YOUNGSTOWN PLAYHOUSE Youth theater to stage 'Aladdin'

Though based on a movie, the play will include the director's own ideas.
By L. CROW
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Youngstown Playhouse Youth Theater program will present "Disney's Aladdin" (school edition) as its last main-stage play of the season, beginning Monday with a week of daytime school performances and culminating with a public performance next Saturday.
The play is directed by well-known local actress-singer-director Liz Rubino.
"This is a family musical -- a scaled-down version of the original Disney film, specifically arranged for youth theater," said Rubino. The cast is made up of students age 16 and up, to older adults. There will be three performances a day, Monday through Friday, for schools.
The story is about a poor boy, Aladdin, who has a monkey, Abu. The sultan and his royal family are in town to find a suitable prince for the sultan's daughter, Princess Jasmine. Jafar, the sultan's evil adviser, wants to marry the princess so he can become sultan.
"Aladdin meets Jasmine in the marketplace where she is trying to escape her family," said Rubino. "She wants to marry the man she chooses, not the one her father chooses. She and Aladdin fall in love, but Aladdin is mistaken for a thief, and arrested. Jafar has him put away in a cave, because he is jealous." And that's when he discovers the genie, and all kinds of magical things happen.
From her own perspective
Rubino said it has been a while since she watched the movie, and didn't want to be influenced by it. "I wanted to use my own ideas in this play," she said. "Everyone is being played by a person -- the monkey Abu, the parrot, Iago, and even the magic carpet are being played by people."
And even though the performance only takes an hour, Rubino said it is a big, big musical, and the songs seem to predominate. "There are four main songs: 'A Whole New World,' 'Friend Like Me,' which is a huge piece, 'Prince Ali,' another huge piece, and 'Arabian Nights,' which is in seven sections. There will also be some choreography, including tap dancing, and harem girls."
The public performance will be 2:30 p.m. next Saturday, followed by a cookies-and-punch reception and autograph party.
Jazz CD project
Those who know Rubino are used to seeing her undertake multiple challenges. Her newest project is recording a jazz vocal CD.
"When I was in 'Anything Goes' last year at YSU, I knew then that this was my special style of music," Rubino said. "The CD will be produced by Closer Look in Cleveland, run by a guy who used to do recordings in New York. I will be singing the music of Cole Porter, Gershwin, Sondheim -- those songs are perfect for me. We are assembling a band now. Anthony Ruggiero will play the piano, Seth Rogers will play sax, and Rob Wagner will play the drums. We are still working on finding a bass player."
For more information on Playhouse Youth Theater productions, or tickets to the Saturday performance, call (330) 788-8739.