Sydney has secured the highly coveted Australian premiere of Disney’s blockbuster musical,Aladdin, with the production to open at the Capitol Theatre in August 2016.

Minister for Trade, Tourism and Major Events Stuart Ayres said the announcement is a sensational coup for NSW, showing once again that Sydney is Australia’s home of live performance and first run musicals.

“Disney’s Aladdin is a story with universal appeal, and visitation to Sydney for the production is sure to reflect this. Aladdin is expected to generate around $39 million in visitor spend and bring more than 120,000 visitors to Sydney,” Mr Ayres said.

The popularity of Disney’s musical productions was evident last year when the Sydney return season of The Lion King, also secured by the NSW Government through its tourism and major events agency Destination NSW, broke Australian box office records, attracting more than 600,000 attendees.

“The NSW Government is committed to securing a world-class calendar of musicals for the State, providing yet another compelling reason for visitors to come to Sydney and NSW and experience everything we have to offer,” Mr Ayres added.

“Disney’s Aladdin is sure to be another great success for our State, having enjoyed critical acclaim on Broadway since it opened in March 2014. It has been nominated for five Tony Awards and seven Drama Desk Awards, and with more than one million attendees, the production is in Broadway’s Top 10 Highest Grossing Shows.”

Thomas Schumacher, President and Producer, Disney Theatrical Productions, said, “We are very excited to be partnering once again with the NSW Government and Destination NSW on Aladdin, our third production to premiere in Sydney. Director Casey Nicholaw and his team have created an entertainment as full of heart as it is full of joy and I cannot wait until we get to play it in Sydney, one of the world’s great theatre cities.”

Based on the Academy Award®-winning animated film, Aladdin is a musical that sweeps audiences into an exotic world full of adventure, comedy and romance, featuring songs from the film including hit A Whole New World.

  ALADDIN