Who Sings It Best: Tituss Burguess, James Monroe Iglehart, or Serena Williams

James Monroe Inglehart (Aladdin, Memphis), the Tony Award-winning Genie of Aladdin on Broadway, hosted an exclusive “Disney on Broadway: The Originals” concert at Disney’s annual fan event D23 Expo, held during the weekend of Aug. 14-16, at Anaheim Convention Center.

Inglehart – who has been granting wishes since March 2014 when Aladdin opened at New Amsterdam Theatre – shared the stage with Ashley Brown (Mary Poppins: The Broadway Musical) and Josh Strickland (Tarzan: The Broadway Musical), as they performed musical selections and shared backstory from several Disney theatrical productions.Inglehart and Brown offered up duets of “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” (The Lion King), “It’s A Jolly Holiday” (Mary Poppins) and “God Help The Outcasts” (Hunchback of Notre Dame). As a trio, they performed selections from AIDA, “Son of Man (Tarzan) and “Friend Like Me” (Aladdin). Other shows highlighted were: Beauty and the Beast, Newsies, Frozen and The Little Mermaid.

For Inglehart’s solo song, he gave a buoyant rendition of the catchy tune “Under The Sea” from the Hans Christian Anderson-inspired story.

If you are on a Caribbean cruise ship, the Alan Menken-composed/Howard Ashman-penned song for the 1989 The Little Mermaid film – which won an Academy Award for “Best Original Song” and a Grammy for “Best Song Written for Visual Media” – the voyage wouldn’t be complete without the Calypso beat. Or, if it’s the Delta Air Lines’ U.S. Open OPEN Mic event, you just might hear it sung by top-ranked American professional tennis player Serena Williams. On Aug. 26, at the U.S. Open pre-event in New York City, Williams – the first Black female athlete to appear solo on the cover of Vogue – took to the stage for some karaoke. Accent, dance moves, and all.

Having provided guest voice work on a 2005 episode of Playhouse Disney’s (now Disney Junior) animated kids show”Higglytown Heroes,” perhaps Broadway is in her future. I would be in the house on opening night. But, I digress…

When The Little Mermaid opened on Broadway in 2007 Tituss Burgess, with his particularly high tenor voice, originated the role of “Sebastian the Crab.” Burgess, a main cast member of the Netflix original series “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” was nominated this year for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.

Inglehart – a native of Hayward, California – originated the role of Bobby in Memphis in October 2009, and he also played Mitch Mahoney in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee as a replacement starting in April 2007.