A thundering yes

A few days ago, I had the alltoo-rare pleasure of going to a theater performance. The occasion was Disney’s Aladdin by the Encore Educational Theater Company at the Beit Shmuel auditorium in Jerusalem.

My brother and I attended the 5 p.m. performance and found the auditorium filled to the brim with spectators, including many children with their parents. All were anxious to see Aladdin rub his magic lamp, but what I saw made me rub my eyes in disbelief as the show got underway.

Whereas I had expected to see a rather amateurish production, everything from the accompanying orchestra to the cast, costumes and sets was of the highest theatrical standard and extremely professional. This was true for the main performers: Ziv Shalit as Aladdin, Lauren Flaherty as Princess Jasmine, Art Gilboa as the genie, Mordechai Buzner as Jafar, Michael Ben Eliezer as the sultan, and a very fine supporting cast of dancers.

The song solos, without exception, elicited big rounds of applause. In fact, it was hard to find any weak point in the production, which kept the audience enthralled from start to finish, testifying to the hard work of the artistic and musical directors of the company, Robert Binder and Paul Salter, and their large production team.

I was amazed to learn that the Encore shows are not given press reviews, so I am happy to give this superb production a thundering yes of approval and am eagerly looking forward to the next production.

DAVID HERMAN Jerusalem