Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
‘A Whole New World’
True love travels the nation with ‘Aladdin’ tour
Jasmine and Aladdin won’t be the only romantics basking in their togetherness when “Disney’s Aladdin” comes to the Walton Arts Center March 26-31.
Married couple and Instafluencers Colt Prattes and Angelina Mullins are part of the cast for the touring show. Prattes plays Kassim, and Mullins is a member of the ensemble. While their love story isn’t center stage, their romance is no less swoonworthy.
Prattes says the story of how they met “is one of my favorite stories to tell actually, because it’s all about bringing together two of our favorite things — Broadway and true love stories.”
The couple met while working on a 2009 revival of “West Side Story,” directed by book writer Arthur Laurents.
“We were both lucky enough to be making our Broadway debuts,” Prattes says, but his future wife made his eyes sweat.
Mullins is a professional dancer who trained at the Boston Ballet. She had already toured with a Broadway show when she was a teenager.
“I was a nervous wreck! [I] thought she was so beautiful and talented, and I just didn’t want to mess up,” Prattes remembers. “The first thing she said to me was ‘What are you doing?!? If you’re going to dance with me, then you’re going to have to really DANCE!’ I was smitten.”
Prattes has danced alongside pop stars such as P!nk, Usher and Nick Jonas, just to name a few, so he quickly found his groove.
They danced as Riff and Graziella for years with “West Side Story” and were married in 2013. Since then, Mullins says that she and her husband have gone on to work together several more times.
“We’ve actually been really lucky to get to work together as much as we have,” she says. In fact, she says that it was through her work on “Spamalot” — both on Broadway and on tour — that she found out about the auditions for “Disney’s Aladdin.”
“Colt was filming a TV show on the Sundance Channel at the time so he wasn’t able to audition,” she explains. But two years later, he joined the cast as Kassim. When the tour resumed after the pandemic lockdown ended, both were called back to be part of the show.
Now they enjoy following the tour in their truck along with their dog Mya.
“We get to see amazing parts of America that you only see when you drive. We have thousands of stories and moments that we’ve lived together, and it’s all thanks to the team at ‘Aladdin,’” says Mullins.
While they visit different cities, she says that they also work with students through their private training company The Broadway Studio.
“We work with students who have never gotten to have a Broadway masterclass with a Broadway performer and get to share all the tips and tricks that we’ve learned along the way,” she explains. “It’s been a huge blessing and a big part of our touring life. Definitely one of the biggest benefits!”
Prattes admits that he still gets nervous whenever his wife watches him on stage, but his favorite part is getting to watch her. And the storytelling, of course.
“This is a magical story, and seeing people of all ages light up every night during and after the show … that’s the whole reason I got into this in the first place.” He says that the first time he went to a live show, he looked at the audience to see what they felt, and everyone had big smiles.
“I just wanted to be a part of anything that would let me help people smile like that. And that’s what I get to do every night. With my best friend. Who happens to be my beautiful wife.”
“It’s the storytelling,” Mullins says that is her favorite part, then she adds a few more.
“It’s seeing the way the audience goes wild at the end of ‘Friend Like Me’ because it’s a song they know but it’s reintroduced to them in a whole new way. Hearing the gasp when the carpet takes flight in ‘A Whole New World’ and seeing all the kids dressed as characters from the show. It’s all magic. That’s what makes this show special. It’s timeless, and telling that story never gets old.”