Twisted (musical)
| Twisted: The Untold Story of a Royal Vizier | |
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Twisted: The Untold Story of a Royal Vizier poster
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| Music | A.J. Holmes |
| Lyrics | Kaley McMahon |
| Book | Matt Lang Nick Lang Eric Kahn Gale |
| Productions | 2013 Chicago |
Twisted: The Untold Story of a Royal Vizier is a musical with music by A.J. Holmes, lyrics by Kaley McMahon, and book by Matt Lang, Nick Lang, and Eric Kahn Gale.
The musical parodies the 1992 Disney film Aladdin, and The Walt Disney Company in general, telling the story from the point of view of Ja'far, the Royal Vizier. It has several nods & homages to the musical Wicked, which similarly retells a popular story from the villain's point of view.
Twisted opened in Chicago's Greenhouse Theatre on July 4 and closed on July 28 as part of a limited run. The group put the entire musical up on YouTube on November 27, 2013. It was produced by StarKid Productions and directed by Brian Holden. The musical's cast recording debuted at No. 63 on the American iTunes Top 100 albums chart.
The play opens with Scheherazade introducing the Magic Kingdom, which once prospered because of "the 2-Ds": duty and devotion. Ja'far, the Royal Vizier, walks through the kingdom while conversing with the villagers ("Dream a Little Harder"). He is constantly harassed by the villagers, who blame him for all of their problems despite his attempts to solve the kingdom's socioeconomic inequality. The Captain of the Guard arrives and informs Ja'far of a thief terrorizing the populace. Several of his own guards were killed in pursuit of him when he stole a loaf of bread. However, Ja'far has to focus on keeping the peace with Pik-zahr; their prince, Achmed, is visiting and Ja'far hopes to extend the trade contract between their two kingdoms. The Captain reveals that the same thief who stole the loaf of bread, Aladdin, humiliated the Prince earlier that day in town. Worried, Ja'far rushes back to the palace in order to check on the Prince's breakfast with the Princess. Aladdin then appears, gloating that he lives by taking whatever he wants, regardless of the consequences or other people's needs ("I Steal Everything").
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Wikipedia