“Twisted: The Untold Story of a Royal Vizier”, a chaotic but emotional musical, is coming to William Paterson University. Pioneer Players will be performing “Twisted” as their first musical.
Watch as Pioneer Players take you through an entirely different perspective of the famous story of Disney’s “Aladdin”, where instead of seeing Aladdin’s story, we focus on his antagonist, Ja’far. As you watch the play, you quickly learn that its portrayal of the characters is very different from the movie. The evil, power-hungry Ja’far that we know from the original story is a loving, misunderstood man in this one.
“Twisted” starts with a prologue that explains the fall of a kingdom and how a man, who wanted to restore the kingdom, was given a false narrative. After this prologue, we get our first appearance of the man in question, Ja’far, played by Chase Haffner. In his first appearance, he starts with a song that leads the audience to think that it will have an uplifting message, but the tone takes a drastic turn once an ensemble joins in and spends the song’s duration talking down to Ja’far. The remarks they use throughout this opening song set the tone for the play. Everything that goes wrong is pinned on Ja’far, and it’s presented with humor.
Shortly after, we are introduced to the “hero” from the original story, Aladdin, played by Baylee Matthews. Captain of the Royal Guard, played by Spencer Serritella, warns Ja’far about a thief, who we later see is Aladdin. Aladdin does not fail to prove throughout the play that he is not the hero we’ve always known him to be, who wants to marry the princess and live happily ever after, but rather a satirical character with different intentions when he meets the Princess, played by El Barba.
Eventually, we meet Princess. At the beginning of “Twisted”, Princess is seen more as a satirical character, such as her “love interest”, Aladdin. She comedically expresses this through her song “Everything and More,” in which she wants to be free and no longer wishes to be a princess, but still wants the benefits that come with being one.
Throughout the play, what will grab your attention is the unpredictability and the songs performed by the talented cast. “Twisted” has a humor that is for a more mature audience, but it makes sure to leave room for the heartfelt moments that make the story drastically different from its original, which is what the cast and crew enjoy about it so much.
Mathias Lostao, assistant director and cast member as Prince Achmed and Scar, said, “It’s funny, but it’s got a lot of heart.”
“Be prepared to laugh, be prepared to cry. Just get ready for the twisted ride,” Barba said.
The play ends on a more emotional note that ties the story together, and leaves the audience thinking about how easily a story can be changed, and the truth can be concealed.
The Players shared that a lot of time and commitment have gone into the making of this production. Now that opening night is just around the corner, they are all excited to share their hard work with the audience.
“It’s a lot of hard work. I’ll admit that. A lot of days where we’re staying up until, like, midnight, either running shows, running lines, doing choreo – I know El and a lot of others have been working on the costumes for this show because we only bought so many of them. So it’s a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, but it’s all worth it,” Haffner said.
Rowen Hackett, the co-director of “Twisted”, shared that this was an enjoyable experience for him, for this was his debut as a director.
“It was a lot to learn with how much went into this, especially with a musical … I learned a lot about all the variables, and some of the unexpected variables that arose with all this, but I’m really happy with how it turned out,” Hackett said.
Brando Rakoski, the second co-director, shares that this was his debut in directing as well. When talking about how the process leading up to opening night has been for him, Rakoski shares his immense gratitude to the cast and crew for making his experience as a first-time director as amazing as it was.
“I don’t think we would have been able to get at least this far, or just get this done, if it wasn’t for everybody in this room, because honestly, everybody has just put everything in: heart, mind, body, soul into this,” Rakoski said.
The Pioneer Players invite those interested to see “Twisted” at the Martini Room in Hamilton Hall on April 25 and 26 at 7 p.m. and on April 27 at 5 p.m. For students, admission is free with a school ID, while for others, it is five dollars.
