AIDA- Best of The Best

Posted: 4/21/05 at 6:29pm

I just recently purchased the OBC cd and I love it... but who do you believe was the best.


I know alot of stunt casting happened towards the end but who did you love in these roles... I loved Idina's Strongest Suit... it was awesome but Sherie is awesome n Heather Headly is just amazing and Adam Pascal is amazing too.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 4/21/05 at 6:32pm

I'm glad you like the CD!

Best cast, you mean? As Amneris, Sherie, hands down. I also saw two other truly amazing ladies - Lisa Brescia and Felicia Finley, and they filled her shoes beautifully. I never saw Heather Headley; I saw her first understudy in October 2000. Of the Aidas I did see, Saycon Sengbloh was my favorite, but I have to give props to Deborah Cox on two accounts - on her vocals, because she REALLY could sing those songs, and because of the stunt-cast Aidas, she was probably the best. And as Radames... nobody beats my Adam. No one.

Posted: 4/21/05 at 6:38pm

Yes... I meant Best Cast...

They did alot of stunt casting towards the end didnt they?


Did anyone see Idina as Amneris?

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 4/21/05 at 6:40pm

Yes. They cast Toni Braxton, Michelle Williams (from Destiny's Child) and Deborah Cox as AIDA. They were the final three to play the role. Micky Dolenz (from The Monkees) played Zoser. Boo.

[Thenardier]

Posted: 4/21/05 at 6:40pm

Maricel is the best Amneris.

[ShuQ]

Posted: 4/21/05 at 6:41pm

I never saw Heather, but I still think she's the best, just from hearing the CD. I saw Saycon and absolutely loved her...she was so awesome. Jeremy Kushnier was great as Radames and Lisa Brescia was fantastic as Amneris. Can't imagine ANYONE being better than Sherie though.

Where can I find a clip of Idina singing 'My Strongest Suit'?

Posted: 4/21/05 at 6:42pm

I remember Mickey cause I walked by the show once or twice while he was in it and I remember him from The Monkees reruns.

Was Michelle any good?

Posted: 4/21/05 at 6:45pm

http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=tarnishedone- Just go down alittle and you'll see Idina's name and just click on My Strongest Suit... its live and its kinda in and out of sound but its great.

[EponineThenardier]

Posted: 4/21/05 at 6:46pm

Best Amneris (I wish I could ahve seen Sherie, should probably would've been my favorite). Fav Aida is Paulette Ivory (no one can compare!) and fav Radames is Jeremy Kushnier

[mabel]

Posted: 4/21/05 at 6:46pm

OBC all the way. Out off all the various other folks I saw (Aida: Heather, Paulette Ivory, Maya Days, Simone, Deborah Cox; Rademes: Adam, Jeremy Kushnier; Amneris: Sherie, Kelli Fournier, Taylor Dayne, Idina Menzel, Felicia Finnley, and Lisa Brescia) there were only one or two that I felt were quasi-comperable to the OBC (hell, even throw John Hicock and Damien Perkins in there too). I loved the show (saw it like 8 times or something crazy) but w/ a sub-par cast, the wear lines and faults were really glaringly obvious. None of the Aida's I saw had anywhere near the passion that Heather had (I'd say my 2nd favorite was Maya Days, who despite her quieter/more subdued performance, still had something appealing about her...I don't really remember much about Paulette Ivory). In addition, the ladies playing Amneris (aside from maybe Idina and Kelli) lacked the comic timing that Sherie weilded over that part...just my humble opinion.

Updated On: 4/21/05 at 06:46 PM

[ShuQ]

Posted: 4/21/05 at 6:48pm

Whoa mabel, you saw everyone!! Thanks ClumsyDude.

[Feathah]

Posted: 4/21/05 at 6:50pm

For me, no one beats the original cast. As far as replacements go, the only replacements I thought were good played Amneris - Felicia Finley, Mandy Gonzalez, and Idina Menzel were my favorites.

[Thenardier]

Posted: 4/21/05 at 6:50pm

N/M - the dash was there....not that it maatters

Updated On: 4/21/05 at 06:50 PM

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 4/21/05 at 6:51pm

Michelle sounded like a dying chipmunk.

Posted: 4/21/05 at 6:51pm

I preferred the original touring cast: Simone, Patrick and Kelli.

[mabel]

Posted: 4/21/05 at 6:52pm

I'm embarassed to say that I saw it so many times! And this was mostly while I was still living at home (not at school in the city). But I did get those cheapie rear balcony seats for most of them. It all kind of went like...okay, saw it once w/ the full OBC-really loved it, so we caught it again w/ cheap seats on the next trip; then it was Sherie's last, then I'd heard Taylor was awful, so I got an obstructed seat to see her; the tour in Boston w/ some friends; then Heather's last; a comp to see Idina; Adam's 1st last, and FINALLY the last show (I think that was it)...*shakes head*

Updated On: 4/21/05 at 06:52 PM

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 4/21/05 at 6:54pm

haha, I love that you call it his first last. I usually just call it his "last," emphasis on the quotes. "I'm leaving, you're going to miss me SO MUCH!!" Few months later - "oh wait, I lied. I'm back."

[jezzebelle]

Posted: 4/21/05 at 6:58pm

Heather was amazing. She was the best thing in AIDA (no offense to your Adam, emcee) and her Tony award was very well deserved. She had off the charts chemistry with Adam and she just shined. Sherie was a fabulous Amneris as well. Yes, OBC all the way for me too.

[mabel]

Posted: 4/21/05 at 7:00pm

Haha...yeah, he just went on hiatus for a few months! I know a lot of people trashed him, but I actually really liked Adam in the role. I was lucky enough to see him every time I saw the show on Broadway (though I wouldn't have minded seeing Will Chase!) It was all those damn last shows that caught up w/ me. It was like, well, we went to Sherie's last, couldn't miss Heather's last, and after catching those, can't miss Adam's "last." I felt like the show had gone so far downhill at that point, I said I wouldn't go back until the last show, and I didn't. There was just something that was missing when the OBC started drifting away. *big sigh*

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 4/21/05 at 7:05pm

I saw Richard Blake on for him once, the Spring before his "last." Richard was really talented, and you could tell, but it wasn't the part for him. He was too girly and pretty for it. Cheyenne was the only one for whom I'd have been willing to give up one of Adam's performances. He was really the only other person who played it in New York that I would've been willing to see. It was a year and a half between by first and second times, and then another almost ten months before I saw it live again. I was afraid to go back after Adam "left," because I knew things were just tumbling downhill, and they were doing so quickly. I couldn't stick to my "I hate pop stars" boycott forever, since I had to get my fill before closing. And, the return of the man was a nice luring tool. I spent more money than I should have to go to closing, and I don't regret any of it.

None taken, Jezzebelle. He can't stack up to everybody.

Updated On: 4/21/05 at 07:05 PM

[musicnmath]

Posted: 4/21/05 at 7:08pm

No words to describe Heather's performance. Just phenomenal. Loved Sherie (Adam was out that night). But Heather was just beyond-words wonderful. She deserved her Tony, though I was so disappointed the show wasn't nominated -- just so we could hear her sing!!!

[mabel]

Posted: 4/21/05 at 7:16pm

I look back at Aida as a guilty pleasure. With a great cast, the problems aren't really as obvious (to me at least...I fully realize it got lambasted by the critics, etc) BUT, with that being said, I honetsly don't understand why it wasn't nominated for best musical. Let me preface this by saying I didn't see either show, but Swing and James Joyce's The Dead?!?! The number they did from The Dead was dreadful (from what I remember, but I haven't watched that Tony tape in YEARS) and Swing was a revue. How could a book musical (critically snubbed or not) be looked over in favor of Swing?!?! Oh and what was up w/ Laura Benanti as Singer #3 getting nominated over Sherie?!?! Sorry, but that's just nutty as far as I'm concerned.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 4/21/05 at 7:21pm

I guess it's kind of mine, too, mabel. Having much more "experience," so to speak, now than I did when I first saw it, I almost feel a little bit hypocritical in saying that it's my favorite show. I think if I had been older when I was first exposed to it, and was more apt to seeing flaws, I wouldn't have loved it so unconditionally. By the time I had learned to be more critical, I was seeing the show through such a biased lens. I was able to recognize its problems, but I was already so blindly in love that I couldn't look at the show objectively. I was aware of the problems, but I was able to overlook them - even though I knew they were there, it didn't make me love the show any less. In a way, it IS my favorite, but logically speaking, it probably shouldn't be. I fell in love when I was thirteen, and never fell out.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/21/05 at 7:25pm

I saw the original cast. Sherie was the only I liked about the show.

[Thenardier]

Posted: 4/21/05 at 7:25pm

But, EM, it obviously entertained you. Isn't that the point somewhat?