When Senzel Ahmady was growing up in California with her sisters, they watched “Aladdin” together. It was their favorite movie and Jasmine was “her” Disney princess.
“It was my favorite movie when I was a kid,” he said. “So when they made it into a Broadway musical—I think I was in high school at the time—I knew I always wanted to be in it. The opportunity arose while I was at school and I couldn't refuse it.”
He was studying at New York University when Disney's national Broadway tour of “Aladdin” held auditions. She said she decided to audition to meet the team and get her name out there. She told herself she was too young to take it, but it would be a good learning experience.
But it turned out she was exactly where she needed to be to fulfill her dream. She is now touring the country as Jasmine in Disney's national Broadway tour of “Aladdin.” Joins the show from Oct. 2022.
(Disney/Deen Van Meerat)
“For us, growing up, Princess Jasmine was a big part of our lives. Every time I went to Disneyland with my family, I had my own Jasmine costume that I wore in the park,” she said. “And now, I can wear mine now at 21.”
This iconic blue Jasmine suit is her go-to outfit six days a week.
“The way they adapted it to the show is so beautiful,” he said. “It's so shiny. It has so many diamonds on it. When the spotlight is on, it's so beautiful. It's every little girl's dream.”
Ahmady said she hopes she can inspire the little girls who come on the show — especially little girls who look like her.
“Growing up, I didn't see many Middle Eastern girls in musical theater. I'm so happy to be that for little girls growing up now and seeing representation in this industry for themselves if they want to end up doing it in the future,” she said. “This is true of many other industries, and not just the musical theater industry. I think it's exciting to be able to tell stories like 'Aladdin' with people of that background. It's more real and it's also more real for us and it's more fun for us too.”
Ahmady is of Afghan descent. Her father was born and raised in Afghanistan. Her legacy makes the show even more personal.
“To see a princess that comes from a bunch of different Middle Eastern cultures, I felt like growing up Jasmine was my Disney princess,” she said.
Not only that, but Ahmady said she loves Jasmine's boldness and strength. She said she hasn't always seen female characters portrayed this way and that makes the princess even more special.
“[Disney gave Jasmine] agency in this story. She is not your typical Disney princess. He fights for what he believes in and in the end he gets it. She just ends up falling in love with Aladdin — I like to say “on the side.” Her whole path in this story is her fighting with her dad about wanting to marry someone she really loved and she ended up getting it in the end, which is what I love about her story,” he said.
Ahmady said that intelligence and fighting spirit are true for Middle Eastern women and girls.
“It's a similar narrative to many Brown girls growing up. I feel like the relationship Jasmine has with the Sultan is… a lot like the relationship I had with my dad growing up. In that sense, this story is so true and I love that,” he said.
(Disney/Deen Van Meerat)
While the show tries to stay true to the people it represents, Ahmady said she knows she has a duty to stay true to the original Jasmine as well. He said that playing an iconic character is really fun, but also scary.
“Everyone already knows the story of 'Aladdin.' They don't really come to see what's going on. Somehow you have to keep the audience on their toes. At the same time, you want to give them the character that everyone loves so much, but I want to show them my own take on Jasmine — give them a Jasmine that's a little modern for this era. It's hard to balance, but the payoff is definitely worth it,” he said.
However, there are many elements of the show that are unique to keep people engaged.
The original animated film is 1 hour and 30 minutes. The Broadway musical is 2 hours and 30 minutes long.
To flesh out the show a bit more, Ahmady said there are new songs and characters that didn't make the cut in the classic film.
“A lot of the stuff they added was actually stuff they wrote for the original animated film and got rid of just because they felt it didn't really fit at the time, or time constraints — they couldn't fit that many songs into a half-hour movie “, explained. “Well, it's kind of cool. I like to think of the musical as the complete version of what Disney wanted “Aladdin” to be.
But the musical doesn't skimp on Disney's iconic moments, songs or magic.
The show ends with a flying magic carpet. Walking up from the stage is Ahmady's favorite part of the show.
“I know it sounds cliche, but I really like 'A Whole New World.' To fly,” he said. “There's a magic carpet and we fly off the ground and that moment still gets to me. I think we've done about 350 shows now and that moment still gets to me every night.”
However, it is not as scary as some people think. He said the first time he was on the mat was during a rehearsal. They were still making the magic carpet in a warehouse.
When he started to practice flying, all the lights were on.
“You could see how far you were off the ground and it was scary,” Ahmady said.
But when he plays, that fear disappears — with the help of a dark theater.
“People ask me if it's scary during the show, but I think because all the lights are off and it's really dark in the theater, you honestly can't tell you're that far off the ground,” he said.
Ahmady and her carpet are hitting the road for several tour stops this year — including Overture Center in Madison, Wis. (October 10 – 15)The Marcus Performing Arts Center in Milwaukee (October 17 – 22) and Aronoff Center for the Arts in Cincinnati, Ohio (November 14 – 19).
