Broadway NewsAladdin’s Genie Takes Final Carpet Ride Feb. 19 En Route to HamiltonJames Monroe Iglehart will assume the roles of Jefferson and Lafayette on Broadway.
James Monroe Iglehart, who won a Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for originating the role of the Genie in Disney's Aladdin, is riding his magic carpet four blocks north to the Richard Rodgers Theatre where he will take over the roles of Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson in the Broadway musical Hamilton.
Iglehart, who has logged more than 1,000 performances as the Genie, gives his final performance in Aladdin February 19 and will step into Hamilton in April on a date still to be announced. He made his Broadway debut as a replacement during the run of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, then originated the role of Bobby in Memphis on Broadway. He is also known for playing Coriolanus Burt on the TV series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
Major Attaway, who made his Broadway debut as the Genie standby in January 2016, will call that role his own starting February 21.
Major Attaway
Joseph Marzullo/WENN
“Making my Broadway debut in Aladdin was an affirmation beyond imagining,” Attaway said in a statement. “To now be given the opportunity to tell this beloved story with this phenomenal Broadway cast every night is definitely a wish granted. I get to play a catalyst for joy and hope, and I’m really looking forward to moving into the lamp on a full-time basis; I’ve got some BIG TEX-an ideas for redecorating!”
Attaway’s regional credits include Ragtime (Coalhouse Walker, Jr.), Big River (Jim), Hot Mikado (Mikado), Hands on a Hardbody (Ronald McCowan), Little Shop of Horrors (Audrey II), Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Ken), Rent (Tom Collins), Stagger Lee (T-Bone), and Frosty the Snowman (Frosty). He has performed as a soloist with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and lent his voice talents to commercials.
Disney announced that other principal cast members, including five of the show’s original stars, will continue with the production another year. Five of Aladdin’s original stars, Tony Award nominee Jonathan Freeman (Jafar), Courtney Reed (Jasmine), Brian Gonzales (Babkak), Clifton Davis (Sultan), and Don Darryl Rivera (Iago), have extended their contracts with the production through February 18, 2018).
