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‘Aladdin’ on Broadway honors Robin Williams with singalong

James Monroe Iglehart leads the “Aladdin” audience on Broadway in a singalong tribute to Robin Williams.

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“Aladdin” -- the Broadway musical -- paid tribute to Robin Williams on Tuesday night with an audience singalong of “Friend Like Me” led by actor James Monroe Iglehart, who plays the role of the genie in the Disney stage production in New York.

Williams, who was found dead of an apparent suicide Monday at his home in Northern California, provided the voice of the genie in the 1992 Disney animated movie. The song “Friend Like Me,” written by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, was featured in the movie and is now a show-stopping number in the stage musical.

A spokesman for the show said Iglehart led the audience in a singalong of “Friend Like Me” after Tuesday evening’s performance. The above video, provided by Disney, features footage of the singalong recorded on cellphone cameras.

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Iglehart, who won a Tony Award for his performance in “Aladdin,” has repeatedly paid tribute to Williams in interviews about the musical. On Monday, Iglehart wrote on Twitter: “Robin Williams! 1 of the Greatest Period. I just want to say Thank You for the laughs.”

“Aladdin” opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York in March.

On Wednesday evening, Broadway theaters will dim their lights in remembrance of Williams. The actor, who studied drama at the Juilliard School in New York, appeared on Broadway in a 2011 production of Rajiv Joseph’s war-themed play “Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo.”

Twitter: @DavidNgLAT

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