Photo Coverage: Aretha Franklin Visits ALADDIN

The LEGENDARY Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, was in the house last night at Disney's hit production of ALADDIN on Broadway and after the show posed with the excited cast -- and BroadwayWorld.com was there to capture the magic moment (no lamp required!).

Following in the footsteps of Beyone and U2, legendary singer Aretha Franklin is set to release her own surprise album this month, according to Showbiz411. The Grammy winner has reportedly been hard at work alongside Clive Davis on the album - which will include a cover of Adele's hit 'Rolling in the Deep' - and plans to release it on Sept. 30. Franklin will perform and announce the project the night before, Sept. 29, on THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN.

Produced by Disney Theatrical Productions, Aladdin features music by Tony Award® and eight-time Oscar® winner Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast, Newsies, Sister Act), lyrics by two-time Oscar winner Howard Ashman (Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid), three-time Tony Award and three-time Oscar winner Tim Rice (Evita, Aida) and two-time Tony Award nominee Chad Beguelin(The Wedding Singer), with a book by Beguelin, and is directed and choreographed by Tony Award winnerCasey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon). This new production features a full score, including the Oscar and Grammy® winning hit "A Whole New World," and four other cherished songs from the film and multi Grammy-winning original motion picture soundtrack.

Aladdin stars Jacobs (Les Miserables, The Lion King) in the title role, Courtney Reed (In the Heights, Mamma Mia) as Jasmine, Iglehart (Memphis, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) as Genie, and, as Jafar, Tony Award nominee Jonathan Freeman (Mary Poppins, The Producers, She Loves Me) brings to the stage the role he indelibly created in the animated film. The show also starsBrian Gonzales, Brandon O'Neill and Jonathan Schwartz as Aladdin's sidekicks Babkak, Kassim and Omar, Clifton Davis as Sultan and Don Darryl Rivera as Iago.

Photos by Jennifer Broski

Aretha Franklin and the cast of ALADDIN

Courtney Reed, Adam Jacobs, Aretha Franklin, Clifton Davis, James Monroe Iglehart