Broadway actor gets last-minute 'magic carpet ride' to 'Aladdin' show
It's a fairy-tale ending that almost didn't happen.
Broadway actor Mikayla Renfrow, an understudy for "Aladdin," was on a flight from Europe back to the U.S. when she received a call to fill in the lead role of Jasmine.
"I was four hours into my flight. Our Jasmine, Sonya [Balsara], had fallen ill. The other understudy in the building had an injury. That's what kind of pushed us into, 'Mik needs to get to the theater,'" Renfrow recalled.
Success seemed unlikely: Renfrow would need to deplane, go through customs at JFK International Airport and make her way to Manhattan, more than a one-hour taxi ride away — all before curtain call.
But Renfrow had a genie on her side in Delta flight supervisor Leicha Richardson.
"This was a Disney production and we were just going to make sure that we got the lead where she needed to be," Richardson said.
The Delta flight crew arranged a 'magic carpet ride' for Renfrow in the form of a Blade helicopter booking. Not long after Renfrow's Delta flight landed, she was back up in the air in her Blade ride, which took just seven minutes to get her from JFK Airport in Queens to Manhattan.
Renfrow managed to get to New Amsterdam Theatre in the nick of time to play Jasmine. Richardson was also able to attend the performance as an audience member that same night.
"We wanted to make it happen for Mikayla," Richardson said. "You know, she's following her dreams."
Renfrow said she feels grateful for all the assistance she received to help save the show.
"It was just a gift for [Richardson] to be there. I did the show for her. I wouldn't have been in the show without her," Renfrow said. "Thank you for everything."
