‘Aladdin’ understudy stuck on international flight gets magic carpet ride to Broadway

NEW YORK — One woman got a magic carpet ride to Broadway.

Actress Mikayla Renfrow got the call to play Jasmine in “Aladdin.” The only problem was that she was on an international flight at the time.

“How did I get here?” Renfrow said.

It was a fairytale ending that almost didn’t happen.

Renfrow is an ensemble actress in Broadway’s “Aladdin” and was on her way back from Europe when her flight got delayed.

Then, she got the message saying they needed her to play Jasmine.

“I was four hours into my flight. Our Jasmine, Sonia, 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,” she said.

The task was seemingly impossible. She had to deplane, make it through customs, JFK Airport, and into Manhattan by show time. But, Renfrow had a genie of her own, 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 crew arranged a magic carpet ride of sorts in the form of a blade helicopter. It took her from JFK to Manhattan in just seven minutes! All in time to shine as Jasmine. There in the audience was Leicha who helped make it all possible.

“We wanted to make it happen for Mikayla. You know, she’s following her dreams,” Richardson said.

“It was just a gift for her to be there. I did the show for her. I wouldn’t have been in the show without her. Thank you for everything,” Renfrow said.