He marvels that now he’s the host of a show he enjoyed years ago with his little sister, who is expecting her first child. And when I see them, it just kind of brightens me up.” “I'll look at those pictures and just kind of remember home,” he said.
![aladdin old man in jail aladdin old man in jail](https://blogthorn.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/oldman.jpg)
#Aladdin old man in jail tv#
It was at college when he met his wife, the stage and TV actress Amanda Dela Cruz, who is currently appearing off-Broadway in “Jersey Boys.” Though he’s often away filming his show in Toronto, he’ll slip a picture of her - and their beloved dog Ollie - into his scripts. His additional credits include “Here Lies Love” off-Broadway and Onscreen, he's appeared in ABC's “Time After Time” and CBS' “Bull.” Dela Cruz earned a bachelor’s in musical theater from Montclair State University in 2011. “I had a very strong imagination growing up and I was the only boy sandwiched between two girls, so I would just kind of play by myself all the time and put myself in these wild situations and dream up these big stories.”Īdvice from his older sister led him to audition for the high school musical and it was theater that helped him overcome his aversion to public speaking. He grew up in New Milford, New Jersey, with no intention of becoming an actor. Dela Cruz even credits the catchy “Mail Song” with spurring his interest in singing. The family didn’t have cable but whenever they’d sleep over at their aunt’s house, the pair would eagerly watch the blue dog.
![aladdin old man in jail aladdin old man in jail](https://i.natgeofe.com/n/f9f0f3d0-c500-4d94-87c2-dd642d26bb24/03-aladdin-didnt-know_4x3.jpg)
Our show gives us the opportunity as kids to voice our opinions and make mistakes, because that's a part of learning.”Īppearing on “Blue’s Clues” completes an unlikely circle for Dela Cruz, who as a youngster watched the show with his younger sister. “You're usually told to be quiet and listen. “It's more of a transfer of power and authority to the home viewer, which is something as a kid, you don't usually get,” he said. The 30-year-old Dela Cruz thinks “Blue’s Clues” is different than other shows geared toward children because it honestly asks audience members for help and it doesn’t ask them to be silent consumers. He got down to their level and spoke to them,” she said. “Some kids were backstage and he was just so lovely with them, so genuine. But they were even more impressed by what they saw offstage. She and her team went to see him in “Aladdin” and were wowed by what they saw him do onstage. Traci Paige Johnson, co-creator and co-executive producer of the original “Blue’s Clues” and the reboot, helped pick Dela Cruz, purposely widening the search to include Broadway performers because they can sing and dance and endure a grueling schedule. “I was talking to my friend and they said their kid was like, ‘Hey, he looks like me.’ And man, that hits you like a ton of bricks,” he said. He is the first Asian-American actor to become Blue’s companion, a responsibility not lost on him. Burns helped pick Dela Cruz from an audition process that included over 3,000 hopefuls.
![aladdin old man in jail aladdin old man in jail](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d2/a6/c4/d2a6c4dd056dc8e65bead5cd6a5e02a0.jpg)
#Aladdin old man in jail update#
Other changes include the addition of Handy Dandy Guitar and an update to Handy Dandy Notebook, which now has smartphone technology, allowing Dela Cruz and Blue to receive emails and video calls.įormer hosts Steve (Steve Burns) and Joe (Donovan Patton) returned for the first episode to help welcome Dela Cruz as the host. “She is furrier, she's more lovable,” he said. The reboot hews close to the original, with the return of characters like Mailbox, Thinking Chair, Slippery Soap, Shovel and of course Blue, though the pup is being rendered by computer graphics. The original Nickelodeon show ran from 1996 to 2007, with a human host solving a puzzle by deciphering the meaning of Blue’s barks and paw prints - with assistance from young viewers chiming in with their thoughts. “And my agent sent me an audition for ‘Blue's Clues.’” And I wanted to use the gifts and the skills that I had learned to help someone,” he said. I’d been with the show for just about five years. “There was still something more that I wanted at that point. “Now parents get to share a piece of their childhood, which is really exciting and only makes the learning that's happening onscreen that much stronger,” he said.ĭela Cruz comes to Nickelodeon’s “Blue’s Clues & You!” after a long stint in the Broadway musical “Aladdin,” where he understudied Iago as well as the title character and went on as Aladdin for three months.