Twisted (musical)
Twisted | ||
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The Untold Story of a Royal Vizier | ||
Book Matt Lang | Nick Lang Eric Kahn Gale | |
Basis | Aladdin by Ron Clements, John Musker, Ted Elliott, and Terry Rossio Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman | |
Premiere | July 4, 2013Greenhouse Theater Center, Chicago : | |
Productions | 2013 Chicago |
Twisted: The Untold Story of a Royal Vizier is a
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Twisted opened in Chicago's Greenhouse Theatre on July 4, 2013, and closed on July 28, 2013, as part of a limited run. The original production was directed by Brian Holden.[2] The group put the entire musical up on YouTube on November 27, 2013. The musical's cast recording debuted at No. 63 on the American iTunes Top 100 albums chart.[3][4]
Plot
Prologue
Sherrezade introduces the audience to a Magic Kingdom (an analogue of The Walt Disney Company) that prospered for many years thanks to its commitment to "the two Ds: duty and devotion". Following a period of prosperity, the Kingdom fell into the hands of a corrupt sultan and entered a dark age. The only man who can rescue the Kingdom is the misunderstood royal vizier Ja'far.
Act I
Ja'far walks the streets of the Kingdom while the citizens jeer him. While Ja'far tries his best to be a sensible and scientific planner, the citizens prefer to wish for their unrealistic dreams to come true and blame Ja'far for all their problems ("Dream a Little Harder"). Ja'far is informed by the captain of the guards that while attempting to pursue a thief who stole a loaf of bread, several men were injured or killed, and furthermore that the thief insulted visiting dignitary Prince Achmed. The selfish, shiftless and callous thief, Aladdin, explains his philosophy that everything in the world is his to steal ("I Steal Everything").
Ja'far returns to the palace but is greeted by Achmed; the ruler of the Kingdom of Pik-Zahr, angered by the Princess setting her pet tiger upon him. Insulted, Prince Achmed declares war on the Magic Kingdom. Ja'far berates the Princess for her carelessness while she naïvely longs for a life of freedom ("Everything and More").
Distraught to learn of his 2Ds department's sacking, Ja'far wrecks his room. He finds a
Meanwhile, the Princess meets Aladdin and is entranced by his free lifestyle and lack of respect for royalty, oblivious to his sexual advances. Aladdin explains how he never had a chance to become a valuable member of society since he was "Orphaned At Thirty-Three". Before they can kiss, they are caught by the royal guards, who throw Aladdin in prison and take the Princess home. Ja'far releases Aladdin on the condition he retrieves the Djinn's lamp from the Tiger Head Cave, claiming it to be an ordinary lamp. He also promises that Aladdin can keep all the other treasures he finds. The Princess, Aladdin, and Ja'far reflect on what they want most ("Happy Ending") before Aladdin exits the Tiger Head Cave and flees with the lamp, having discovered the Djinn, while Ja'far watches.
Act II
Prince Achmed returns to the kingdom of Pik-Zahr and despairs that he will only be remembered as a
Ja'far has a heart-to-heart with the Princess about her future as a leader. Ja'far tries to warn her about Aladdin's true intentions but is called away when The Captain tells them that an unknown wealthy prince is leading a parade through the market, causing untold mayhem and injury. The prince visits the Princess, who immediately recognizes him as Aladdin. He nevertheless manages to convince her that the prince is his true persona. He takes the Princess on a magic carpet ride and unsuccessfully tries to convince her to have sex ("Take Off Your Clothes"). The Princess realizes that Aladdin's claimed great armies could help against Achmed's invasion. She proposes marriage, which Aladdin lustfully accepts.
The Sultan introduces his future son-in-law, Aladdin, to Ja'far, who impatiently explains that Aladdin is not an actual prince. Aladdin manages to convince the Sultan that Ja'far is a sorcerer who is using hypnosis, prompting the Sultan to sentence Ja'far to death. Ja'far grabs the lamp and escapes. Alone with the lamp, Ja'far is visited by various
Prince Achmed invades, and Aladdin and his army are nowhere to be found. Achmed calls for the head of the Sultan, and Ja'far, having used his first wish to become the Sultan, enters. He releases the Djinn, who speaks entirely in movie quotes, incomprehensible to Ja'far, and uses his second wish to make himself a powerful sorcerer. The Princess finally realizes that Aladdin is a fraud. Aladdin takes the Princess hostage, and as Ja'far pleads with him to release her, he realizes that the Princess is his own daughter. Aladdin reveals a darker, more sinister split-personality who murdered his parents when they attempted to force him out of their house to find a job. Aladdin agrees to hand over the lamp in exchange for the Princess, but before Ja'far hands it over, he uses his final wish to free the Djinn and take its place in the lamp.
Now a Djinn himself, Ja'far gives the lamp to the Princess, believing her youth and passion make her the only one who can use the lamp's power to its fullest potential. The Princess wishes to bring a peaceful end to the war with Pik-Zahr, and for the Kingdom to have a Sultan that will make it prosper again. Finally, she wishes Ja'far happiness, and they part ways ("The Power In Me"). News arrives that the Sultan has died, naming the Princess the majority stockholder and sole ruler of the Kingdom. Achmed's troops arrive in the throne room, and the Princess buys the entirety of Pik-Zahr with Ali Baba's treasure, discovered during the battle.
In the lamp, Ja'far resigns himself to his fate when he is greeted by Sherrezade, brought back to life by the Princess's last wish. She explains that the lamp exists outside of time and space, which is how the Djinn had knowledge of movies from the future. Ja'far sees that Aladdin will become a Peddler who spends his days telling a warped version of the story. The couple then live happily ever after ("Finale / A Thousand And One Nights Reprise").
Cast and characters
Character | Original Chicago Cast 2013 |
Feinstein's/54 Below Concert 2014 |
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Ja'far | Dylan Saunders | A.J. Holmes |
Princess
|
Rachael Soglin | Andrea Ross |
Aladdin | Jeff Blim | |
Prince Achmed / Vizier | Joe Walker | Rebecca Spigelman Holly Grossman George Salazar Tyler Brunsman |
Sultan / Djinn | Nick Gage | |
Captain | Jim Povolo | |
Sherrezade | Meredith Stepien | |
Monkey / Ensemble | Lauren Lopez | |
Bird / Ensemble | Denise Donovan | |
Sea Witch / Ensemble | Jaime Lyn Beatty | |
Ensemble | Robert Manion
Alex Paul |
Musical numbers
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The official video of the original production ends with a faux-pop remix of "A Thousand and One Nights" performed by StarKid contributors Carlos Valdes and Britney Coleman.
Development
Twisted was funded entirely via a Kickstarter campaign launched by creators Matt Lang, Nick Lang, and Eric Kahn Gale. The campaign opened with a fundraising goal of $35,000 and ended up raising $142,564.[5]
Productions
The musical was performed July 4–28, 2013, at the Greenhouse Theatre in Chicago, Illinois. The group put the entire musical up on YouTube on November 27, 2013. The recording has since received over 7.8 million views as of October 2023.
On March 17, 2014, the show was performed abridged in two sold-out concerts at 54 Below, with composer A. J. Holmes playing Ja'far and Andrea Ross playing the Princess. The production included an introduction by StarKid co-founder Darren Criss.[6][7][8]
Recordings
A cast recording of the production was released on November 28, 2013, on digital platforms. The recording included all songs (except "A Song is a Dick in Sheep's Clothing") as well as two instrumental cues, "Sultan's Fanfare" and "The Scarab".[9]
A karaoke album was released on November 28, 2013, exclusively on iTunes.[10]
An EP of bonus studio recordings and demos entitled Twisted: Twisted was released on December 4, 2013.
Reviews
Twisted received positive reviews.[citation needed]
On Hypable, Danielle Zimmerman called it "smart, lively, and just outright hilarious".[13]
On IMDb, Twisted has a rating of 8.7/10 with more than 900 voters.[14]
See also
References
- ^ Gioia, Michael. "New Team StarKid Musical Twisted: The Untold Story of a Royal Vizier Opens July 4 in Chicago". Playbill. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
- ^ "Starkid's "TWISTED" Tickets On Sale This Thursday!". PopWrapped!. May 2013.
- ^ "iTunesCharts.net: 'Twisted (Original Chicago Cast Recording)' by Twisted Chicago Cast (American Albums iTunes Chart)". www.itunescharts.net. Archived from the original on 2014-03-20.
- ^ "TWISTED – The Musical - Saved by passion and potent talent". www.theatreview.org.nz.
- ^ "Twisted -- A New Starkid Musical". Kickstarter.
- ^ "Twisted in Concert - Feinstein's/54 Below". Feinstein's/54 Below.
- ^ "A.J. Holmes, George Salazar, Andrea Ross and Team StarKid Get Twisted in Concert March 17 at 54 Below - Playbill.com". www.playbill.com. Archived from the original on 2014-03-17.
- ^ "Team StarKid performs 'Twisted' in concert: Recap, review". 18 March 2014.
- ^ "Twisted (Original Chicago Cast Recording) by Twisted Chicago Cast on iTunes". iTunes. 28 November 2013.
- ^ "Twisted (Karaoke Recording) by Twisted Chicago Orchestra on iTunes". iTunes. 28 November 2013.
- ^ https://www.amazon.com/Twisted-Various-artists/dp/B00H4US6R8/ref=sr_1_2?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1551137571&sr=1-2-mp3-albums-bar-strip-0&keywords=Twisted%3A+Twisted+starkid [dead link]
- ^ "StarKid twists 'Twisted' tracks for pop cover album". 19 December 2013.
- ^ "Starkid's 'Twisted' spoiler-free review • Hypable". 29 July 2013.
- ^ "Twisted: The Untold Story of a Royal Vizier". IMDb. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
External links
- StarKid Productions official website
- StarKid Productions on YouTube