Broadway’s “Aladdin” will welcome a new principal player. Jacob Ben-Shmuel will join the company of the long-running musical on Nov. 19 at the New Amsterdam Theatre. Ben-Shmuel will step into the role of Omar, taking over for Nathan Levy, who will exit the production on Nov. 17.
“Aladdin” will mark Ben-Shmuel’s Broadway debut. His credits include the national tour of “The Book of Mormon,” as well as “Beautiful” at Paper Mill Playhouse,” “Godspell” at Pittsburgh CLO and, most recently, “Rutka” at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. Ben-Shmuel is the co-creator and showrunner of the One Million Musicals podcast.
In addition to Levy, the current cast of “Aladdin” includes Adi Roy in the title role, Michael James Scott as Genie, Sonya Balsara as Jasmine, Dennis Stowe as Jafar, Colt Prattes as Kassim, Michael Schimmele as Babkak, J.C. Montgomery as Sultan and Don Darryl Rivera as Iago.
Featuring a Tony Award-nominated score by Alan Menken, Howard Ashman and Tim Rice and a Tony-nominated book by Chad Beguelin, “Aladdin” is based on the 1992 animated Disney film of the same name. The Casey Nicholaw-helmed production celebrated a decade on Broadway in March; the occasion was marked with the addition of a giant Genie lamp atop the marquee of the New Amsterdam.
“Aladdin” is produced by Disney Theatrical Group, under the direction of Andrew Flatt, Anne Quart and Thomas Schumacher.
