Aida

Elton John's musical began its Spokane stop last night at the INB Center. Aida's production values are great -- a mature cast with strong singing, acting and dancing, fabulous set and stage lighting.

Amneris must be a fun character to play, with elements of Julie Brown's song "I'm A Blonde." Not quite a ditz, but certainly choosing to not be cerebral, her stereotypical growth through the show was nicely played. Aida was just as stereotypically strong, but a few nuances here and there. Both actresses have nice singing voices, and carried their solos and group numbers well. Ramades, well, he was the love interest baring his soul, and his chest, frequently. His acting was a little overwrought for me, and he's got the rock singing style down... which means I could barely understand him.

That's not really his fault. The lyrics almost always get lost in a rock style. Wailing, whining, scooping, slurring, it's all part of the music. It's hard to understand on the cast albums, too. For example, "Fortune Favors the Brave" becomes "farton fayva duh baaaaaaaay." Considering how many times that refrain is sung at the beginning, it's a good thing that it's printed in the program. The staging of course makes the song's intent pretty obvious, but as a wordsmith I love the nuances of lyrics; ya don't get that with Aida, even though Tim Rice ("Sir Tim to you") is pretty clever with a phrase.

And I admit, I'm not a fan of the script. I don't know much about the plot twists in the opera, or how they're presented, but having major plot elements spin on a dime based on one line that comes out of left field is pretty ridiculous. But that's not the fault of this production.

I truly loved the set. A two-story set with balcony, and large window filled with pyramid-shaped panes, clean and smooth lines. Six moving pedestals with ancient-looking statues changed the look enough to distinguish new scenes or locations. Excellent lighting effects through the window changed the moods effectively (I's a sucker for blue sky and realistic clouds). (I have to say I felt sorry for the (new?) spotlight operator who had trouble getting the tight focus on the actor's head and shoulders only. I hear from my lighting-designer husband that it's very tough to get it right from that distance.)

This production incorporated several modern elements into the costumes and props, something that I hear wasn't done in the original production. They were frankly distracting. It's an interesting concept, and they might have worked if the prologue/epilogue were different. The show opens and closes in the present, and in between we are supposed to be transported to the ancient Nubia of the museum exhibit. How can we do that with AK-47s and blue jeans?

Aida is what Jesus Christ Superstar would have sounded like if Tim Rice had written it with Sir John's music instead of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber. The emotional elements are the same -- scenes of the ill and downtrodden begging for their leader to save them; Amneris could have been singing I Don't Know How To Love Him instead of I Know the Truth; the guys all showing off for their leader; the Pharaoh handing down a sentence of death... Different plot, different characters, different love triangle, but similar motivations.

Overall, I'm glad I saw it, I don't need to again.
Photos and positive reviews of this tour are at theaidatour.com
And a terribly honest review online here.