Gavin Adams made his professional stage debut starring as Aladdin in the recent UK & Ireland Tour of Disney’s Aladdin, working alongside Yeukayi Ushe as Genie and Desmonda Cathabel as Jasmine, with the tour ending earlier this year. For Gavin’s training, he attended the Musical Theatre course at the Royal Academy of Music, and during his time there, he performed in shows such as Sweeney Todd. Answering our questions, Gavin chatted to us about making his professional stage debut in the recent tour of Disney’s Aladdin, starring as Aladdin in the musical and training at Royal Academy of Music.
You have recently completed your run in the UK & Ireland Tour of Disney’s Aladdin, how did you find the experience making your professional stage debut and touring for the first time?
It was genuinely one of the best experiences of my life. Making a professional stage debut is always going to be incredible, but for it to be in front of more than 3000 people, alongside a beautiful company, and in such an iconic venue as the Edinburgh Playhouse made it so special. Touring is hard: you’re moving around all the time, adjusting to new places, working long hours some days, but I got to see so many places around the UK and I’m really grateful that I got to see them in that capacity.
How did you feel finding out you’d booked the starring role of Aladdin, and how did you prepare for taking on the character?
Funnily enough, my first reaction was surprise. I hadn’t originally auditioned for the role of Aladdin, but for the role of Kassim, one of Aladdin’s closest friends, and cover Aladdin, so finding out that I’d booked the role of Aladdin was quite shocking!
I prepared for the role by listening to the soundtrack religiously before I received either the script or the score, so much so that my Spotify Wrapped 2023 had Adam Jacobs (the original Broadway Aladdin) as my top artist, and Proud Of Your Boy as my top listened-to song. Once I got the script and score, I made all my annotations, highlights, histories – all the things they teach you in drama school to do. I also watched the original cartoon a fair few times (as if I hadn’t seen it a million times before) as well as the live-action to help inform how I played Aladdin. Other than that, I had a PT that got me into shape for this rather physically demanding role.
What was Aladdin like to play and how was it leading a well-known Disney musical?
Aladdin was so fun to play. I quite like jumping and running around normally, so to get to do that and sing some classic Disney songs in front of thousands of people at the same time was a perfect pairing for me! I have to give a lot of credit to the whole company for the amount of support and encouragement that I received along the way – it truly was a blessing to be in such a warm company. I think one of the best parts about being one of the leads of the show was that three of our principals were of South East Asian/East Asian descent: Desmonda Cathabel from Indonesia; Angelo Paragoso from the Philippines; and myself from Hong Kong, and there were even more of us in the ensemble! It’s quite rare for a major musical to have so many Asian principals, and to be a part of that and represent my hometown was something really special.
Had you seen Aladdin live on stage before auditioning and how was it seeing the audience response to the recent UK & Ireland Tour?
I hadn’t seen it before auditioning, and I’m kind of glad I didn’t because I didn’t really have anything to go off of other than my own interpretation of the words and notes on the page. The audience response was fantastic. One of the best things about Disney’s Aladdin is that it features classic Disney songs that virtually everyone, be it the most recent generation to three or even four generations back, will recognise so there’s a heavy sense of familiarity with the show, even if it was their first time seeing it.
What was the musical like to be part of and how was it performing the musical numbers?
I absolutely loved it – Aladdin was one of my favourite Disney films growing up and (Desmonda and I would always say this during interviews) I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know A Whole New World, so to get to perform those songs was a real dream come true. It was tough, don’t get me wrong: singing One Jump Ahead whilst sprinting around, jumping on and off carts and climbing up ladders was certainly not the easiest thing to do, but it was so worth it. Also, the costumes were some of the most amazing costumes I’ve ever seen in my life. I think anyone that has seen the show can attest to this: it is one of the most colourful and dazzling shows you will ever see, and a lot of that was down to our wonderful set and costume designers.
What did you enjoy most about performing alongside the rest of the cast, which included Desmonda Cathabel as Jasmine and Yeukayi Ushe as Genie?
What I enjoyed the most was the sheer talent that I was surrounded by on the stage, and how that allowed me to grow as a person and performer. Desmonda and I knew each other from the Royal Academy of Music – she had attended the year before me, but I very quickly learned her name because a talent like hers does not go unnoticed. Playing opposite her was just a dream. When we started rehearsals we knew instinctively how the other was going to sing and we just blended really naturally.
I am so lucky to have played opposite Yeukayi Ushe. He taught me so much about what it’s like to be a leading man, to lead a Disney show and just performing in general. Anyone that saw the show would know that he is a force to be reckoned with and his Friend Like Me will always stay imprinted in my mind because I got to watch it first-hand up close every night!
Do you have any favourite highlights from your time on tour with Aladdin that you can share?
There were so many marvellous moments we had on tour. I think the first highlight was our first official show. There was this palpable sense of joy, excitement and anticipation that filled the Edinburgh Playhouse, and from the moment the Overture started, it was just electric.
Another highlight is more of a collective one. It goes without saying that live theatre doesn’t come without some on-stage mishaps. I won’t go into detail so as not to embarrass anyone, but boy did we have some hilarious moments on that stage, from wardrobe malfunctions to missed cues to falls that were almost straight out of a slapstick movie. Something I always say to people who ask me how the tour was is: “I don’t think there was a single day on the tour, whether I was having a bad day, or I was ill or injured, that I didn’t laugh”. So I’m pretty lucky, if you ask me.
The biggest highlight was probably the final show, specifically the final time I sang Proud Of Your Boy. I ran downstage to finish the final section of the song and all of my loved ones were in the audience. I could hear my mum start crying and I could see the rest of the cast in both the downstage left and right wings. Flashbacks of everything that we’d experienced together started coursing through my mind, good and bad: all the pre-show rituals; all the blood, sweat and tears; all the laughter and joy… and I was just grateful. I barely got through the end of the song!
Is there anything you feel you’ve learnt from having Aladdin as your first professional character?
I think the main takeaway I got from playing the role was to be kinder to myself. Disney’s Aladdin is a very physical show, for the whole cast, not just me, so I had to learn how to pace myself. Doing eight, sometimes nine, shows per week is a lot, and I learned (and still am learning) to listen to my body more than telling my body what to do or forcing it too far past its limits.
How was it training at Royal Academy of Music and what encouraged you to apply?
I met some amazing people and lifelong friends from training at the Royal Academy of Music, and if it hadn’t been for them, I most likely wouldn’t have played Aladdin. It was a tough course but I learned so much, and I’m grateful to have been given a place there. I was actually encouraged by a friend of mine, Joel Montague, who is currently playing King George III in Hamilton in the West End, to apply because I played Galileo in his production of We Will Rock You in Crewe. I hadn’t had any training at this point and I asked him how to go about getting into the industry, which is when he introduced me to GSA, RAM and Mountview. A few days later I applied and within a few weeks I was accepted!
Can you tell us about some of the productions you were part of over your year on the Musical Theatre course?
Our winter show was a showcase of Kander and Ebb songs and our final show was Jane Eyre. If I had to pick a stand-out show that we did, however, it would have to be Sweeney Todd. I’m quite a big music nerd and I absolutely love the score in that show. We didn’t do it in its entirety, and it was sort of a devised recounting of the show through various snippets from the show’s score, but it was an incredible experience nonetheless.
How did you get into acting and was it something you always wanted to do professionally?
Acting certainly was not something I’d ever considered as a profession. I’ve played violin from a young age so I’ve always been into music, but musical theatre wasn’t really a thing when I was growing up in China and I was never exposed to the musical theatre culture. It wasn’t until December 2019 when I watched Disney’s The Lion King in Hong Kong for the first time that I realised that that was what I wanted to do with my life. A couple of months after that I met Joel Montague and it all just sort of happened from there.
What are some of your favourite theatre shows to watch, and which would you like to see that you haven’t done so as yet?
My favourite show, especially because it was the first show I saw and it had such a profound impact on me, is definitely Disney’s The Lion King. I loved the film growing up, and seeing it live on stage was unforgettable. I specifically remember at the end of Circle Of Life grasping the ends of the armrests, trying my best to breathe, but failing significantly.
I would love to see The Book of Mormon. I’ve loved the music ever since it came out, but I’ve just never got round to seeing it. Coincidentally, it’s another one of Casey Nicholaw’s – the genius behind Disney’s Aladdin, Disney’s Hercules, Mean Girls, The Prom, etc – shows, so I obviously have a type!
How do you like to spend your free time?
I love using my gymnastics rings to exercise, listening to a good podcast, playing the guitar, playing video games with my friends, but quite possibly my favourite pastime, especially during a show week, is lazing in front of the TV. Nothing really beats being cozied up watching something when you spend most of your time running around on a stage.
Do you have any upcoming acting projects that you can talk about, and what are you hoping this year brings for your career?
Not that I can talk about but I’m excited for what this year will bring, and I am looking forward to growing more, learning more and being more. Being a part of Disney’s Aladdin has only made me hungry for more, and I intend to develop myself as an artist, vocalist and performer, and meet some more remarkable people along the way.
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