Eye: Half Moon Bay native Adam Jacobs stars in hit musical ‘Aladdin.’
Half Moon Bay native Adam Jacobs stars in hit musical
When “Aladdin” flies into San Francisco’s SHN Orpheum Theatre this week, riding that iconic magic carpet is a Half Moon Bay native who’s played the Middle Eastern folk hero from the very start of the stage musical based on the 1992 Disney film.
Starring in the tour is Adam Jacobs, who originated the role of Aladdin in the show’s first out-of-town tryout in Seattle in 2011. He continued to play Aladdin on Broadway from its opening in 2014 until February of this year, when he left to join the touring company.
Having played the role for so long now, Jacobs says he’s enjoying keeping the show fresh on the road working with a new cast.
“Aladdin, he’s the kind of character that every actor dreams he could play, in the sense that he’s the hero, he gets the girl,” Jacobs says. “Also, in our version of the show, he’s not just a cartoon character, like he was in the film. We try to give him a little more dimension. We have 2 ½ hours to create a little more depth, whereas in the movie they only had 90 minutes. I think of my mother, who’s passed away, and I get to sing a beautiful song called ‘Proud of Your Boy.’ That number was originally slated for the film but was cut and we restored it for the musical, and that song is the whole motivation for my character. It’s pretty great that we have the time to tell the story in a more full and exciting way.”
Growing up in Half Moon Bay, Jacobs started off studying piano at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music from an early age.
“My sister was part of a song and dance troupe called Razzle Dazzle, and she asked me if I wanted to join,” he recalls. “I was playing soccer at the time, and I was like, ‘I don’t know.’ But I was also at that age where I thought the girls were kind of cute, so I said OK and joined that group.”
And he was on his way. “I did some community theater, and then in high school is when I really got the bug and was cast in all the musicals and all the plays, and I had a great teacher who encouraged me to pursue the arts.”
Jacobs started off working locally in shows such as “Pippin” at Peninsula Center Stage and TheatreWorks’ “Honor Song for Crazy Horse.” At 17 he was cast as Young Harvey in San Francisco Opera’s “Harvey Milk.”
“That was at the Orpheum Theatre,” he says, “so I’m excited to be returning
to that same theater with ‘Aladdin.’ It’s kind of full circle for me.”
While he’s in San Francisco, he’ll also perform a two-person cabaret show at the Venetian Room on Nov. 20 called “Sibling Disobedience” with his younger sister Arielle Jacobs, who was
in “Wicked” and “In the Heights” on Broadway and also played Jasmine in the Australian cast of “Aladdin.”
Before “Aladdin,” Adam Jacobs had performed on Broadway as Marius in “Les Miserables,” Sky in “Mamma Mia!” and Simba
in “The Lion King,” in all three cases reprising roles that he’d previously played on tour. Actually originating a character in this show was a special experience, he says.
“I kind of got spoiled, because I feel like that’s all I want to do now,” he says.
“I kind of want to continue to create and work on new works, because you can craft a role to your strengths and make it your own.”