HomeCultureMake-A-Wish and Disney Help Grant Broadway Dreams for Wish Kids

Make-A-Wish and Disney Help Grant Broadway Dreams for Wish Kids

Make-A-Wish and Disney Help Grant Broadway Dreams for Wish Kids

For most people in the audience, it was another night of “Aladdin” on Broadway. For Jillian Heath and Adonis Reed, it was their Broadway debut.

The two teenagers took the stage with help from Make-A-Wish and Disney.

“I chose this wish because, you know, Broadway’s such a famous stage, and I feel like it would be so amazing to be on Broadway,” Jillian, 14, said.

Adonis, 16, said he found out his wish had been granted when the actor playing Aladdin called him.

“I knew my wish was granted when I saw the actor who’s playing Aladdin, and he said, ‘your wish is granted!'”

Before the performance, Jillian and Adonis got a meet and greet with Broadway’s current Genie, lamps to mark their wishes, professional costume fittings and rehearsals with the show’s team.

“This experience has been just so great. I really liked being able to meet some of the cast, and it was really cool to see what backstage looked like,” Jillian said. “It felt so incredible to be in a professionally-made Broadway costume.”

For Adonis, one of the biggest surprises came when he saw his name on the marquee for that evening’s performance.

“When I saw my name on the marquee, I was so shocked,” Adonis said. “I was like, ‘is that my name?!'”

Their families also spoke about the moment.

“It’s amazing to see my son perform,” Adonis’s mom said. “To see his craft and his work come to life, I’m just over the moon. I’m excited!”

“Seeing Jillian’s light up on stage was just, like, wow,” Jillian’s mom said.

Read more from ABC News.

🌎 WORLD CHANGERS

Muhammad Lila
Muhammad Lila
Muhammad Lila went from covering war zones as a CNN and ABC correspondent to building Goodable, one of the world’s fastest-growing news wellness platforms.

His simple experiment, sharing good news instead of bad, grew his social media reach from 200K to 3.9M followers and led to creating AI technology that’s clinically proven to reduce anxiety and depression by up to 64%.

Now reaching 100 million people monthly, Muhammad’s platform demonstrates how recognizing what people truly need can scale into meaningful global impact. As Muhammad puts it: “That’s the power of goodness—it spreads.“

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