It’s time to grab our magic carpets and fly on over to Aladdin on Broadway because we just got the most amazing announcement! Aladdin has had so much success on Broadway and I think one of the main reasons is because of how amazing the Genie’s character is. We had so many amazing actors play the Genie on Broadway including the incredible James Monroe Iglehart and Michael James Scott. While these two and other past Genies have been phenomenal, the Genie’s character is about to make history. On Sept. 8, Aladdin on Broadway officially announced that, for the first time ever, the role of Genie is going to be played by a woman! Who would have ever thought that a woman would ever get the chance to make history and play the Genie. I have plenty of thoughts about this big change and I’m honestly excited about the lucky actress that gets to play the Genie. As a woman myself, I couldn’t be more excited to see how women are always finding ways to make history with all of their hard work and success.
So, you’re probably wondering by now, who is the lucky actress that gets the honor of being the first female to play the Genie? That lucky actress is none other than Sherri Shepherd who will be playing the Genie from Oct. 16 through Jan. 3! Yes, the Sherri Shepherd who is well-known for her talk show, Sherri, and plenty of her movies. She does have history with Broadway. Before she joined the Aladdin cast, she played the Stepmother in Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella with Keke Palmer. Now, I never got to see that version of Cinderella on Broadway nor did I have any clue that Shepherd could sing, so I really can’t wait to see how she’s going to play this role. Knowing how Shepherd is loved by many, I just know that she is going to do a fantastic job!
Now, this is a big deal for the history of Aladdin because the Genie has traditionally been played by a man. So, this is the first time a woman is playing the Genie on a stage with as much visibility as Broadway. It is very rare to see a popular character having both a female and male play the role. While I never thought that the Genie could possibly be played by a woman, I don’t see an issue with it because all that matters is that the right person plays the role and plays it well. Besides, if we have female voice actors to play male cartoon characters, who says we can’t do the same with live-action performances? And it’s Sherri Shepherd, how can we not be excited about an iconic actress being the first female taking on the role?
Aladdin has always been able to create such magical memories for everyone and I feel like it’s going to become more magical once Shepherd starts playing the Genie. I remember the first time I went to see Aladdin on Broadway, I really expected it to be a copy and paste from the original animation. But it was amazing how they recreated the story while also adding new scenes, songs, and lyrics to the original songs to make it even better. My only complaint is that we didn’t have Abu and Raja in the show, but we’re not going to get into that. My experience really did feel like I traveled to the Kingdom of Agrabah and had such a magical time. I feel like making this new change to an iconic character will make the show even more memorable, amazing, and most importantly, show women that they have the opportunity to play a character even if it’s a predominantly male role. We honestly see that already with women cosplaying lots of their favorite male characters, so I feel like Shepherd landing this role and making history will help Broadway judge if there’s more opportunities for women to make history like this in the future. I don’t know if I’m going to have the opportunity to go see Shepherd in Aladdin myself, but I do know that many of you will get the chance to, so go grab your magic carpet and take one jump ahead to go see Aladdin on Broadway this upcoming October!