After Tuesday night's performance of the Broadway musical version of Aladdin, the cast took a moment to pay tribute to the late Robin Williams, who starred in the 1992 Disney film of the same name.
James Iglehart, who won a Tony in June for his performance as the Genie, led the cast and the audience in a singalong of "Friend Like Me." The Playbills for the night's performance were stuffed with the song's lyrics so that everyone could participate.
Before the singalong, Iglehart spoke about the impact Williams had on his career and aspirations. An audience member uploaded video of Iglehart to YouTube, where you can hear his full remarks. The AP video above is a shorter, but clearer, version.
"When I was 17 years old, I had watched every Disney cartoon in the world, and they had put [Williams] in a Disney cartoon to play this iconic role of the Genie," said Iglehart. "And he sang ["Friend Like Me"], and I looked at my mom and I said, 'If I could just do something like that ...'"
Williams was not only a veteran of television and film, but also the Broadway stage. He first appeared on the Great White Way in 2002 in his Robin Williams: Live on Broadway comedy show, and most recently performed in 2011 in the play Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo.