1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:13,400 Welcome to Students Incorporated. I'm your host, Mr. Jason. Join me weekly as my team and I produce content that's informative, positive, fun, and uplifting. 2 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:19,560 This podcast is created and produced with the help of students from the International Community School of Bangkok. 3 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:28,520 In today's episode, we have a privilege to sit down and talk with the cast and crew of the upcoming musical play, Aladdin, along with the director, Mr. Gersom. 4 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:36,060 They have been working hard for the past several months in preparation for opening night on November 26th, less than a week away. 5 00:00:36,060 --> 00:00:43,620 ICS has a great tradition of teaching and engaging students in the arts, and specifically drama and musicals. 6 00:00:43,620 --> 00:00:48,620 So stick around and get a behind the scenes look into the upcoming musical, Aladdin. 7 00:00:48,620 --> 00:00:52,360 Oh, and before I forget, today's episode is sponsored by the Dance Club. 8 00:00:52,360 --> 00:00:59,040 The Dance Club wants to create a safe space for K-pop and hip-hop dancers to share and express their passion creatively. 9 00:00:59,040 --> 00:01:03,120 They also aim to introduce dancing to more people in the ICS community. 10 00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:06,080 So thank you to the ICS Dance Club for your sponsorship. 11 00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:09,480 Now moving on, let's hear our quote of the day and get some headline news. 12 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:14,080 Our quote of the day comes from Mother Graham, an American modern dancer. 13 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:15,920 She's quoted to have said, 14 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:23,600 Theatre is a verb before it's a noun, an act before it's a place. Theatre is an active, expressive process before it's a place. 15 00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:28,080 It's about shared experience and connection rather than physical structures. 16 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:34,160 Theatre's essence lies in performance and interaction, rooted in its story-tellings and gatherings. 17 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:39,040 Ultimately, it's a dynamic act that brings stories to life, transcending formal boundaries. 18 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:44,720 And that's our quote of the day. Now onto some headline movie news with Mia and Mr. Jason. 19 00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:46,560 Thank you for our quote of the day. 20 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:54,200 Because we are on the theme of theatre and entertainment, we thought we'd share the list of the top 5 biggest money-making films so far. 21 00:01:54,200 --> 00:02:01,680 And according to Entertainment Weekly and IMDB, there's one director who directed 3 of the top 5 films. 22 00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:05,160 I guess if you want to make money with one of your films, you should hire this guy. 23 00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:09,840 Okay, here's our list of the top 5 biggest money-making films of all time. 24 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:12,400 So Mr. Jason, start us off with number 5. 25 00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:24,880 Coming in at 5th place is Star Wars Episode VII The Force Awakens, directed by J.J. Abrams and starring Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, and Oscar Isaac. 26 00:02:24,880 --> 00:02:37,040 As a new threat to the galaxy rises, Rey, a desert scavenger, and Finn, an ex-stormtrooper, must join Han Solo and Chewbacca to search for the one hope of restoring peace. 27 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:44,080 This film has grossed over 2.07 billion US dollars since its release in 2015. 28 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:45,840 Okay, Mia, what's next? 29 00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:52,880 Coming in 4th is Titanic, directed by James Cameron, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, and Billy Zane. 30 00:02:52,880 --> 00:03:01,040 A 17-year-old aristocrat falls in love with a kind but poor artist abroad, the luxurious ill-fated RMS Titanic. 31 00:03:01,040 --> 00:03:03,360 And well, we all know what happened to the Titanic. 32 00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:08,880 This film has grossed over 2.2 billion US dollars since its release in 1997. 33 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:10,400 Moving on to 3rd place now. 34 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:20,160 Coming in 3rd is Avatar, The Way of Water, directed by James Cameron again, starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Zeldana, and Sigourney Weaver. 35 00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:25,600 Jake Sully lives with his newfound family formed on the extrasolar moon Pandora. 36 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:29,920 Once a familiar threat returns to finish what was previously started, 37 00:03:29,920 --> 00:03:34,400 Jake must work with Natira and the Army of the Navi race to protect their home. 38 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:40,480 This film has grossed over 2.3 billion US dollars since its release in 2022. 39 00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:42,480 Another film by James Cameron. 40 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:45,760 Okay, moving on, what is our 2nd place film? 41 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:50,400 Coming in 2nd is Avengers, in-game by brothers Anthony and Joe Russo, 42 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:56,880 starring a slew of stars including Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, and Zoe Zeldana. 43 00:03:56,880 --> 00:04:02,080 Fun fact, Zoe Zeldana has been involved in 3 of the top 5 as well. 44 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:06,880 After the devastating events of Avengers Infinity War, the universe is in ruins. 45 00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:14,800 With the help of remaining allies, the Avengers assemble once more in order to reverse Thanos' actions and restore balance to the universe. 46 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:20,320 This film has grossed nearly 2.8 billion US dollars since its release in 2019. 47 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:21,920 And here's another fun fact. 48 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:29,200 The Marvel Cinematic Universe has become the first film franchise in history to cross over 33 billion US dollars. 49 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:36,400 This franchise has made more money than any other franchise in history, beating out Call of Duty, Batman, and Hello Kitty. 50 00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:40,160 And last but not least, moving on to the highest grossing film of all time. 51 00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:46,080 And finally, coming in 1st place as the biggest money-making film of all time is Avatar, 52 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:52,960 directed by the one and only James Cameron, starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Zeldana, and Sigourney Weaver. 53 00:04:52,960 --> 00:05:02,720 A paraplegic marine dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is his home. 54 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:08,160 This film has grossed over 2.9 billion US dollars since its release in 2009. 55 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:11,760 And there you have it, the biggest money-making films of all time. 56 00:05:11,760 --> 00:05:24,480 And that ends our entertainment news for this episode. 57 00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:31,360 Now moving on to our first segment, we welcome Mr. Gersom, the director of the upcoming musical Aladdin here at ICS. 58 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:35,200 I'm also joined in this episode by co-host Mia Antoto. 59 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:38,240 We'll jump right into our question today with Mia. 60 00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:40,640 All right. Hi, Mr. G. How are you doing today? 61 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:41,280 Good, how are you? 62 00:05:41,280 --> 00:05:46,320 All right. So it's a pleasure to have you here in the studio with us. So let's get started, shall we? 63 00:05:46,320 --> 00:05:51,280 OK, our first question is, what inspired you to choose Aladdin for this production? 64 00:05:51,280 --> 00:05:53,920 And what unique vision are you bringing to this version? 65 00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:58,800 I've always wanted to do Aladdin. I have a bucket list of shows. 66 00:05:58,800 --> 00:05:59,360 Oh, no way. 67 00:05:59,360 --> 00:06:03,360 So it's very long. And I basically choose from that bucket list. 68 00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:08,240 In recent years, what we did when we did Joseph, it was like, I don't want to do a desert theme show again. 69 00:06:08,240 --> 00:06:11,440 It's boring. So I kind of dropped it lower on the list. 70 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:18,080 And then eventually last year, I went through seven musical options listening to seven different musicals. 71 00:06:18,080 --> 00:06:20,400 And all of them were not good. 72 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:25,040 Or a big thing for me is like how many parts are available, right? 73 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:30,160 Because schools is not about like, you know, having a few leads who are amazing. 74 00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:33,280 It's actually about providing opportunities for as many people as possible. 75 00:06:33,280 --> 00:06:41,760 And yeah, so then I went through seven different ones and it was like so lead heavy or always duets and no group songs. 76 00:06:41,760 --> 00:06:47,760 So eventually I was like, OK, let's see if Aladdin has enough group songs because it still is quite lead heavy ish. 77 00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:54,960 But it had, you know, way more group songs than let's say like Anastasia, for example, which had like like two. 78 00:06:54,960 --> 00:06:57,760 So then I was like, OK, cool. Nice. 79 00:06:57,760 --> 00:07:00,480 It's still it was on my list for like a possibility. 80 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:03,200 And now it's like confirmed in terms of use. 81 00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:06,480 So Unique Vision, it's really hard because it's Disney. 82 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:07,680 So people have expectations. 83 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:11,120 This is what I hate about Disney shows because people have expectations. 84 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:15,440 Like, for example, I bought Jasmine a really nice red outfit first because I was like, oh, cool. 85 00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:17,040 I want Jasmine in red. Why not? 86 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:19,840 And everyone's complaining like the cast. 87 00:07:19,840 --> 00:07:22,480 But she's supposed to be a cyan. 88 00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:26,400 And I was like, that's not even who says cyan, you know? 89 00:07:26,400 --> 00:07:30,960 But but but anyway, and then other people said she's supposed to be in blue. 90 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:33,440 And I was like, yeah, but we're doing our own show. 91 00:07:33,440 --> 00:07:35,120 Like what? Well, the genies blue. 92 00:07:35,120 --> 00:07:36,640 I'm like, yeah, that's because genies are blue. 93 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:40,080 Like like the mythology, they're always blue anyway. 94 00:07:40,080 --> 00:07:45,040 So I would say vision wise, I think the main thing I can't do much. 95 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:47,920 Let's put it that way in terms of changing things. 96 00:07:47,920 --> 00:07:55,920 But the main thing that I like about our take on it as ICS is we build everything ourselves and students are building almost everything. 97 00:07:55,920 --> 00:08:00,720 Like there's very few things that mean that's helped with mostly safety stuff. 98 00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:03,280 But like the actual aesthetic, it's like all student built. 99 00:08:03,280 --> 00:08:08,880 And so we're basically we're basically trying to build a mini, you know, like mud and mud and wood housing. 100 00:08:08,880 --> 00:08:10,400 You know, that's kind of what we did. 101 00:08:10,400 --> 00:08:18,960 And I would say that's that's what makes this show unique and fun is like we're not being like, oh, let's just get some rando professional carpenter to build everything. 102 00:08:18,960 --> 00:08:20,480 No, it's like everything student produced. 103 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:22,240 And that makes it have a unique charm. 104 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:26,720 Like it's like it's a little bit rickety charm that I feel like ICS always has. 105 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:29,280 All right. Thank you for your perspective. 106 00:08:29,280 --> 00:08:33,200 And speaking of actually, have you heard of this new movie coming out? 107 00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:34,720 It's called Wicked. 108 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:35,440 Have you heard of it? 109 00:08:35,440 --> 00:08:35,760 Yeah. 110 00:08:35,760 --> 00:08:42,560 So how was kind of a Broadway show and now they've turned it into a movie with Ariana Grande and Cynthia. 111 00:08:42,560 --> 00:08:43,040 So, yeah. 112 00:08:43,040 --> 00:08:49,120 So on that note, could you walk us through the process of adapting the story to our particular context? 113 00:08:49,120 --> 00:08:52,400 And were there any key themes that you wanted to highlight in Aladdin? 114 00:08:53,040 --> 00:08:55,760 So Disney is really strict about this as well. 115 00:08:55,760 --> 00:09:04,320 So basically, I'm contractually obliged to not change anything at all from the script. 116 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:10,000 So basically, in terms of like highlighting things now, I mean, the story is already super wholesome. 117 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:16,960 You know, it's about changing the patriarchy to be more, you know, allow women to have a voice in their own marriage, things like that. 118 00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:18,720 So those are just nice things in general. 119 00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:23,280 So I wouldn't say there's a particular theme that we're highlighting or changing. 120 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:34,480 I would say that, yeah, it's pretty much it's the biggest change in the show is that there's no monkey and there's no tiger. 121 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:37,680 Instead, it's three best friends for both of them. 122 00:09:37,680 --> 00:09:45,840 And funnily enough, the best friends, they both have the nice songs, like with the songs the girls sing with Jasmine, it's one of the most beautiful songs. 123 00:09:45,840 --> 00:09:48,720 And the songs the boys sing with Aladdin are the funniest. 124 00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:53,440 So I would say that's the biggest change they made in terms of adapting into Broadway. 125 00:09:53,440 --> 00:10:00,240 And it has a very, the cartoon is quite thrilling. 126 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:07,280 And I would say the Broadway version is a little bit more pantomimey, a little bit more over the top and ridiculous. 127 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:12,960 And I think they did that because you can't translate certain things to the stage without it looking cheesy. 128 00:10:12,960 --> 00:10:14,960 So they're like, let's just embrace the cheesiness. 129 00:10:14,960 --> 00:10:16,960 And there's a lot of cheesy lines and little things. 130 00:10:16,960 --> 00:10:18,960 But again, it kind of makes it like, I get cute, it's wholesome. 131 00:10:18,960 --> 00:10:22,960 It's very, so I would say that's what I haven't adapted that. 132 00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:26,960 Disney adapted it for the Broadway stage. 133 00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:30,960 So it has all that energy and character, you know, for the genie. 134 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:34,960 But think of it, it's like it's a little more almost genie and comedy heavy. 135 00:10:34,960 --> 00:10:38,960 Like it's got more comedy inside than the cartoon. 136 00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:40,960 The cartoon actually has quite a lot of serious moments here. 137 00:10:40,960 --> 00:10:44,960 You know, you have like three, like three key ones, right? 138 00:10:44,960 --> 00:10:50,960 Like it's Aladdin feeling bad about himself and then Jasmine's turmoil. 139 00:10:50,960 --> 00:10:52,960 And then the ending, right? 140 00:10:52,960 --> 00:10:54,960 When Jafar tries to take over, those are the three key moments. 141 00:10:54,960 --> 00:10:58,960 Whereas in the cartoon, I feel like there's a lot of moments where you kind of, it calms down a bit. 142 00:10:58,960 --> 00:11:00,960 You know, you get more serious. 143 00:11:00,960 --> 00:11:02,960 This one's a lot more, yeah, woo, pizazz. 144 00:11:02,960 --> 00:11:04,960 It's like a lot of showbiz moments in this one. 145 00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:06,960 Yeah. 146 00:11:06,960 --> 00:11:10,960 So I guess my next question would be like, what specific challenges have you faced during production? 147 00:11:10,960 --> 00:11:16,960 Yeah, there's a lot of magic tricks that are hard to pull off. 148 00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:18,960 I've never done them before. 149 00:11:18,960 --> 00:11:20,960 And so it takes practice to get it right. 150 00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:22,960 So it's tech heavy in that sense. 151 00:11:22,960 --> 00:11:24,960 That's been a challenge. 152 00:11:24,960 --> 00:11:32,960 And another challenge has been fitting all those tricks backstage in terms of like wit, you know, 153 00:11:32,960 --> 00:11:37,960 like one of our transitions is from outside the cave to inside the cave. 154 00:11:37,960 --> 00:11:40,960 And it's 10 seconds. 155 00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:42,960 That's all the time we have. 156 00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:48,960 So I feel like these are the biggest challenges. 157 00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:50,960 Acting wise, it's a junior show. 158 00:11:50,960 --> 00:11:53,960 So like it's challenging in the sense that every role is challenging. 159 00:11:53,960 --> 00:11:56,960 But I feel like they were already up for that. 160 00:11:56,960 --> 00:11:58,960 Like they're already good, right? 161 00:11:58,960 --> 00:11:59,960 They were already good enough to do this. 162 00:11:59,960 --> 00:12:03,960 And so it's more about fine tuning in terms of like the actors and the ensemble. 163 00:12:03,960 --> 00:12:04,960 Same thing. 164 00:12:04,960 --> 00:12:12,960 Like, you know, the younger ones need a little more support, which you probably remember as well in terms of like knowing what show business is and how it works. 165 00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:13,960 But that's normal. 166 00:12:13,960 --> 00:12:14,960 That's nothing they can't overcome. 167 00:12:14,960 --> 00:12:17,960 And that's at this point something they've already overcome. 168 00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:18,960 Right. 169 00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:20,960 So I feel acting wise, it was very low challenges. 170 00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:23,960 And it's like it's not easy. 171 00:12:23,960 --> 00:12:25,960 It's not crazy difficult. 172 00:12:25,960 --> 00:12:31,960 But there's a lot of the, you know, basics that we have to re go over every year. 173 00:12:31,960 --> 00:12:36,960 But tech wise, I think it's been the most challenging in terms of like pulling off those weird stunts. 174 00:12:36,960 --> 00:12:38,960 How do we? Oh, wait. 175 00:12:38,960 --> 00:12:44,960 Aladdin has to like roll into a like a cave opening or like jump into a cave. 176 00:12:44,960 --> 00:12:45,960 Like, how are we going to do that? 177 00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:47,960 Like, how are we going to do that without injuring him? 178 00:12:47,960 --> 00:12:49,960 Or how are we going to get all these things on in 10 seconds? 179 00:12:49,960 --> 00:12:50,960 Things like that. 180 00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:53,960 A lot of puzzle pieces. 181 00:12:53,960 --> 00:12:54,960 All right. 182 00:12:54,960 --> 00:13:03,960 I think definitely those are quite big challenges to face, especially since you are the director and everything kind of has to go through you before it actually makes it to the stage. 183 00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:14,960 So, yeah, in terms of like cast and crew, how how do you say you maintain clear and effective communication between the cast and crew throughout rehearsals and then production as well? 184 00:13:14,960 --> 00:13:22,960 This is where I have to shout out my assistant directors and stage managers and assistant stage manager. 185 00:13:22,960 --> 00:13:26,960 They are really good at that. So, for example, assistant directors, Julius Miranda. 186 00:13:26,960 --> 00:13:27,960 Julius is also the genie. 187 00:13:27,960 --> 00:13:32,960 So, you know, she's got crazy high workload and Miranda's actually, yeah. 188 00:13:32,960 --> 00:13:37,960 So they're both leads and they're also assistant directing, which is just like insane level of work. 189 00:13:37,960 --> 00:13:40,960 And then you got Noah, who's also stage manager. 190 00:13:40,960 --> 00:13:46,960 So you have a lot of these people that are kind of stepping their feet in two different pounds at the same time. 191 00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:49,960 Right. Like they're they're they're completely enmeshed in all these things. 192 00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:52,960 And that's why they're really amazing at doing that. 193 00:13:52,960 --> 00:13:59,960 So we have like a line group for the directors and we have a line group for the stage managers, which the directors are also in just to like read it. 194 00:13:59,960 --> 00:14:08,960 And occasionally they reply to. And we basically try we get we get to a certain point where the stage managers will say, OK, Mr. 195 00:14:08,960 --> 00:14:12,960 G is at his threshold of question of stupid questions he can answer. 196 00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:15,960 Right. Like some questions are gray. Like, Mr. G, this is really hard. 197 00:14:15,960 --> 00:14:17,960 How do we figure this out? OK, I can. 198 00:14:17,960 --> 00:14:21,960 I'm supposed to help with that. But some of it's like, I don't know where my shirt is. 199 00:14:21,960 --> 00:14:28,960 Where did you put it? You know what I mean? So so what they'll do is they'll see that point coming because they've usually worked with me before. 200 00:14:28,960 --> 00:14:32,960 And they're like, OK, all right. We know this. The directors are going to fend off all costume questions. 201 00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:35,960 So they'll I'll just say, don't ask me. Go ask them. 202 00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:41,960 And if I get someone coming, I'm just go ask Miranda. And then she's like, you know, she takes the question. 203 00:14:41,960 --> 00:14:43,960 And so that's one way we organize it. 204 00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:48,960 As stage managers, they have a list with all. So there's there's five total. 205 00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:53,960 Right. Noah's not the stage managing much on the day itself because he's acting. 206 00:14:53,960 --> 00:14:55,960 But like he helps to keep track of that list. 207 00:14:55,960 --> 00:15:00,960 And then you have Alyssa and Miriam who are like on top of everything backstage. 208 00:15:00,960 --> 00:15:04,960 So they keep this list going of like everything that needs to happen. What percentage is it at? 209 00:15:04,960 --> 00:15:07,960 Is it finished? Is it almost finished? What are we waiting on something? 210 00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:13,960 And so they can filter all these questions from like general tech stuff like, oh, where's this thing? 211 00:15:13,960 --> 00:15:23,960 Oh, it's here. You know, and basically what that makes is that the students have more agency and power to change things. 212 00:15:23,960 --> 00:15:28,960 And if they if it's a question they have to ask me, then they can go. 213 00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:32,960 They'll just write it down for later. Or if you like, if it's not a good time or they'll just say, OK, Mr. 214 00:15:32,960 --> 00:15:35,960 G, we need to know about this thing specifically. 215 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:38,960 OK. And then I'm like, oh, to make it blue. Whatever. 216 00:15:38,960 --> 00:15:47,960 So by dividing it in that way, it stays organized and we can keep track of everything roughly, including people missing sure. 217 00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:50,960 But it's really them who help support that. 218 00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:52,960 And that's I would say something that's very different. 219 00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:55,960 I mean, there's a few schools I've heard of that that run things like this. 220 00:15:55,960 --> 00:16:01,960 We give a lot of power to student leadership in this sense, which is great. 221 00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:03,960 I mean, it's like really, really working. Right. 222 00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:06,960 And when you actually start to work, you have to do your job or you get fired. So 223 00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:09,960 and they've been doing that a ton. 224 00:16:09,960 --> 00:16:12,960 So that's I think that's how we keep it. And it's been awesome. 225 00:16:12,960 --> 00:16:16,960 I mean, I guess that's a good way to do it. I mean, I never thought of it while I was there. 226 00:16:16,960 --> 00:16:23,960 So I guess leading us to the next question, which elements of the original story do you feel that like is going to resonate most with the audiences today? 227 00:16:23,960 --> 00:16:26,960 How has it been like incorporated into this version of the story? 228 00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:38,960 What people will resonate most with, I think, is Aladdin and his story and his friends, I would say in terms of it being relatable, 229 00:16:38,960 --> 00:16:46,960 because Aladdin is trying his best, but not really making it. 230 00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:54,960 OK, so he's very relatable. Like as a student, you try your best sometimes and then it's still not like doesn't quite work out. 231 00:16:54,960 --> 00:17:00,960 And then on top of that, when he gets stressed, he like takes on his friends and the genie. 232 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:03,960 And that's also relatable. Right. 233 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:07,960 Like you take it out on your parent or your friends and then that's not right. 234 00:17:07,960 --> 00:17:12,960 And I would say Jasmine is is less relatable in the sense that because she's so rich and powerful. 235 00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:15,960 Yeah, it just feels like what are you complaining about, girl? 236 00:17:15,960 --> 00:17:22,960 But at the same time, with that level of responsibility that's kind of implied with her role, right. 237 00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:25,960 In her case, it's marriage, but like she doesn't want that. 238 00:17:25,960 --> 00:17:27,960 I think people can relate to that to a certain extent. Right. 239 00:17:27,960 --> 00:17:30,960 You have families here who like their parents are going to be a lawyer. 240 00:17:30,960 --> 00:17:32,960 There's not a choice. You know what I mean? To these kids. 241 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:37,960 I think those kind of kids could relate to that, like maybe not necessarily the rich and powerful part, maybe for some of them. 242 00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:44,960 I don't know. But like they could relate to the sense of like, yeah, it can be that the system slash your parent, 243 00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:52,960 because the sultans are her dad, right, makes you feel trapped in not being able to be an agent of your own life. 244 00:17:52,960 --> 00:17:55,960 Like you can't choose. So I would say people relate to them the most. 245 00:17:55,960 --> 00:18:02,960 And then those people who are maybe a bit less serious, they would relate to the genie and the friends the most because they're comic relief. 246 00:18:02,960 --> 00:18:06,960 They make they keep things fun. They're helpful. 247 00:18:06,960 --> 00:18:10,960 And yeah, like the friends particularly are like both. 248 00:18:10,960 --> 00:18:17,960 They're just like this commentary on what's happening, you know, like when when the princess says, oh, I'm trapped in a prison. 249 00:18:17,960 --> 00:18:22,960 Her friends like a really, really nice prison. You know, things like that. 250 00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:30,960 So I would say those are probably the most relatable aspects in the show in terms of like I think that high schoolers and middle schoolers like, oh, yeah, I like this. 251 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:34,960 And the little kids, they'll just relate to, you know, the fun. Yeah. 252 00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:36,960 All right. I think that was a great answer. 253 00:18:36,960 --> 00:18:47,960 I think definitely as the audience when you're viewing a stage adaptation or you're viewing a musical, I think if you see something or someone that resonates and relates to you a lot, I think it just makes the whole experience a lot more enjoyable. 254 00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:50,960 So I like that you pay attention to those details. 255 00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:57,960 The next question is without giving away any spoilers, are there any scenes or moments that might surprise the audience? 256 00:18:57,960 --> 00:19:03,960 I think Aladdin's friends will surprise the audience because everyone's going to want Abu the monkey. 257 00:19:03,960 --> 00:19:06,960 I think they're going to initially be like, oh, no, there's no monkey. 258 00:19:06,960 --> 00:19:08,960 And then when they watch it, they'll be like, oh, the friends are better. 259 00:19:08,960 --> 00:19:15,960 That's what I had when I listened to it first. I was like, oh, I'm actually quite happy there's no monkey because these friends are awesome. 260 00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:18,960 That's one that's not really giving any spoilers. 261 00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:21,960 And then scenes that will surprise them. 262 00:19:21,960 --> 00:19:28,960 There's a lot of props that have been built by hand for several months. 263 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:32,960 Yeah, because they take that long. 264 00:19:32,960 --> 00:19:35,960 Yes, we have animals. They don't look realistic. 265 00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:38,960 They look funny, which is kind of the charm. 266 00:19:38,960 --> 00:19:40,960 I kind of that's what I like. That's what I wanted. 267 00:19:40,960 --> 00:19:43,960 I didn't want it to be like, oh, my gosh, it's a real, you know, insert animal. 268 00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:45,960 I'm trying not to give spoilers. 269 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:49,960 Right. It's not it's not. Yeah, they're not realistic looking, but they're they're funny. 270 00:19:49,960 --> 00:19:59,960 And if you think about the fact that hold on, somebody built this to work and to be rideable, you know, then you're just like, wait, how many? 271 00:19:59,960 --> 00:20:08,960 If you write because it's as in from scratch, like completely from zero from from, you know, pieces of wood and metal to a creature. 272 00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:11,960 So I would say those things will surprise the audience. 273 00:20:11,960 --> 00:20:20,960 And there's some special effects that might surprise if you're sitting close enough to the stage that you might be like, well, did not expect to. 274 00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:25,960 I can't give a spoiler if I did not expect that to happen to me or so close to me. Yeah. 275 00:20:25,960 --> 00:20:27,960 Things like that. I mean, shout out to the techies. 276 00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:32,960 Yes, yes, it has been really so I move on to the next question. 277 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:35,960 What happens to the props after like the show? 278 00:20:35,960 --> 00:20:39,960 So we are the three Rs. Reduce, reuse, recycle. 279 00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:45,960 So we take this is actually a horrible process in turn. 280 00:20:45,960 --> 00:20:50,960 Well, it's therapeutic for the techies because, you know, you spent so many months building something. 281 00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:53,960 And then if you just tear it down immediately, it's like sad. 282 00:20:53,960 --> 00:21:01,960 But if you're like, oh, I'm tearing it apart slowly and taking it apart back to its pieces and actually see in reverse what I did, it actually feels really good. 283 00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:03,960 You're like, I'm amazing. 284 00:21:03,960 --> 00:21:09,960 Like sometimes like I say that out loud to myself while working with techies and they kind of chuckle at me. 285 00:21:09,960 --> 00:21:13,960 So I'll do something and I'll be like, oh, Mr. G, you're a genius. 286 00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:15,960 And they're like, Mr. G, why are you complimenting yourself? 287 00:21:15,960 --> 00:21:17,960 And I'm like, no, I'm having positive self-talk. Right. 288 00:21:17,960 --> 00:21:20,960 Like I just did something that's amazing. 289 00:21:20,960 --> 00:21:23,960 I don't know many people who can do this thing. 290 00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:27,960 I just did with, you know, techie X or techie Y, whatever random techie. 291 00:21:27,960 --> 00:21:29,960 So we just did something and I'm like, and it worked. 292 00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:31,960 And we're like, and we've been working on it for a week. 293 00:21:31,960 --> 00:21:33,960 And we are like, we just try it works. 294 00:21:33,960 --> 00:21:36,960 Right. Then we're like, you're like, wow, I'm amazing. 295 00:21:36,960 --> 00:21:38,960 Right. Like that's pretty cool. 296 00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:42,960 It's not saying that you're better than other people, just saying I can't believe we did this. 297 00:21:42,960 --> 00:21:43,960 We pulled this off. It was very hard. 298 00:21:43,960 --> 00:21:47,960 So kind of getting that backwards kind of makes you appreciate like how much work it was like. 299 00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:54,960 It's insane. So we deconstruct everything and then whatever we could salvage, we restore and we reuse. 300 00:21:54,960 --> 00:22:03,960 So, for example, in this show, we've got ply that's from COVID times, like plywood that we've reused from like Joseph or even that. 301 00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:08,960 We have a few pivots of the stage that are from Oliver. Yes. Correct. 302 00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:14,960 Which is insane. And then costumes wise as well, like are a lot of the people's pants is from Oliver. 303 00:22:14,960 --> 00:22:18,960 So so like, you know, also ones from Shrek being reused. 304 00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:22,960 So we reuse as much as we can. And then whatever we have to throw away. 305 00:22:22,960 --> 00:22:25,960 OK, we throw away because we don't have infinite space. 306 00:22:25,960 --> 00:22:29,960 Too bad. The pack is not the TARDIS. Then it would have be bigger on the inside. 307 00:22:29,960 --> 00:22:36,960 But it's not. So we kind of like try as much as possible to to reuse. 308 00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:41,960 And then there's certain props like that will never get used again in the same thing. 309 00:22:41,960 --> 00:22:45,960 So, for example, like we 3D printed a magic lamp. Right. 310 00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:49,960 So that one I might like sometimes do a little competition at the cast party. 311 00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:54,960 Somebody wins it. Or sometimes I have a cast member that I'm like, you should just keep that if it was cheap. 312 00:22:54,960 --> 00:22:59,960 It was like 30, 40 baht. You know, then it's like, this is my gift to you. There you go. Have fun. 313 00:22:59,960 --> 00:23:06,960 So you're friendly. Yeah, it's better because I've seen a lot of my father in law does trade shows at Bytec. 314 00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:11,960 And he was saying like he showed me one and he did one entire haul for Singapore's expo. 315 00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:17,960 And I asked him what happens with the stuff at the end. He was like, we trash all of it. 316 00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:21,960 Like and his company already recycles the lighting, which is apparently a big deal, 317 00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:24,960 like because most of them don't even do that. There's a rebuy. 318 00:23:24,960 --> 00:23:27,960 He recycles lighting TVs and coffee machines and all that. 319 00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:34,960 And but but the clients are paid, they will pay for a brand new television for every single expo show they got. 320 00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:38,960 So, dude, if you think about that, I'm like, somebody needs to regulate that. 321 00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:43,960 You know, like you need you need that's so wasteful. You're using it for literally one week expo show. 322 00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:48,960 You buy a brand new LCD screen TV and then you're and then most of the companies chuck it. 323 00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:51,960 His company is the only one that electronics. They have a space to store. 324 00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:56,960 But all the plywood, all the chairs and stuff, they they either try to sell it off 325 00:23:56,960 --> 00:24:00,960 on the second hand or like they have to junk it because they can't keep it. 326 00:24:00,960 --> 00:24:03,960 Their factories just not big enough. And so he was saying to me, 327 00:24:03,960 --> 00:24:07,960 actually, the fact that you recycle actually a couple of the trees we use are from him. 328 00:24:07,960 --> 00:24:11,960 He did the Witcher expo for when the Witcher season two came out. 329 00:24:11,960 --> 00:24:14,960 So those trees, he was like, you want my trees? And I was like, OK. 330 00:24:14,960 --> 00:24:17,960 So we've been using those trees for like four years and he's so happy. 331 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:22,960 Every time he sees the trees, he's like, oh, they're recycling the trees. Good. You know. 332 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:26,960 And so that's why we try to do that, because I think it's important to, you know, 333 00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:30,960 to also teach if you're a school that focuses on the environment, which we try to do. 334 00:24:30,960 --> 00:24:35,960 It's like, why why not show how much work it is, how much more work it is to recycle. 335 00:24:35,960 --> 00:24:37,960 It's more work. It's much harder. 336 00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:39,960 Knocking it all down would be faster and easier. 337 00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:44,960 But this is hard to work. It's like, oh, maybe some things in life just have to be harder 338 00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:46,960 because it's better for everyone. 339 00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:49,960 So before moving on to the last question, there's just one thing I want to say. 340 00:24:49,960 --> 00:24:51,960 I'm really looking forward to the show. 341 00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:57,960 I mean, I want to see like how the three friends play out because I love Abu the Monkey. 342 00:24:57,960 --> 00:25:00,960 Well, he's not there. You never know. I'm going to cry. 343 00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:05,960 So the last question is like, how did you approach casting for such a beloved musical? 344 00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:07,960 And what qualities do you look in your performers? 345 00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:12,960 Yeah. So there's a great way to get a rumor out of people's heads. 346 00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:15,960 I don't precast any single show. 347 00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:19,960 So, you know, a lot of well-meaning teachers, let's put it that way, 348 00:25:19,960 --> 00:25:25,960 they'll come to me and say, oh, wouldn't Toto be great for whatever Abu the Monkey, whatever. Right. 349 00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:31,960 And so and I just literally will look at them and go, don't talk to me and walk away, 350 00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:37,960 which seems rude, but it's because I don't want I want zero filter of judgment. 351 00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:42,960 So I have over 150 to 160 auditioning every time. 352 00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:48,960 OK, so first we separate into like, OK, these people definitely were not in. 353 00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:52,960 How do we do that? I have 15 advisors. OK. 354 00:25:52,960 --> 00:26:03,960 So to keep it fair and neutral, 15 different people, five for acting, five for dancing, five for singing, usually roughly those. 355 00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:05,960 Sometimes it dips down to four on certain days. 356 00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:12,960 But so basically, there is no way that everyone in that room likes you on a personal level. 357 00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:15,960 All right. It's statistically highly improbable. 358 00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:21,960 And so what that does is it gives me and I tell them, be really, really fair. 359 00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:25,960 And sometimes so every year I get one or two new people in or I rotate through like Mr. 360 00:26:25,960 --> 00:26:29,960 Will, I think did last year, but not this one. And then next year I might get him again. 361 00:26:29,960 --> 00:26:31,960 Right. So we rotate out and cycle in different people. 362 00:26:31,960 --> 00:26:40,960 And if they've done it once before, they know how like I tell them, like, no, you need like you need to be candid and blunt in these numbers. 363 00:26:40,960 --> 00:26:49,960 It's all scores. So that way, if a kid doesn't get the part, I can literally be like, well, you scored four on your dancing overall. 364 00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:53,960 That means your dancing was so weak that it got you out. So I can be specific. 365 00:26:53,960 --> 00:27:01,960 And some kids score pretty high. But then, like, I can say, like, oh, you know, but Toto scored two points higher than you on his score. 366 00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:10,960 So and because you're both the same height and build, I chose Toto because he scored two points higher and because I have 15 different people talking about that. 367 00:27:10,960 --> 00:27:14,960 Then once we get to the second round, it's a lot about looking at chemistry. 368 00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:22,960 So, for example, if for this last one where we know there's romance in the show, so I'll put a question in the form like how comfortable are you doing romance scenes? 369 00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:25,960 And many high schoolers aren't. That's fair enough. Right. 370 00:27:25,960 --> 00:27:29,960 Because I can't like teach you from scratch how to be comfortable about that. 371 00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:35,960 So if you, you know, if you wrote in your form, I did depends on the guy. Right. 372 00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:42,960 I'm sorry. Like that. You've just, you know, you've really reduced your chances of getting a romance lead. 373 00:27:42,960 --> 00:27:47,960 Obviously, you could still get another lead if you're amazing. Right. But like, because you can't be picky. 374 00:27:47,960 --> 00:27:51,960 Like, you don't know which guy you're going to get. Right. Like, yeah. Yeah. You shouldn't discriminate. 375 00:27:51,960 --> 00:27:58,960 And that's the thing. Like, so it's a lot about chemistry watching. And then as they start to do those scenes, we look for the chemistry between the people. 376 00:27:58,960 --> 00:28:06,960 If it seems like all these people seem like they don't know each other well, but they're being friendly, warm, and and they look like they have a connection. 377 00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:09,960 That probably means their professional relationship will be nice. 378 00:28:09,960 --> 00:28:14,960 Whereas if you're immediately noticing, I mean, I have noticed this in recalls. 379 00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:22,960 You know, you'll get some people who are looking at their competition, like with side eye, you know, bombastic side eye. 380 00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:29,960 And then and then I just think to myself, like, you like, that's not an atmosphere I want to deal with. 381 00:28:29,960 --> 00:28:36,960 I don't want people who think, oh, you know, yeah, I tell my cast, like when I played man one and passerby five, 382 00:28:36,960 --> 00:28:41,960 I tried just as hard as when I was like literally the lead. 383 00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:45,960 Doesn't matter to me because man one, he's got a story. What's the story? Right. 384 00:28:45,960 --> 00:28:51,960 And also, I had more fun backstage as man one and passerby five. Like those are my two roles. 385 00:28:51,960 --> 00:28:54,960 I had way more fun because there's no pressure. 386 00:28:54,960 --> 00:29:00,960 I could just, you know, outside of scenes, I could be with my friends in the changing room talking quietly and getting excited about things. 387 00:29:00,960 --> 00:29:07,960 Whereas when I was the lead, I was on like, I think 90 percent of the play, I was on stage, so I can't go anywhere. 388 00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:14,960 And if I do talk backstage, it's like, you got this, bro. I don't know my lines anymore. It's blanking. Oh, you got this. OK. 389 00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:18,960 And I have to go, you know, and then hopefully I didn't blank on the lines. 390 00:29:18,960 --> 00:29:26,960 Yeah, the casting process is complex in the sense of like the whole scoring system, the amount of people you have helping pitching in. 391 00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:31,960 But in the end, I think it's the most transparent and fairest way. So it's not going through me. 392 00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:41,960 The only person who makes the final call is like sometimes I'm, you know, say someone got a really great part last year and then they they're really good again the next year because they're just good. 393 00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:45,960 Sometimes I'll say, hey, look like so and so got a really great part last year. 394 00:29:45,960 --> 00:29:52,960 Like the the lead. Maybe this year they can have a supporting lead because we want to give opportunities for other people as well. 395 00:29:52,960 --> 00:29:57,960 So I think that's the only time that I would actually go in and veto someone getting a part. 396 00:29:57,960 --> 00:30:02,960 But even then, it's usually like, oh, it's getting part A, they're getting part B, and they're both really good. 397 00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:05,960 It's just a matter of like you don't want to create a school. 398 00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:10,960 This is how it was a little bit for me in high school where the same people are getting the leads every single year. 399 00:30:10,960 --> 00:30:13,960 You want you want there to always be at least one fresh face. 400 00:30:13,960 --> 00:30:16,960 But in my case, it's usually three fresh faces every year. 401 00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:24,960 And same with the ensemble, right. As seniors graduate, you want a lot of eighth graders and ninth graders to be coming in to fill those roles. 402 00:30:24,960 --> 00:30:28,960 And then it feels like, oh, there's opportunities for everyone. It's actually fair. 403 00:30:28,960 --> 00:30:34,960 It's not whoever, you know, buys Mr. G bubble tea is getting is getting the parts. 404 00:30:34,960 --> 00:30:38,960 Right. Yeah. So that's the secret. Yeah. 405 00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:44,960 That whole process of elimination, I'm sure that's stressful, but it seems like it's very objective, right. 406 00:30:44,960 --> 00:30:48,960 By going through the point system first and then moving on to more of the subjective stuff. 407 00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:52,960 So so yeah, thank you. And that concludes our first segment with Mr. Gersom. 408 00:30:52,960 --> 00:30:57,960 Stay tuned as he delivers a short PSA about the upcoming musical Aladdin. 409 00:30:57,960 --> 00:31:01,960 And then we'll be right back with several cast and crew members. 410 00:31:01,960 --> 00:31:05,960 One, two, three, four. 411 00:31:05,960 --> 00:31:10,960 All right. So fun fact, it's actually sold out. But there is hope for you. 412 00:31:10,960 --> 00:31:17,960 I've contacted New York and by the time this is out, I think they'll have given me permission because they already tried to charge me money. 413 00:31:17,960 --> 00:31:22,960 And now I need to pay it. So we are doing a third show on the Monday afternoon. 414 00:31:22,960 --> 00:31:28,960 So if you are hearing this by now, it's I think it's probably out. 415 00:31:28,960 --> 00:31:33,960 Go check the site and there will be lots of seats open for the Monday. 416 00:31:33,960 --> 00:31:39,960 OK, because every time I do the show, I have to pay them a lot of money to even be allowed to perform it. 417 00:31:39,960 --> 00:31:44,960 So I need to at least offset the cost of making it available to more people. 418 00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:47,960 So, yeah, I'm glad that two are sold out. 419 00:31:47,960 --> 00:31:53,960 But, you know, make sure you fill all those seats, too, because the opening night is often the most nerve wracking. 420 00:31:53,960 --> 00:31:56,960 Yeah, look for the 25th tickets to come soon. 421 00:31:56,960 --> 00:32:17,960 And we are back with our second segment and we are joined by several Aladdin cast members who will be giving us an inside peek into the time and effort it takes learning their parts and then performing before a live audience. 422 00:32:17,960 --> 00:32:20,960 OK, Mia will get us started with our second segment. 423 00:32:20,960 --> 00:32:25,960 All right. Hi, guys. Very nice to have you all in the studio with us, all four of you. 424 00:32:25,960 --> 00:32:28,960 So to get us started, could you all please introduce yourself? 425 00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:32,960 Tell us what grade you're in and then tell us which character you're playing in the play. 426 00:32:32,960 --> 00:32:37,960 My name is Noah and I am in 12th grade. 427 00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:42,960 The character I am playing in the upcoming musical is Aladdin. 428 00:32:42,960 --> 00:32:49,960 Hi, I'm Ella and I'm in 10th grade this year and I'll be playing Princess Jasmine. 429 00:32:49,960 --> 00:32:54,960 I'm Josiah and I will be Jafar and I'm in 11th grade. 430 00:32:54,960 --> 00:32:57,960 I'm Julius. I'm a senior and I'll be playing Jeannie this year. 431 00:32:57,960 --> 00:33:00,960 All right. Thank you all for your answers. 432 00:33:00,960 --> 00:33:05,960 So the first question we will be starting off with our very own Aladdin, Noah. 433 00:33:05,960 --> 00:33:12,960 So Noah, what drew you to the role of Aladdin and how did you prepare for this really iconic character? 434 00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:16,960 Well, let me start with answering the second part of the question. 435 00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:27,960 The way I prepared was I watched the movie, the original cartoon from the 90s, I believe. 436 00:33:27,960 --> 00:33:33,960 And I watched it for two reasons. 437 00:33:33,960 --> 00:33:41,960 The first being to kind of understand the original story and the original intention behind the character. 438 00:33:41,960 --> 00:33:50,960 And the second reason was to get the voice as close to the original one as possible. 439 00:33:50,960 --> 00:34:01,960 What drew me to the character was that Aladdin is very hopeful and I feel that is a characteristic I would like to invoke in myself. 440 00:34:01,960 --> 00:34:04,960 So this question is for Ella, aka Jasmine. 441 00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:08,960 So Jasmine is such a strong and independent character. 442 00:34:08,960 --> 00:34:14,960 How do you relate to her and what aspects of her personality did you focus on during the rehearsals? 443 00:34:14,960 --> 00:34:20,960 This is a hard question for me because she's in many ways different than me. 444 00:34:20,960 --> 00:34:27,960 She obviously grew up in the palace and grew up isolated from people. 445 00:34:27,960 --> 00:34:35,960 I think one way I think we have similar values is we both really love people. 446 00:34:35,960 --> 00:34:41,960 We care about each other and I'm personally quite a control freak. 447 00:34:41,960 --> 00:34:47,960 So I love to control everything and that might irritate people sometimes. 448 00:34:47,960 --> 00:34:53,960 Well, one part of her personality I had to focus on and rehearse quite a lot is she's very poised. 449 00:34:53,960 --> 00:34:56,960 She's very, she knows what she wants. 450 00:34:56,960 --> 00:35:02,960 So I had to include that in my physicality as a character and fix my posture. 451 00:35:02,960 --> 00:35:08,960 I really feel like a princess, honestly, and I think that would be any little girl's dream. 452 00:35:08,960 --> 00:35:13,960 So that was fun playing something that I am not used to playing. 453 00:35:13,960 --> 00:35:17,960 All right, our next question, her very own Genie Julius. 454 00:35:17,960 --> 00:35:22,960 So the Genie is known for being very lively, comedic, funny. 455 00:35:22,960 --> 00:35:29,960 My question is how did you approach bringing your own interpretation to this beloved character? 456 00:35:29,960 --> 00:35:38,960 Yeah, the fun thing about having such an iconic character is that I kind of get to bring my own personality to it almost. 457 00:35:38,960 --> 00:35:46,960 So what I did was I watched a lot of like not even just like the animated movie. 458 00:35:46,960 --> 00:35:51,960 I watched other productions of this like on YouTube and stuff. 459 00:35:51,960 --> 00:35:54,960 So it was really fun getting to prepare for it. 460 00:35:54,960 --> 00:36:07,960 I think something about Genie is that like each person who does it has their own personality tied into their portrayal of Genie. 461 00:36:07,960 --> 00:36:16,960 I feel like personally, I brought my own kind of like sass and almost like femininity to it as well. 462 00:36:16,960 --> 00:36:17,960 Yeah. 463 00:36:17,960 --> 00:36:18,960 Well, sass. 464 00:36:18,960 --> 00:36:22,960 I mean, I think that's a great aspect to add to a Genie. 465 00:36:22,960 --> 00:36:26,960 I mean, also, it would be funny if Josiah would also have been Genie too. 466 00:36:26,960 --> 00:36:29,960 So moving on to Josiah, also known as Jafar. 467 00:36:29,960 --> 00:36:34,960 What aspects of Jafar's character do you find like the most intriguing to portray? 468 00:36:34,960 --> 00:36:38,960 And how do you bring your own interpretation to such an iconic villain? 469 00:36:38,960 --> 00:36:44,960 Okay, so like Jasmine and Ella, Jafar is his own princess type character. 470 00:36:44,960 --> 00:36:48,960 He's very poised and he's very elegant with his words and his ways. 471 00:36:48,960 --> 00:37:00,960 I kind of tried to bring my own laid back opposite of Ella, not a control freak, not a very control freak person into that character. 472 00:37:00,960 --> 00:37:02,960 Mr. G did not let me do that. 473 00:37:02,960 --> 00:37:06,960 He said that Jafar is a control freak, so I had to do that. 474 00:37:06,960 --> 00:37:24,960 So for my own interpretation of this iconic villain is not very my own interpretation, and it is more of the Mogamishn of every other Jafar's that I have seen and every big bad guy that is just a control freak. 475 00:37:24,960 --> 00:37:27,960 All right. Thank you for your answer, Jafar. 476 00:37:27,960 --> 00:37:40,960 Now, this is actually a group question. So for all of you guys, can you please share some fun or memorable moments from rehearsals that showcase the camaraderie among the cast? 477 00:37:40,960 --> 00:37:42,960 Noah, you can start. Thank you. 478 00:37:42,960 --> 00:37:48,960 I will say that I feel for and I think I can speak for a lot of the cast. 479 00:37:48,960 --> 00:37:57,960 The running of the scenes and itself is kind of the thing that kind of brings us together. 480 00:37:57,960 --> 00:38:08,960 I will say that I've gotten to know a lot of my fellow cast members better, and I think that showcases the camaraderie. 481 00:38:08,960 --> 00:38:22,960 Being part of any production, really, every year, it's such a I'm so grateful to be part of such a high quality and high standard school that really puts effort into producing quality shows. 482 00:38:22,960 --> 00:38:30,960 So moments backstage are some of the funnest parts of being in productions like Arturo and we from last year. 483 00:38:30,960 --> 00:38:39,960 We get to know each other. We order food. We sing together. We do our makeup together. And some years we get fully costumed. 484 00:38:39,960 --> 00:38:46,960 We were done with our makeup. Then we sometimes walk to 7-Eleven and people would just stare at us and that's one of the funnest memories we will have together. 485 00:38:46,960 --> 00:38:58,960 Yeah, like Ella said, production being in any production, you will grow closer to your cast members and you will find fellowship in the cast itself. 486 00:38:58,960 --> 00:39:04,960 And it is very fun to be around because at the beginning you may not know all of them or you might be a little hesitant. 487 00:39:04,960 --> 00:39:13,960 But at the end, there is always a little bit of sadness in being done with the production and having to leave all these people and not being able to act with them again. 488 00:39:13,960 --> 00:39:19,960 A good showcase of camaraderie is always backstage when we're not supposed to be talking. 489 00:39:19,960 --> 00:39:25,960 People's true character really comes out and you get to see what they are when they're not supposed to be talking. 490 00:39:25,960 --> 00:39:33,960 No names, but I can say that I have maybe broken that rule before and I have talked backstage. 491 00:39:33,960 --> 00:39:48,960 But always after the scenes and when you're off of backstage in your own rooms that can't be heard on stage, it is very fun to converse and be in those high intensity situations where you don't know if you're going to have to go on stage soon. 492 00:39:48,960 --> 00:39:50,960 You should know, but you don't know. 493 00:39:50,960 --> 00:40:03,960 I definitely agree with the others in saying that the backstage stuff is definitely one of the best parts of being in like what goes on behind the scenes. 494 00:40:03,960 --> 00:40:06,960 It's really fun back there. 495 00:40:06,960 --> 00:40:13,960 I think a fun and memorable moment I had was just this past weekend. 496 00:40:13,960 --> 00:40:29,960 We had a Saturday rehearsal and it was a tech run where we put all the tech together and it's fun to kind of like see it all like start to come together because we've been running without all like the tech stuff going. 497 00:40:29,960 --> 00:40:33,960 So this past weekend we started using... 498 00:40:33,960 --> 00:40:34,960 Am I allowed to... 499 00:40:34,960 --> 00:40:35,960 I think... 500 00:40:35,960 --> 00:40:36,960 Okay, this is kind of a spoiler. 501 00:40:36,960 --> 00:40:38,960 It's not that much of a spoiler. 502 00:40:38,960 --> 00:40:40,960 Yeah, okay. 503 00:40:40,960 --> 00:40:58,960 There is a horse and we've had some trouble getting the horse to work in the way that we wanted it to, but it was really fun to see it come together, especially all the tech stuff. 504 00:40:58,960 --> 00:41:00,960 So the next one is also a group question. 505 00:41:00,960 --> 00:41:07,960 So what has been the most challenging aspect of like preparing for this musical and how did you overcome it? 506 00:41:07,960 --> 00:41:26,960 For me, there were two kind of key things that were very hard for me during this role and one of them was the lines because there were very many lines and I have a problem with memorizing lines. 507 00:41:26,960 --> 00:41:34,960 So, obviously the solution to this is to memorize them. 508 00:41:34,960 --> 00:41:38,960 But I will just say to anyone who is preparing for... 509 00:41:38,960 --> 00:41:41,960 Not specifically acting. 510 00:41:41,960 --> 00:41:44,960 It could be anything. 511 00:41:44,960 --> 00:41:45,960 You should... 512 00:41:45,960 --> 00:41:53,960 Anything in public speaking or public where you're going to be in front of people, you should probably memorize what you're going to say. 513 00:41:53,960 --> 00:42:03,960 Another thing that I found difficult about playing this role specifically were the romantic scenes because if I'm being honest, 514 00:42:03,960 --> 00:42:22,960 they can be a little intimidating at times, but I think I can hopefully speak for the cast and Mr. G that it has gotten better and we have worked it out. 515 00:42:22,960 --> 00:42:35,960 So, obviously for preparing for performances, you have to prepare. One of the things I had to work on is my singing voice because I'm not quite used to musical theater as much. 516 00:42:35,960 --> 00:42:42,960 My voice was a lot more pop like or like not very open in a way. 517 00:42:42,960 --> 00:42:44,960 So I had to practice. I had to... 518 00:42:44,960 --> 00:42:47,960 And honestly, I had a lot of fun. 519 00:42:47,960 --> 00:42:54,960 How I would come in, I just practiced. I tried to listen to my body and how to make different noises. 520 00:42:54,960 --> 00:42:58,960 It sounds weird, but that's the reality of it. So that was a fun process. 521 00:42:58,960 --> 00:43:12,960 Also with the acting, I think it's very important for me to set my personal life outside off the stage because if you're acting on stage, you're not yourself. 522 00:43:12,960 --> 00:43:14,960 I'm not Ella as Jasmine. I'm Jasmine. 523 00:43:14,960 --> 00:43:18,960 People are going to watch me play Jasmine, not Ella being Ella on stage. 524 00:43:18,960 --> 00:43:24,960 So with the romantic scenes as well, it's not me, it's Jasmine. So that was something to overcome. 525 00:43:24,960 --> 00:43:35,960 For me, the most challenging aspect of this musical is probably not the musical itself or Jafar the character, but the reputation that the big bad guy holds. 526 00:43:35,960 --> 00:43:45,960 Because all the big bad guys that I have watched at ICS in the past plays like Davey in Oliver three or four years ago, he did a phenomenal job. 527 00:43:45,960 --> 00:43:50,960 Darren in Shrek two years ago, I think he also did a great job. 528 00:43:50,960 --> 00:44:13,960 And the most challenging thing for me will probably still to be but to also hit that level of very good, very awesome, very bad villains that actually look like a villain and actually measure up to the standards that Darren and Davey, those notable names, have set for me beforehand. 529 00:44:13,960 --> 00:44:18,960 And I hope to hit it. And I think I will. 530 00:44:18,960 --> 00:44:29,960 The most challenging part for me when I'm playing Jeannie, I think it's just how kind of intense Jeannie is. 531 00:44:29,960 --> 00:44:34,960 It's a very physically intense role. It's very high energy. 532 00:44:34,960 --> 00:44:50,960 So in real life, I'm usually pretty chill, I feel like. So I've had to come into practice being ready to go 100% out there. 533 00:44:50,960 --> 00:45:11,960 And something I used to tell myself, like a challenge I would put for myself would be like, okay, this time I'm going to outdo myself and every single day I would say, okay, I'm going to outdo myself in this aspect, whether it's dancing or the singing part or just like the overall energy. 534 00:45:11,960 --> 00:45:20,960 Yeah, I think I really kind of trained myself to have that muscle memory and keep the energy up as Jeannie. 535 00:45:20,960 --> 00:45:27,960 Yeah, thank you for your answers. I think on top of everything that you guys just said, you guys are also still students. 536 00:45:27,960 --> 00:45:33,960 You guys also have siblings, you have friends, you have to come to school every day and you maybe have tests and homework. 537 00:45:33,960 --> 00:45:39,960 Well, there's obviously rehearsals that the audience doesn't know of, but you guys do because, well, you're the ones in the play. 538 00:45:39,960 --> 00:45:44,960 And I think on top of everything that you just said about the singing and dancing, it is hard. 539 00:45:44,960 --> 00:45:49,960 It's hard to balance and I'm having a hard time and I'm not even in the play. 540 00:45:49,960 --> 00:45:54,960 So I can't imagine how hard it must be for you guys to like, oh, it's after school, but I have rehearsal. 541 00:45:54,960 --> 00:45:58,960 And man, who knows when you guys will actually be able to go home. 542 00:45:58,960 --> 00:46:04,960 So I just hope that maybe after the play and after everything, you guys will be able to get some proper rest. 543 00:46:04,960 --> 00:46:06,960 So yeah, just props to you guys. 544 00:46:06,960 --> 00:46:10,960 All right, for the next question, let's stay a bit on track here. 545 00:46:10,960 --> 00:46:15,960 Noah, how have you connected with the music and choreography in Aladdin? 546 00:46:15,960 --> 00:46:19,960 And could you also describe your favorite number to perform? 547 00:46:19,960 --> 00:46:32,960 So for me, I personally really like the Renaissance era of Disney movies, the 90s to the early thousands, 548 00:46:32,960 --> 00:46:40,960 which was Aladdin, Mulan, Lion King, Hunchback of Notre Dame. 549 00:46:40,960 --> 00:46:44,960 All of those, I really enjoy them. 550 00:46:44,960 --> 00:46:56,960 And I like to just, I especially like the part of those movies where they have very deep life lessons and deep meanings 551 00:46:56,960 --> 00:47:00,960 while also being relatively short and having a simple storyline. 552 00:47:00,960 --> 00:47:08,960 And I feel like nowadays when you see movies and shows, either they're very well thought out and very deep, 553 00:47:08,960 --> 00:47:15,960 but maybe they're very drawn out and long, or they're short, but with not a lot of meaning. 554 00:47:15,960 --> 00:47:18,960 So I think that's something special about these movies. 555 00:47:18,960 --> 00:47:27,960 And now in the musical, the musical edition, so I feel that's how I connect with music. 556 00:47:27,960 --> 00:47:30,960 That was more of the story as well. 557 00:47:30,960 --> 00:47:36,960 My favorite number to perform is A Whole New World. 558 00:47:36,960 --> 00:47:46,960 And I would say that because it's kind of the turning point in the entire show, and it's the pinnacle. 559 00:47:46,960 --> 00:47:49,960 And that is why I love it. 560 00:47:49,960 --> 00:47:59,960 So I guess the next question would be for Ella. How does the setting of Agrabah influence your portrayal of Jasmine and the story as a whole? 561 00:47:59,960 --> 00:48:05,960 Well, the only time Jasmine gets to see her own kingdom essentially is when she goes out, she sneaks out. 562 00:48:05,960 --> 00:48:07,960 Don't tell the Sultan. 563 00:48:07,960 --> 00:48:12,960 She sneaks out and she gets to see Agrabah for what it really is. 564 00:48:12,960 --> 00:48:23,960 In a way, she gains confidence, I think, of finding her own path and exploring on her own instead of me helping her or anything. 565 00:48:23,960 --> 00:48:33,960 Yeah, so it really brings out her confidence and getting to see the real world and learning about the people she loves. 566 00:48:33,960 --> 00:48:41,960 And for me as well, if I don't have confidence in myself, I won't have confidence to play the character as well as I can. 567 00:48:41,960 --> 00:48:52,960 So with that confidence of seeing Agrabah and kind of shifting the storyline and meeting Aladdin, that was quite cool. 568 00:48:52,960 --> 00:48:54,960 Okay, thank you, Ella. Very nicely said. 569 00:48:54,960 --> 00:48:59,960 And now for the last question. This is also a group question and we'll be starting with Julius. 570 00:48:59,960 --> 00:49:07,960 So what has been your favorite thing about this entire process and what advice would you give to the audience about Aladdin? 571 00:49:07,960 --> 00:49:15,960 I think my favorite part about this whole Aladdin process is really soaking it in during my senior year. 572 00:49:15,960 --> 00:49:21,960 And this being my last musical, it's a little sad. 573 00:49:21,960 --> 00:49:31,960 I'm a little bit in denial right now, but it's really fun getting to know my co-actors and really enjoy this time with them. 574 00:49:31,960 --> 00:49:41,960 Because I really don't think that I'm going to be acting past this point, so it's really nice to have this be like my closure play. 575 00:49:41,960 --> 00:49:47,960 But yeah, other than that, it's really fun to just be with the cast and crew. 576 00:49:47,960 --> 00:50:00,960 I think some advice I would give to the audience about this performance is to, I guess, leave behind their perceptions about Aladdin almost. 577 00:50:00,960 --> 00:50:10,960 Because while this is Aladdin, it's Aladdin the musical is kind of a separate entity than the movie. 578 00:50:10,960 --> 00:50:20,960 I really feel like because it adds so much more depth to the story than the movie, I feel. 579 00:50:20,960 --> 00:50:23,960 So that would be my advice. Yeah. 580 00:50:23,960 --> 00:50:28,960 For me, the favorite thing about the entire process is the thing that has been mentioned before. 581 00:50:28,960 --> 00:50:38,960 The community that you gain in being a show and being in a show like this or any show really is just a very nice sense of family that you gain. 582 00:50:38,960 --> 00:50:46,960 And it is a very fun thing as well, even though it is stressful sometimes with all the rehearsals and all the lines you've got to memorize and everything you've got to do. 583 00:50:46,960 --> 00:50:57,960 It is all worth it in the end because all the people you get to know in the show, whether they're backstage tech or acting with you, it is a very worthwhile investment to have. 584 00:50:57,960 --> 00:51:04,960 The advice I would give to the audience is, like Julia said, it is different than the movie. 585 00:51:04,960 --> 00:51:11,960 I can tell you that. Not in a bad way, I don't think, but it is different than the movie. 586 00:51:11,960 --> 00:51:21,960 And you need to keep that in mind because there are not as many cool effects that you can do with animation in a real life play. 587 00:51:21,960 --> 00:51:29,960 So one of the favorite parts of the process is when everything comes together, but specifically the costumes and the audience. 588 00:51:29,960 --> 00:51:35,960 Because we've put all this work and all this critique has been laid on us so that we can do better and the best we can. 589 00:51:35,960 --> 00:51:39,960 But when we get our costumes on, when we get our makeup on, we can really get into character. 590 00:51:39,960 --> 00:51:47,960 And when the audience is there, it's so magical because they can react to all our hard work and it's really magical. 591 00:51:47,960 --> 00:51:54,960 So advice I would give to the audience is Aladdin is a classic, like Josiah said and Julia said. 592 00:51:54,960 --> 00:51:59,960 Just really enjoy it. Really look for the little details we put into it. 593 00:51:59,960 --> 00:52:02,960 And honestly, we worked really hard on this. 594 00:52:02,960 --> 00:52:11,960 So I hope you guys can really just sit back and relax and really just enjoy and laugh with us as we have some fun on stage. 595 00:52:11,960 --> 00:52:17,960 My favorite part of the musical process is when the tech and theater come together. 596 00:52:17,960 --> 00:52:20,960 And I can see this in even my friends. 597 00:52:20,960 --> 00:52:29,960 Like I have gotten to know a lot of very nice theater arts people and then I see my technical theater friends. 598 00:52:29,960 --> 00:52:37,960 And it kind of creates a interesting mix of people that I don't think you find many places. 599 00:52:37,960 --> 00:52:44,960 Very practical and like just work and then the creativeness. 600 00:52:44,960 --> 00:52:51,960 And that is something truly special I feel about this part of the process. 601 00:52:51,960 --> 00:53:04,960 Some advice I would give about the performance is that to fully understand Aladdin, you must, you can't take it at face value. 602 00:53:04,960 --> 00:53:14,960 It is in many ways an allegory for kind of bigger universal themes. 603 00:53:14,960 --> 00:53:20,960 So if you truly want to get the full experience, you have to look beneath the surface. 604 00:53:20,960 --> 00:53:26,960 And there you have it, a behind the scenes look into the upcoming musical Aladdin with some of our student actors. 605 00:53:26,960 --> 00:53:32,960 We're excited to see this performance and thank you so much for carving out time to join us today. 606 00:53:32,960 --> 00:53:42,960 Good job guys. 607 00:53:42,960 --> 00:53:52,960 As we end this episode, we want to thank again some of the Aladdin crew and Mr. Gersom for eking out some time from their busy rehearsal days to come join us in the studio. 608 00:53:52,960 --> 00:53:55,960 I'm quite excited to see this performance. 609 00:53:55,960 --> 00:54:00,960 So we at Students Incorporated wish you the best of luck and dare I say break a leg. 610 00:54:00,960 --> 00:54:09,960 Stay tuned for our next episode as we interview two seasoned educators and journalists about higher education and the field of journalism. 611 00:54:09,960 --> 00:54:16,960 And as always, this podcast would not be possible without the hard work and support of our international student production team. 612 00:54:16,960 --> 00:54:23,960 All music and sound effects are courtesy of Pixabay.com, a vibrant community of creatives sharing copyright free images, videos and music. 613 00:54:23,960 --> 00:54:26,960 And we are signing off until next time. 614 00:54:26,960 --> 00:54:30,960 We are Students Incorporated because your voice matters.