordinary theatrical event
where one lamp and three wishes make the
possibilities infinite.
Isabelle McCalla’s wish came true when she
found out she'd be making her national tour
debut as the feisty princess jasmine.
Isabelle, we're here in Jasmine's bedroom
and this is like magical and I've got to
be honest this is like my dream because
jasmine was my princess.
What is it like
to experience this and get to play her
in this tour?
When I got the call that I
was playing Jasmine it was a lot of
high-pitched like what followed by some
incoherent babbling and a lot of giggling cause when I get
excited I either cry or I giggle and it was just
insane giggling but it was I mean it was
pure elation and joy and a dream come
true.
Isabelle shares many of the same characteristics as her
character.
I think she leads with her heart and I
try to lead with my heart as well and
she is the equal of any man and any
person in the palace.
And she has the smarts and
the intuition to fulfill her dreams and
she's truly interested in changing
people's minds that's why she and
Aladdin connect so much is because she
comes from this palace that she hasn't
been able to leave her entire life and
he's been running for his life the
entire time and hasn't found an ability
to find a home.
[Music] Luckily when they find each
other they have a meeting of the minds and
then they can find home in each other
you know through adventure and
through magic.
You know this is not a kids show this is
it like a great show for adults to come
to.
Absolutely and it's perfect for those
of us who grew up with the movie because
I think also in this stage production
not only do we have these new songs
written by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman
and Chad beckylyn but the story is more
in-depth and it's more grounded and I
think you get to fall in love a little
more with the story and the characters
because of that.
And that multi award-winning creative team has
made Disney magic.
A visual and musical
extravaganza from the staging, [Music]
to the handmade costumes designed by
Tony winning costume designer Gregg
Barnes.
There are over 300 costumes in
this show which is about a hundred more
than any other Disney production.
Which is pretty insane and also
there's over a hundred costume changes that
happen in less than a minute during one of
the numbers.
So there is as much choreography
backstage as there is onstage to make it
all happen.
The fabrics they look so authentic.
These fabrics are pulled from countries
from Morocco, Turkey, Uzbekistan,
China, Guatemala, Italy, England basically
to make this seem like this beautiful
melting pot of cultures in Agrabah.
So let's talk about some of your costumes, now do you have a
favorite?
Well I have to say that Jasmine
day-wear is the most, the blue two-piece
because it makes me feel the most like a
Disney princess.
It is a classic look.
It's a classic.
I also have to say that my
wedding, it's so fantastic and this skirt
weighs actually twelve pounds because of all
the crystal beading on it.
Oh it's
gorgeous!
Which its like most wedding dresses
I feel like, so heavy.
The beauty of
the show isn't limited to the costumes.
It's also reflected in the set.
So I feel like I've died and gone to
heaven but really we're just here in the
Cave of Wonders.
I'm here with Matthew and Lissa
DeGuzman, you guys are both swings here
in the show so before we even get
into this for people who might not know
what is a swing?
Oh well a swing we like
to call it the safety net of the company
or like the superheroes of the company.
So I cover seven girl tracks and I
understudy Jasmine.
And I cover eleven male tracks which
includes two featured characters in the
ensemble and so if any of them need to call
out for whatever reason we are there to
swing in, tha's why we’re called swings.
At any moment we both have tracking sheets for the
individual tracks that we cover and so you
know exactly where you need to enter,
where you need to exit, what prop you
need to pick up and the biggest thing
for us is if people don't notice that
we're on that's when we know we did our
job.
Oh yeah.
So having roles that are so
physically intense and mentally intense
how do you stay prepared for them?
Sleep.
Yeah, definitely a lot of sleep and
reviewing a lot.
It's definitely all
about balance but we do like you have to
eat well to perform well, you have to go
to the gym, you have to be ready at a
moment's notice.
And now Lissa, this is your first
national tour but you've done them
before Matthew.
Do you turn to your big brother for advice
here?
Absolutely I feel spoiled rotten because
I can ask him any question from the
dumbest question to the most intense
question and he'll have an answer for me
and I can always trust that he'll give
me the straight-up answer.
Not that I
exactly know what's going on but in my
experience what we've done before.
We're in this Cave of Wonders and I
hear that you guys are going to teach me
how to tap dance?
Yeah.
Safe space, right?
Three wishes.
What will I wish for?
Okay so I'm here with Michael
Callahan you're the dance captain.
I am.
The numbers in
this show are ginormous and they are
incredible.
I mean, so what do you think
you can teach me here as a new tapper?
So the only tap lingo we're gonna
start with is called a shuffle.
Close!
Close close close.
So we're going
step shuffle step step step shuffle step
step.
oh wait I messed up.
Okay again.
Here we go.
Step shuffle step step shuffle.
Run and pose!
I'm killing it back here!
Yeah, I mean from what I saw awesome!
Alright so as fun as this has been and
Michael and crew thank you so much I think
I'm gonna let the pros show you how it's
really done!
[Music] Thank you so much!
Thank you guys.
The whole show is
truly magical and they can't wait for
audiences across the country to experience it for themselves!
I want them to have a wonderful escape
from whatever's going on in their lives
and just come here and laugh a lot and
look at the beautiful colors and the
detailed costumes and the amazing set
pieces and scenes and all that and just
enjoy this romantic love story between
two young adults.
I would love for people
to leave this show with a sense of hope
and inspiration and sense that you
should not feel defined by your circumstances or defined by your
monetary wealth or the materialistic
aspects.
I would hope that I could
inspire some women to realize their full
potential and to go out and say I can
absolutely become a doctor or a pilot
or I could run a country because what's
wrong with a woman running the kingdom.
There's absolutely nothing wrong!
So I hope that people leave with the
sense of possibility.
[Music] The North American tour of
Aladdin is coming soon to a theater near
you.
Check out Broadway Across America,
Broadway balances America or you can
always go to our website the balancing act
dot com for all the show information tour dates
and more.
[Applause]