Jonathan Freeman(I)

Was a member of both the cast of Aladdín (1992) and the 2011 Broadway cast (where he reprised his role of Jafar), which he continued until January 2022. As of that date, he is the only performer to bridge a Disney movie-to-Broadway adaptation.

I believe I sang the last song Howard Ashman wrote. In December of 1989, I was hired to voice Jafar and I was rushed into the studio in January of 1990 because Howard was not well. They wanted me to demo a song that Howard and Alan Menken had written called "Humiliate the Boy." I remember being rushed into the studio and it being mysterious - being in a studio somewhere making a demo of the song with David Friedman and Alan Menken and some technicians while Howard was on the phone from the hospital. It's a very strong memory for me. And then I remember trying to work quickly on other music while Howard was still around. It was very clear that Howard and Alan were two of my champions on the original project.