Profile for HausOfSharon

I unfortunately have to second, and third, all the things that have been said about the production by those who have been (un)fortunate to have seen it. How brave are we.

Most of it has been said, but I want to weigh in regardless. 

Let me first state that I sadly never got to see the original production of Aida, aside from a few slime tutorials, but I have been to both concert versions that were staged in the Netherlands. One being a 20 years anniversary concert by the original cast (minus Chaira Borderslee, the OG Aida, probably because she has left the musical theatre world and has a reputation of being extremely difficult to work with), and the other a staged open air concert with April Darby (the current Amneris) starring as Aida. Those two shows prepped me into getting really, really excited for the shows return to the Netherlands. Although the reported 'new take' on the material made me nervous, especially when you look at 'new takes' on beloved material such as Les Mis and Phantom. 

Boy, let me tell you... I thought it to be an absolute nightmare.There I was in my seat, eager to finally hear Every Story Is A Love Story live within a proper production. But there was Amneris walking around in present day clothes inside of the museum together with Aida and Radames, which instantly made me confused on how everything would transition with Amneris not being part of the museum's antiquities. And did we transition. But at the type of warpspeed that would make the Millennium Falcon jealous. I knew all about the original book of the show, but this opening left me grasping at straws of reet so flimsy you wouldn't find them anywhere near the Nile delta. It's like we were plunged into Egypt without a warning, explanation or any clue as to what we were witnessing. To put it mildly, this was as DIY musical to figure out if I'd ever seen one. The cutting of Every Story and Fortune Favors is the type of atrocity that will have Elton John spinning on his yellow brick road.

Speaking of atrocity, the completely changed musical arrangement of My Strongest Suit is even more confusing. Where there already was a complete lack of pace within the first act, they decided to slow us down even more with a Beyoncéfied/Mariah (didn't) Carried rendition of the otherwise very upbeat and funky tune. Also I am not one to say that the costumes in the original production were anywhere near historically accurate, but in this version Amneris' handmaidens are running around with silver iridescent cowboy boots as options for her to wear. I repeat: SILVER. IRIDESCENT. COWBOY BOOTS. i seriously wanted to give up at this point.

A side note and side eye is also directed to the choreographer who decided to add just the single impromptu interpretive dancer who twirls around a still standing Aida while she delivers The Gods Love Nubia. It is highly distracting and takes away any sentiment within the song. 

The love triangle doesn't get any room to play out properly, in any sort of way. Aida doesn't need Radames, which she makes abundantly clear ; Radames and Amneris are now childhood friends who seem to be forced towards the altar by Zoser so there is no romantic liaison between them; and nobody wants one another badly enough for the audience to be on their side. 

I'm just going to fast forward to the ending of the show, where the two lovers are buried within the tomb together. Which in the original was played out on stage by both actors. (This sentence matters and will smack you around the ears when you read the following). 

Within this production, there are no actors on stage to act out the reprise of Enchantment Passing Through. Aida and Radames step onto an elevated platform surrounded by a tube of beads hanging from the ceiling and as soon as that is done, they switch to A VIDEO PROJECTION OF THE TWO. Whilst they are singing the tube 'fills' with sand as they get buried alive together. The sand fills the tube up to their waistlines, they embrace and the video projection turns into a museum's statue of two lovers embracing and Aida and Radames are already roaming the museum in their modern day clothes. 

Tbh, I found the use of video projection during a moment that is so critical and highly emotional to the musical nothing but insulting. It feels lazy to watch a projection of the two main characters, whilst they are backstage changing into another costume. It even makes you questing if the audio was live or pre-recorded.