Genie homecoming in 'Aladdin' a blast for Akron native Marcus Martin

A Genie's life is awfully fun for Akron native Marcus Martin, especially this week for the actor's homecoming with the North American tour of Disney's "Aladdin."

The 25-year-old, who plays the Genie in the hit musical, is doing an eight-show, nearly sold-out run at Playhouse Square's Connor Palace through Sunday. Keeping up that pace is a lot of hard work for Martin in his famously high-energy role as the Genie, who's the ultimate showman.

He's been making the most of his week back in Northeast Ohio, which he's dubbed #ageniehomecoming. On Monday, besides visiting family in Akron, he stopped at Swensons for a beloved Galley Boy.

"Priorities. Getting my fix before it’s time to grant wishes!" he posted on Instagram.

Monday night, Martin gave an audition master class to nearly a dozen eager young performers on the Weathervane Playhouse stage in Akron as about 30 observers watched. The event was a fundraiser for Weathervane, the home theater where Martin grew up since age 7.

More:Learn about auditioning from Disney's Genie — Akron native Marcus Martin — at Weathervane

"The gift of theater has done so much for me and it's important to me that other kids are able to receive that gift," the Baldwin Wallace University graduate said Tuesday in the Connor Palace lobby in Cleveland. "My journey in theater started at Weathervane. That's where I fell in love with the art of theater.

"Hopefully they took something away, but I was able to learn something from them as well," Martin said of the Weathervane students. "It was just the sense of joy and no fear. Something about the innocence of just being a kid and doing what you love to do and not being in your head."

On Monday, Martin was touched to see Weathervane staff, including costume designer Jasen Smith. When Martin was a student actor, Smith taught him about being professional backstage, including thanking dressers and being nice to wardrobe people.

"Those are all things that I use every night I work at 'Aladdin,'" Martin said of his first national tour.

In Cleveland, a big billboard on 14th Street near Playhouse Square features Martin larger than life as the Genie, along with co-stars Senzel Ahmady as Jasmine and Adi Roy as Aladdin.

Sitting on a bench on the mezzanine of Connor Palace lobby Tuesday, Martin talked about coming full circle from the days when he and his mother, Angela, used to arrive early for Broadway touring shows and have a snack sitting on those benches before the house doors opened.

Tuesday afternoon, Martin was heading to Akron to meet with kids at the I Promise School, doing an interview with a student reporter from the school media lab for WKYC.

"What LeBron has done for our city, what he means to our city has always been so inspiring, how he put our city on the map and how he really showed that kids from Akron can make it," Martin said.

Growing up as a driven young performer, Martin thought, "I wanna be the other kid from Akron that made it too."

Marcus Martin preps for Genie role in 'Aladdin'

In one ritual on tour, Martin takes a selfie from the stage during soundcheck for each of the tour cities to document the design of each theater.

"At 25 years old, to have the opportunity to travel the country performing, I wanted to be able to have as much to look back on as possible," Martin said.

More on Marcus Martin:Akron native Marcus Martin to star as Genie in 'Aladdin' tour

During the day before his Cleveland opening Wednesday, he planned to drink tea, relax, watch some TV and do stretches throughout the day. His company's call time is 30 minutes before show time but Martin likes to arrive in his dressing room 90 minutes before.

"Because my evenings are so fun, my days have to be boring," Martin said of conserving his energy for shows.

Each night, hair and makeup supervisor Megan Holl does makeup for Martin's elaborate Genie look, including magnificent eyebrows, gold and glitter.

"She is incredible. She does it all every night freehand in about 10 to 15 minutes," said Martin, plus multiple touchups throughout the performance.

Kids interact after show

At the matinee performance Thursday, 900 students were invited to stay for a talkback with Martin; Revere High School graduate Cody Hernandez, who plays captain of the guard Razoul; and Loudonville native Aaron Choi, who portrays villain Jafra's evil sidekick, Iago.

Among the students were 53 fourth graders from Miller South School for the Visual and Performing Arts in Akron, where Martin went to middle school. Other kids came from his alma mater, Copley High School, and Buchtel CLC, where Martin's dad, Christopher, is an academy principal.

The "Aladdin" tour recently celebrated its 100th show Feb. 3 in Little Rock, Arkansas. Purple and gold cupcakes representing the colors of the show spelled out the number.

"That was really special," Martin said. "I've never done 100 shows of anything before."

Miller South anniversary:Miller South to celebrate 30 years of making magic through the arts

'Aladdin' first national tour for KSU grad Cody Hernandez

Hernandez, a Kent State University graduate, has a relationship with "Aladdin" that goes back to 2014.

He had an internship then with the American Theatre Wing, which helps produce the Tony Awards. He got to see the Tony Awards dress rehearsal for "Aladdin's" showstopper number "Friend Like Me" and attend the Tony Awards.

"I was just blown away. I think 'Friend Like Me' is one of the most perfect Broadway numbers that a person can be in. It's just perfectly formulated by our incredible director/choreographer Casey Nicholaw," Hernandez said.

His partner, Michael Callahan, is currently in "Aladdin" on Broadway as Hernandez performs in the show's tour.

Hernandez plays bad guy Razoul, performs in the ensemble and understudies the role of the show's biggest villain, Jafar.

"I always play a bad guy," he said. "It's my favorite thing to do."

Hernandez' parents, Karen and Arturo, who recently moved to Denver, came to Cleveland this week to see him perform. Hernandez, whom local audiences last saw in Porthouse Theatre's "Man of La Mancha," is also looking forward to celebrating with Northeast Ohio friends after the show Saturday night.

More:Going mad for 'Mamma Mia!' and 'Man of La Mancha'

The actor shared his most embarrassing moment in "Aladdin," which happened in the tour's first city, Schenectady, in October. In one quick change that he does unassisted, he mistakenly came onstage in one black shoe and one gold shoe as Razoul.

"As far as mistakes onstage go, probably no one noticed. It was for one scene and it was the sword-fighting scene, so there was a lot going on," he said.

In the ensemble of the fabulous "Friend Like Me" number, Hernandez actually has a 20-second quick change from a waiter costume to a glitzy gold getup for the big tap dance. He's got that down to a science with the expert help of two dressers and a wardrobe supervisor.

Arts writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Backstage with the Genie: Akron native embraces 'Aladdin' homecoming