On Cue to perform Aladdin musical this weekend in Perryville

For a winter musical, On Cue Performing Arts Studio owner LaKrisha Moore said she chose the story of Aladdin for its multi-generational appeal.

"It's an adaptation of it. It's a little bit different, but based on the play that Disney does. It's basically the characters that people know of," she said. "For a lot of the people who are involved, the actors and the crew, Aladdin is part of our childhood. We fell in love with it."

"Three Wishes: A Tale of Aladdin" will run this Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Perry Park Center, 800 City Park Lane in Perryville, Missouri.

But, she said, the audience's familiarity with the story also can be somewhat of a hurdle. To keep things interesting, she turned to her husband, Brad Moore, casting him in the role of the Genie.

"Well, we didn't want to do it like the movie because everyone knows the lines and knows the jokes already," Brad Moore said.

So he wrote a new script based on the original but different enough to keep the audience on their toes.

"I didn't rewrite the story," he said. "We kept that the same, but we wanted it to serve as a sort of bridge between the fantasy world and the real world."

It's a sort of update to the story, with modern pop-culture references, Brad Moore said.

"We added some new suitors for the princess, things like that," he said. "And some new comedic things, everything from Donald Trump to Harry Potter."

And to take things even further, Brad Moore's own performance is based almost entirely on improvisation. They've been rehearsing since summer, but the improv, LaKrisha Moore said, has been her husband's special focus.

"He's been working on it for months," she said. "He just goes on these crazy tangent things, but it works because the Genie's character is kind of sporadic anyway. And every show is different with the Genie. He touches on pop culture, things that kids would get and that adults would get."

One of the goals the studio has had from the outset, Moore said, is to include the audience.

"We break the fourth wall," she said.

Joshua Humphreys, who plays the title character, said the show is "very Disney" in that way.

"It's very childlike and fun," he said. "It reminds me of something that might be put on at a Disneyland resort."

Although he's done plays before, Humphreys said this is his first musical.

"I kind of like to tell my friends that it's a whole new world for me," he said.

But it's more than the music that sets the show apart, he added. The 52-person cast also is much larger than the ensemble of a typical stage drama.

"I've never been in a situation where I can act with so many people," Humphreys said. "And acting, in general, will help you get to know a person. It's demanding, singing and acting, but it's more than singing and dancing and lines. You learn so much about people and get out of your comfort zone, and that's one of the beautiful things about theatre."

Tickets for "Three Wishes: A Tale of Aladdin" are available online at oncueperformingartsstudio.com for $12 in advance or $15 at the door. The show will be at 7 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573)388-3627

Pertinent address:

800 City Park Lane, Perryville, Mo.