For Malvern Prep 6th grader Christian Franck and Villa Maria Academy 8th grader Ashleigh Jaramillo, the coolest thing about playing the lead roles of Aladdin and Jasmine in Aladdin Jr. is riding high above the stage on a flying carpet. The Malvern Theatre Society's first-ever Middle School musical, Disney's Aladdin Jr. will be staged on Friday, January 27 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, January 28 at 3:00 p.m. We caught up with Christian, Ashleigh and director Jim Fry during a recent dress rehearsal (see video below) to see how they'll transform the Duffy Arts Center into Agrabah, City of Enchantment.
All of your favorite characters return for
Aladdin Jr., a stage adaptation of the hit 1992 Disney film. Filled with magic, mayhem, and flying carpet rides, the show features the film’s Academy award-winning score with songs including “A Whole New World,” “Friend Like Me,” “Arabian Nights,” “One Jump Ahead,” and “Prince Ali.” The show also includes the song “Why Me,” sung by Jafar (Turner Emery) and Iago (Andrew Pezdirtz), which was originally written for the Disney film but was not included in it.

Inside the Royal Palace gates in the faraway city of Agrabah, Princess Jasmine (Jaramillo) prepares to choose a husband. Against Jasmine's wishes, her father the Sultan (Nick Elia) insists that she pick from among three visiting Princes (Brendan Farrell, Rohan Jhunjhunwala and Kyle Murphy) by the following day. The Princes' public introduction is interrupted by a fleeing bread thief. Wandering among the crowd, a poor street urchin, Aladdin (Franck), suddenly finds himself holding the stolen bread and pursued by royal guards. Amidst in the commotion, Jasmine adopts a disguise and seizes the opportunity to escape into the bustling marketplace, where she bumps into Aladdin, and their adventure together begins. Tickets may be purchased
online.