INTERVIEW: Clinton Greenspan stays ‘One Jump Ahead’ in Broadway’s ‘Aladdin’
Photo: Clinton Greenspan sings the title role in Aladdin on Broadway. Photo courtesy of Deen van Meer / Provided by Disney on Broadway with permission.
Aladdin, the hugely successful Broadway musical, continues to transport audiences to a whole new world eight shows a week, and at the center of the beloved story is Clinton Greenspan in the title role. The actor, a native of Texas, is making his Broadway debut as Aladdin, after having toured the show around the United States for a few years. In many ways, Greenspan believes he has found his new home, and he is fully embracing everything that Broadway (and Disney) has to offer.
For the actor, the journey began on a whim with a flight from Texas to New York City a few years back.
“I actually did a spur-of-the-moment flight out to New York City when I was still living in Texas,” Greenspan said in a recent phone interview. “So I was hoping that coming in for the summer I could potentially get seen, so I took the flight up not even knowing for sure if I would be seen in the room or not. Luckily, the slots opened up, and I got to have my general audition. Then I didn’t hear anything for like a year, [and then] I moved to the city. In the first week, I got an email to come in and read a scene for Aladdin. There was a whole entire audition process after that, so it was kind of a crazy universal moment.”
Before auditioning for the Disney musical, Greenspan knew a few of the tunes from the show, which originated as a classic literature story and then a successful 1990s animated movie. There are few people in the world who don’t know “A Whole New World” or “Friend Like Me,” and Greenspan was right there as a devotee of Alan Menken’s music and Howard Ashman, Tim Rice and Chad Beguelin’s lyrics.
“I had kind of known of ‘Proud of Your Boy,’” he said of an Aladdin solo tune in the show. “Clay Aiken has his cover of it, and there’s sheet music. But I actually never heard the song involved in the movie. … So when I first heard the Broadway recording, I was like, oh wow, this is crazy new material. I love it so much.”
The show is a two-hour marathon for Greenspan and the rest of the company. There is a lot of dancing, running, singing and stage theatrics, keeping them busy and requiring that they stay fit.
“I could be doing this for years, and it’ll always feel fresh and crazy on the body,” Greenspan admitted. “It’s very demanding, and something that I learned throughout the process of playing this character is I really need to be one with my body and listen to my body. Sometimes you feel tired, and you’re like, maybe I can do something. But if you feel tired, you really need to just tell yourself to go home and take a nap, or go home and sleep. Eat something healthy. You can’t really push because once the show starts, you’re going. Aladdin has one short break in both acts, and that’s it. So he’s constantly going, and you need to make sure that you’re very balanced with your body and listening to it. It’s still a butt-kicker, that’s for sure.”
When Greenspan made his official Broadway debut a couple months back, he was running around Manhattan with both nervousness and excitement. He and the company started the day early because Aladdin was being featured on Good Morning America. That meant Greenspan needed to wake early and enter rehearsal for the special TV segment.
“We had the anniversary performance of all the Disney on Broadway shows, so I was starting super-early in the day,” he said. “And they had to literally pull me from rehearsal in the studios to go to get ready for my put-in rehearsal at the theater, the put-in where you do the whole entire show, like a run-through. Then right after that, we had notes — maybe half hour, hour to kind of re-situate — and then I had to get right into the show. My mind was just going nonstop, so it was kind of a trip.”
Once the lights went on at the New Amsterdam Theatre on 42nd Street, Greenspan was tired, but ready. And he knew it was going to be a special performance because a) it was his Broadway debut, and b) his mother and grandmother had flown up from Texas to be in the audience.
“It was insane once the show actually started to know that my mother and my grandmother, who had just flown from Texas to see me, are in the audience while my mind is scrambled all over the place because there’s so much happening,” Greenspan said with a laugh. “But it was a trip in the best way, and I remember kind of being nervous where my voice was going to go on ‘Proud of Your Boy’ because I choked up before the song even started, thinking that my family is in the audience right now. I had this mental note of, wow, I’ve actually made it, and so it was truly a special performance. I clearly had to be present and make sure I was hitting as many marks as possible. … Afterward, I was completely fried. I didn’t even eat a celebratory meal or a burger or anything. I had some crackers, and I crashed right away when I got to my apartment. It was a special day for sure.”
Growing up, Greenspan was first exposed to the arts thanks to his grandparents. They were passionate about opera and classic movie musicals, so he always absorbed the cultural influences when he headed over to their house before and after school.
However, his appreciation for the arts remained simply an appreciation because at a young age he had his mind set on another career goal.
“I was in gymnastics for about six years before I even started taking classes at a community theater, so there was a part of my life where I wanted to train for the Olympics,” he said. “I had no thought of the theater arts in my life, and when that transition happened, it hit right away. And I was going to improv, tap, ballet classes after school every single day.”
That gymnastic precision and physicality never left him, and he uses lessons from those days to help him stay fit and focused for life as a Broadway star.
“Exercise with my body has become a very therapeutic thing, and being on tour, I would meet with different personal trainers in the cities and do different kinds of exercise,” he said. “It was nice exploring what I can do with my body, how to work the body, what muscles get engaged when and where. I kind of educated myself through the touring process to be able to always do something fresh with my exercises. Now in New York City, it really helps with the show. I found myself getting more engaged and more in touch with my body while I’m doing ‘One Jump Ahead,’ for example, because I know what muscles are working when, how to stretch if I’m feeling a little off one day.”
Now, having been on tour in Aladdin and spending the next few months on Broadway in the title role, Greenspan can do what he loves and start thinking about his next few steps. He likes to stay “One Jump Ahead” of whatever life throws at him.
“I’m very comfortable with the show, and now I want to explore new dynamics of arts,” Greenspan said. “Part of me is looking into going back to school next year just to get into social science. I want to expand in different fields. Now that I’ve become very comfortable with the role, I can make rediscoveries with the character of Aladdin while making rediscoveries of life in itself. It’s kind of nice being situated in New York City where the world is kind of your oyster. You get to explore all different directions.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Aladdin, starring Clinton Greenspan, is now playing the New Amsterdam Theatre on Broadway. Click here for more information and tickets.
