Aida
Confession: I am a Broadway snob. Living in close proximity to New York City has spoiled me. Before last night, I had never seen a touring musical, regional musical, nothing except for musicals on Broadway. (and school plays, but I’m not quite sure that counts for this confession). Oh, and not only am I a Broadway snob, I am a theatre snob. Before last night, I had never seen a show farther away from the stage than the third row. I figure if I’m paying 110 dollars for tickets, I am going to get really good seats… Sure, tours have come to my area, but I always turned up my nose at them, why bother when I can get the real thing? (And also, the theatre district of Manhattan is an hour away from me with no traffic; the closest touring shows come to a theatre an hour and a half away, so again, why bother?)
But last night (okay, afternoon, it was a matinee, another confession, never seen one of those either), I saw Aida at the Surflight Theatre in Beach Haven, NJ. We sat in the second to last row of the theatre, and to be quite honest I wasn’t expecting much. I mean, it was regional theatre. *scoffs and turns up nose in true Broadway-snob fashion* I was wrong, I was oh-so wrong . . . it was amazing, absolutely amazing. The sets were done by the same person who did them for the Broadway production, and although they were obviously not the same quality, they amazed me for what they were. The sound system was really high quality (or so it sounded, I know very little about sound systems), and if I closed my eyes it was exactly like Broadway.
Now on to my favorite part, the actors:
Radames . . . eh. He was the one downer of the show, but then again, I was comparing him to Adam Pascal. And very very few men ever stand a chance of living up to Adam Pascal, and he was not one of those men. He played the cocky, full-of-himself Radames of the beginning of the show amazingly well… but there was no character evolution. He stayed that way the entire time, so when he and Aida were singing ‘Elaborate Lives,’ both in the middle and at the end, it was almost laughable as there was no chemistry between them. This actor (the cast list is no longer online and I don’t have my playbill, so I don’t know anyone’s name . . . I’m sorry, I really should) had a good voice, not Broadway quality, but still quite good, and again, I was comparing him to Adam Pascal. If it had been any other person in the original cast, I would probably be singing praises of this particular Radames. But live up to Adam, he did not.
Aida was amazing. Her voice was Broadway quality and sounded exactly like Heather Headley. If it wasn’t for the fact that they looked completely different, I would think it was the same person. Her acting was fabulous, really showed the evolution and conflict of the character… unlike some people . . .but I digress
Mereb and all the other bit people amazed me as well. The man playing Radames’s father (Zozer? Zosher? I think the latter one) was a very pleasant surprise, he had a great voice, deep baritone that actually worked for the character. Mereb delighted me, if not reminding me a lot of Dobby the House Elf, but I love Dobby, so that was fine. The actor was great, great comedic timing, dancing, singing; his voice was a pleasant surprise too.
And finally, the highlight of the show: Amneris. This actress was incredible, the best in the whole show. She could sing and belt so well, it was easily Broadway quality, beyond a lot of people I’ve seen on Broadway. The character evolved so well, which I always thought onstage must happen somewhat randomly, as the role is slightly underwritten in my opinion… but she managed to make it seem real. When she walked out from behind a pyramid after ‘Written in the Stars’ it was heartbreaking. The role reminded me a lot of G(a)Linda from Wicked; sort of a bubbly character who you wouldn’t expect to have any depth who them surprises you by actually being really deep. And, the actress who played Amneris would make a perfect G(a)Linda, she had the voice and I can easily see her making it on Broadway
Aida’s closed now, I do hope they do it again some other summer, but it was absolutely amazing and is making me rethink my Broadway snobbery . . . the tickets to this show were about a quarter of the price of Broadway tickets and the show was amazing and would have been worth twice that.
-ponine
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