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Season 2: Episode 17: Adam Jacobs: Behind the Curtain, Broadway, Aladdin, Lion King, Les Miserables, Mamma Mia!, Stage Mishaps, Showmances, Marriage, Fatherhood, Actor

April 29, 2021 • 30 mins

Broadway's original Aladdin, Adam Jacobs showed us "A Whole New World" eight times a week, he stormed the Barricades as "Marius" in Les Miserables and roared as "Simba" in The Lion King. Now, Adam Jacobs is baring it all Behind The Curtain with some great backstage stories!

Listen to Part 2 of our interview!

Adam's docu-concert, Behind The Curtain will be available Friday, April 30, 2021 at midnight for Streaming & DVD/Blu-ray purchases. Use promo code ALADDIN to get 20% off your purchase.

More on Adam:

Originally from Half Moon Bay, CA, Adam Jacobs began his early performing career as a pianist studying at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. After playing for eight years (ages 5-13), he decided to forgo the concert pianist route and try something new. He found his artistic outlet through art classes and musical theater. After playing “Oliver” in Oliver! and “Curly” in Oklahoma! in 7th and 8th grade respectively, he auditioned for a role in the local community theater–Peninsula Center Stage’s production of Jesus Christ Superstar. Even though the show had been fully cast by the time of his audition, the creative team decided to foster his young talent and create a role of a “13th apostle” or “apostle wanna-be” just so he could be in the show.

One night after a high-school performance of Evita, a representative from the SF Opera who happened to see the show invited Adam to audition for the new upcoming documentary opera based on the life of Harvey Milk, the country’s first openly gay city council member who was assassinated along with the mayor of SF in 1978. As a result of this invited audition, he was cast as “Young Harvey.”

Adam’s big break came with the opportunity to play “Marius” in the national tour of Les Miserables. This job led to him being cast in the Broadway revival and his subsequent Broadway debut. Within the short 14 months that the show played the Broadhurst Theater, he had the benefit of working with many Broadway veterans including Lea Salonga, Judy Kuhn, Gary Beach, Daphne-Rubin Vega, Norm Lewis, Ann Harada, Aaron Lazar (seen in photo), among many others.

Since Les Miserables, he has journeyed from the islands of Mamma Mia! to the African pridelands of The Lion King. He’s gone from the tropics of Once On This Island to the Arabian deserts of Aladdin. His mixed ethnicity has allowed him to play varied roles, and he thanks his parents for their whole-hearted encouragement to pursue a life in the arts.

Adam, his wife Kelly, and their sons Jack and Alex now make their home in Chicago. After touring for two years with the first national tour of Disney’s Mary Poppins as a dance captain and swing, Kelly happily joined the Broadway company and stayed with it until its closing in 2013.