Theater preview: As ‘Aladdin’ tour opens in Fresno, it’ll be a homecoming for Visalia native Edward Cuellar
You’ll have to forgive Edward Cuellar a twinge of nostalgia when the curtain goes up on the national tour of “Disney’s Aladdin” tonight at the Saroyan Theatre. (Curtain is 7:30 p.m.; the production continues for six more performances through Sunday, May 5.)
He’s been there before.
In the late ‘90s, when he was a kid, his uncle took young Edward, who lived in Visalia, to the Saroyan to see a touring production of “Beauty and the Beast.”
They didn’t have a lot of money and sat in cheaper seats at the very top of the balcony.
“He knew how badly I wanted to see it and got us tickets,” Cuellar says. “It was just me and him. I remember being so grateful because I was so blown away by this Broadway Disney theater magic. It was just epic.”
Here’s a rundown on his homecoming:
STORY CONTINUES AFTER SPONSORED CONTENT
His role: There are actually nine. Cuellar is one of those esteemed performers on Broadway known as a swing. He’s ready to step at the last minute – or for a scheduled absence – for nine other actors in the show. That means he has to memorize not just one set of blocking, singing, dialogue and choreography – but all of the nine “tracks.”
“Swings are the unsung heroes,” he says.
He has two other behind-the-scenes roles as well: dance captain and fight captain. It’s his responsibility to teach new cast members the choreography and make sure the dancing in general is up to Disney’s notoriously high Disney standards.
Theater background: His first time auditioning for any type of theater was for a summer production of “The Music Man” produced by the Tulare County Office of Education. He was astonished when he got the role of Winthrop.
Dance background: He got more involved in dance in high school, becoming a trendsetter at Redwood High School in Visalia as the first male on the school’s elite dance team. He worked hard: Dance lessons were Mondays through Saturdays. Fast forward a number of years, and he’s built a New York-based professional career, including as a dancer at the Radio City Music Hall Christmas show.
First time on the Saroyan stage: He performed a two-minute solo in a high-school dance competition. “I remember thinking it was so huge – it was so massive to me,” he says.
Time with the tour: He’s logged more than 300 performances of “Aladdin,” which he joined in October 2022. When he stood in for the role of Kassim in a January performance of the show in Orlando, critic Aaron Wallace wrote that Cuellar and the actors playing Babkak and Omar “deliver one of the highlights of the whole show in ‘High Adventure,’ a rousing refrain of harmony and humor.”
Cuellar is an emphatic “Aladdin” fan, stressing that even with those hundreds of performances, he can still laugh at the show – and tear up.
Family in the audience: He still has family in Visalia and Fresno. When I talked with Cuellar a few weeks ago, he was still figuring out which performance he could be scheduled into the show as a swing (so his relatives would be guaranteed to see him on stage).
The full circle: When he takes the Saroyan Theatre stage again, it will be a moment to treasure. “This is so huge,” he says. “I get to perform to that little kid who sat in the furthest back row of the balcony.”
The Munro Review has no paywall but is financially supported by readers who believe in its non-profit mission of bringing professional arts journalism to the central San Joaquin Valley. You can help by signing up for a monthly recurring paid membership or make a one-time donation of as little as $3. All memberships and donations are tax-deductible.
