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Weir brings Disney villain experience to ‘Aladdin’

On the telephone from Denver, Jonathan Weir seems like a nice guy.

But in the Disney universe, he’s a villain.

Weir, who graduated from Bowling Green State University in 1982, plays Jafar in the national tour of “Disney’s Aladdin,” which starts a four-week run in Cleveland on Wednesday at the State Theatre. Before that, he played Scar in “Disney’s The Lion King” on Broadway and on the road, and his non-Disney villains include a long run as mobster Gyp DeCarlo in the musical “Jersey Boys.”

Weir isn’t all bad. In addition to Scar, he’s also played the lovable warthog Pumba in “The Lion King.”

One’s a human and the other is lion, but Jafar and Scar have more in common than their deep voices and British accents.

“They’re both in pursuit of ultimate power, megalomaniac who will do anything to get their desired goal,” Weir said.

Jonathan Freeman, who provided the voice for Jafar in the 1992 animated film, also plays the character on Broadway. Weir said Freeman provides a “beautiful road map” for him to follow in the touring production, but he also has the freedom to bring his own touches to the role.

Those who only know the animated film will discover the stage version takes more liberties with the story than many other Disney film to stage adaptations. Jafar’s parrot Iago now is a human assistant, and instead of his monkey pal Abu, Aladdin now has three friends (Kassim, Omar and Babkak) who accompany him in his adventures.

The stage version, which was nominated for five Tony Awards and is in its fifth year on Broadway, adds several additional songs “from Alan Menken’s song trunk,” Weir said, some written for the movie that weren’t used and other penned specifically for the stage.

Even with the changes, there’s still a motor-mouthed Genie, a love story between Aladdin and Jasmine and a magic carpet ride accompanied by the song “A Whole New World.”

“I was at the opening party last night (in Denver) and a lot of the local people there were saying it’s like a rocket taking off,” Weir said. “There’s no slow taxi or revving up of this show.”

While the show obviously is drawing many children, Weir said the primary audience seems to be couples in their 20s.

“It’s the movie they grew up with their princess or hero,” he said.

The younger audiences know the animated film, but many of them also have appeared in the streamlined “Aladdin Jr.” production that Disney has made available for schools.

“In most cities, there’s 20 to 50 of them standing outside for autographs,” Weir said. “Many have actually done ‘Aladdin Jr.’ They’ll say, ‘I’m playing Jasmine.’ I even met a girl who was playing Jafar. I liked that. Most are 12, 13, 14 years old, the age I was when I started, and here I am an old bald guy doing it.”

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