For Adi Roy, Starring in Broadway’s Aladdin Means Growing Alongside the Role

Adi Roy and Agrabah’s wiliest street rat go way back. Before joining the Broadway production of Aladdin in the title role in June 2024, he spent two years playing the part on the North American tour. Long before that, he was the star of his middle school’s production of Aladdin Junior in eighth grade. Now, having just celebrated his one-year anniversary on Broadway as the diamond in the rough, the recent Broadway.com vlogger and even more recent N.Y.U. Data Science grad opened up about approaching acting with a mathematical mind, how his performance has evolved, his love of Disney and more.

It’s quite a journey you've been on with this show. What’s it like to be playing a character you first took on as a kid? You must have all sorts of thoughts about the passage of time, how far you’ve come, what’s changed and what’s stayed the same.

The first time I was introduced to Aladdin was about 10 or 11 years ago. I was a young boy, and at that point, I just kind of did it because all my friends were doing it. My mom likes to say I wasn't even acting then; I was literally just saying lines and singing lines on stage. But once I started taking it seriously, it's kind of like you realize that, oh, I had this seed planted in my brain way back then. Now I'm getting to redo what I did back then, but in a whole different light. Being on Broadway is every artist's dream. It’s just crazy to say that I get to do this same role that I did when I was 12. And to do it eight times a week is crazy. 

How has the character deepened for you? I’m sure you’ve found new things in it since 12 years ago, and even since one year ago.

That’s exactly what I was going to say. Even in this last year, I've grown up as a person. And because of that, it changes how you view the character. I feel like I've grown with the character. Way back when I started the tour, Aladdin was more boyish. I didn't know what I was doing. I was trying to figure it out as I went. And as I got to do the show more and more I realized, oh, Aladdin has a little bit more man in him as well. I still get to experiment with what that looks like.

There was some parental expectation that you’d pursue a different path, wasn’t there?

For sure. I'm fortunate that now my parents are very, very supportive of what I do. They're excited for me and they're glad everything has worked out the way it has.  But in the beginning, they were like, “You should do something else.” I was very academic. I did a lot of AP courses—that was kind of also my thing. So they really urged me to keep that academic side on the back burner. So I went to N.Y.U., double majoring in data science and theater. I just finished my degree this past May. 

That’s amazing. There are probably not too many Broadway performers out there with that particular set of skills. 

Yeah, I finally got my data science degree, like my parents wanted! It’s interesting, though—a lot of Broadway actors have gone back to school because they can now fund school, they can get their Master’s, they can get graduate degrees. And so I've actually talked to a lot of people about my journey. 

Have you considered how you might combine your love of acting and data science? 

Data science, I found, is kind of like this applied math. Throughout my schooling, I did a few Broadway inquiry projects where I would look at Broadway grosses and work out a lot of statistics on them. I think there might be an opportunity to kind of meld my interests a little bit, but we'll see where that goes. I'm currently eight shows a week is tough to do anything else!

Are you a left-brained actor? Do you feel you approach the craft in an analytical way?

I try to. When I'm initially looking at a script, I try to mine some new things that haven't been mined before. Especially with a long-running show, you're like, OK, let's see what I can do differently. You try to see the small nuggets of information.

The character of Jasmine is more fleshed out in the show than she was in the animated film. What's your rapport like with Sonya Balsara, your leading lady?

It’s weird to think that we kiss on stage every night because, I'm like, that's my friend! But yeah, we've become such close friends—we hang out outside of shows. You spend so much time together on a show that you become family—whether you like it or not. I'm just kidding!

Well, there’s one member of the Aladdin family who’s conspicuously absent. Can’t we launch a campaign to bring a Julie Taymor-style puppet of Abu the monkey into the show?

[Laughs] Maybe in the revival we'll bring the monkey. 

I know that, in the absence of an onstage monkey, you’ve been into baking monkey bread…

Oh, man. I mean, I feel like basically all my TikTok and Instagram pages is just food and different recipes. So yeah, I like to cook, but I started dieting a little bit more, so now I can't make the monkey bread so much. 

You’ve got to fit in those pants, right? 

Yeah, got to fit in the pants, got to be shirtless on stage for an hour each night. You kind of have to keep it in a little bit of a shape. I’ve found that I like to go to the gym three times a week and I do strength training, so it hopefully keeps the muscles there—but the show itself is all my cardio that I need for the week!

I'm curious about the New Amsterdam as a workplace. It has one of the most stunning interiors on Broadway. What's it like to work in every day?

Oh, it's still way spectacular. It's amazing. A lot of the times I have a friend at the show and I get to bring them backstage and I get to show them this wonderful theater. And every time I step out on that stage, especially at night when I'm showing someone backstage, there's no set pieces, there's nothing on the stage… It's this gigantic stage, and you can see out into the house, you can see all the 1700 seats in the beautiful theater, the house. That's the moment where I can fully take it in. And every time I look at it, I'm just aghast. It's crazy. 

You mentioned in your Broadway.com vlog that you’d love to do Hunchback of Notre Dame—another show you did in school—and Newsies. Obviously you’re an Alan Menken fan.

His name kept showing up in all the shows that I liked. Around the time I did Hunchback in school I realized, oh, maybe he knows a thing or two about stories telling through song. You know what I mean? 

Are there other roles out there that you've had your eye on, though, outside of Disney?

I feel like I'm always working on new songs just to keep my voice in check. Growing up, I loved Hadestown. I love Orpheus. I think the epic nature of that show is very, very cool—and the house is so intimate that it feels like a whole different kind of show. I would love to do that at some point. I also recently have started to love the songs in The Great Gatsby. I know I'm a little too young, maybe, to play Gatsby. Another Jeremy Jordan show, I know!

Bringing it back to Disney, I know you’re a fan of the theme parks, too. Do you feel the connection between the storytelling that happens in the Disney parks and their Broadway shows?

Yeah. I think what's interesting about the show is that it's a little bit of the parks’ magic, but also you get the Broadway magic as well. You get a little bit of the best of both worlds. It’s such a fun thing to see the different types of people in the audience. You see people who are coming because they're Broadway-going vets, and then you also see the Disney families that come and can't wait to meet Aladdin. In the parks, there's the whole thing where you can't say that you play Aladdin. Sometimes people meet me at the stage door thinking that I can't break the illusion.

You stay in character? 

Sure. We do a little scene at the stage door. If they're going to come to me as if I'm Aladdin, I'm game. Let’s play.