Aladdin, North American tour presented by Broadway in Boston at Boston Opera House, through August 5. 866-870-2717 or Broadway in Boston.com

You do not have to rub the Genie's lamp to know that the Boston Opera House "Aladdin" will fulfill your very wishes. The North American tour of the 2014 Broadway musical has the same kind of energy and magic that have propelled visually stunning Hub visits by the 1994 Disney hit "Beauty and the Beast."

In fact, Disney buffs will be struck by the extent to which "Aladdin" seems to hark back to themes and character pairings drawn from its predecessor.

"Beauty and the Beast" may possess a more compelling story than "Aladdin" does, but the handsome, high-flying latter will make Opera House theatergoers feel as though they are on a starry magic carpet ride themselves. At the same time, the grand-standing Genie has a combination of charisma, cleverness and humor unparalleled in Disney shows.

In some ways, of course, the two Disney musicals are a study in contrast. For starters, look to the French ambiance in "Beauty" and Middle Eastern atmosphere in the fictional Arabian city of Agrabah in "Aladdin."

As for the title heroes, the Beast as original Prince rejects the beggar woman in the former while the title petty thief of the latter may steal food but kind-heartedly gives his bread-which curiously looks like a Jewish challah bread-to the counterpart beggar woman. The Prince's entourage also struggles to be human again, while Aladdin's good friends empathize rather than share his fortunes.

Belle, as everyone knows, is a book lover at heart-who embraces the Beast's library-while Jasmine in "Aladdin" only peruses a book in the early going.

Even so, the similarities are striking. Both musicals do have father-daughter dynamics-with suitor-rejecting Jasmine dealing with a less understanding Sultan parent. The counterpart villains have their short buffoonish sidekicks-chauvinistic hunter Gaston his adoring Le Fou in "Beauty" and power hungry Grand Vizier Jafar his emulating Iago in "Aladdin."

Both heroes experience respective moments of truth-the Beast softening to and loving Belle and Aladdin being true to his inner being and freeing the Genie as promised.

If the Chad Beguelin book does not make very likeable Aladdin as compelling as the Beast heroically vulnerable in combatting Gaston, it does turn the Genie into an iconic and jazzily stylish figure. Admittedly, Genie's flashy work professing his ties to Aladdin during the number "Friend Like Me"is as much of a standout as Aladdin and Jasmine's romantic magic carpet ride surrounded by stars in Natasha Katz's exquisite lighting.

Under director and choreographer Casey Nicholaw's expert guidance, Michael James Scott proves a show-stopping hoot as Genie-whether singing with remarkable resonance and great panache on "Friend Like Me" or dancing with alternating grace and expansiveness at various moments.

The leads and featured actors are also stellar. Clinton Greenspan has all of Aladdin's elusiveness and agility as a thief and all of his genial ease with his friends and Jasmine. He and Isabelle McCalla as Jasmine have the right chemistry and display strong voices-particularly on the celebrated duet "A Whole New World."

McCalla captures Jasmine's attitude with her Sultan father-played with proper tenacity by Jerald Vincent-defending her intention to marry someone she truly loves. Jonathan Weir catches Jafar's malevolence, and Jay Paranada has the right slapstick-edged nastiness as Iago. Gregg Barnes' evocative costumes capture the opulence of palace life and the colorful simplicity of everyday citizens.

Ultimately the magic of ''Aladdin" lies in its lively Alan Menken-Howard Ashman, Tim Rice and Chad Beguelin score and Casey Nicholaw's vivid choreography. Pay no mind to the show's fairly thin book. Scott's luminous Genie and the polished tour really deliver.