How was Aida NOT nominated for Best Musical?- Page 2

[Brian07663NJ]

Posted: 9/26/14 at 11:48am

I really enjoyed AIDA. Based on the 4 shows up for Best Musical that year...I didn't care for any of them.

Nude scene?? I hadn't heard that there was going to be one. Can you elaborate please?

[newintown]

Posted: 9/26/14 at 11:50am

There's only one answer to this question - the majority of the nominating committee members didn't think it was good enough to deserve an award. I agree with them; others don't.

[Patash]

Posted: 9/26/14 at 12:16pm

Clearly Aida had several problems that bothered the committee that year. For best musical they were looking for a show which had no book, no dialogue, no singing, and was done to recorded music. Aida failed on all those.

[Broadway61004]

Posted: 9/26/14 at 12:24pm

Brian07663NJ, I don't remember all the details about the nude scene, but I remember an interview with Adam Pascal and Heather Headley when it came out where they talked about how the producers, maybe a week before the first preview, informed them that they had to be nude in once scene and they refused. I think it was supposed to be during or around "Elaborate Lives", but I don't recall.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 9/26/14 at 1:08pm

Clearly Aida had several problems that bothered the committee that year. For best musical they were looking for a show which had no book, no dialogue, no singing, and was done to recorded music. Aida failed on all those.

Probably because Contact still managed to be far more entertaining and creative. I thought it was freaking brilliant. I didn't see any brilliance in Aida outside of Sherie's comedic performance.

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 9/26/14 at 1:36pm

I really dislike the character of Zoser and his songs!

Enjoyed the scored tremendously other then that... and I too found the book to be a bit of a mess

But I still felt like it should have scored a best musical nomination... but what do I know... I haven't seen the other shows nominated that year

[PianoMann]

Posted: 9/26/14 at 1:40pm

"I don't remember all the details about the nude scene, but I remember an interview with Adam Pascal and Heather Headley when it came out where they talked about how the producers, maybe a week before the first preview, informed them that they had to be nude in once scene and they refused. I think it was supposed to be during or around "Elaborate Lives", but I don't recall."

I hadn't heard anything about this before now, but the point in the musical that you're suggesting would be accurate. Right after "Elaborate Lives," the libretto suggestions that Radames and Aida have sex, and the dialogue picks up right afterward.

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 9/26/14 at 2:03pm

I agree with Broadway61004. There was some anti-Disney backlash in the wake of 'Lion King.' At the Drama Desk Awards, it got only ONE nomination: for Heather Headley, and she won. ... Had 'Aida' been up for Best Musical at the Tonys, it would've had a good shot at winning. 'Aida' was up for only 5 Tony nominations, but it won 4 of them (the same number as 'Contact'). 'Aida' was more popular among the Tony voters than the Tony nominators. (I'm still baffled at how Sherie Rene Scott DIDN'T get a nomination for Featured Actress.)

And it was more popular with Broadway theatergoers. Best Musical nominees: 'Contact' (1,010 performances); 'Swing!' (461); 'James Joyce's The Dead' (120), and 'The Wild Party' (6. 'Aida' ran longer than all FOUR of those put together: 1,882 performances.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 9/26/14 at 2:18pm

Being more popular with theatregoers has nothing to do with the Tonys. Smokey Joe's Cafe, Rock of Ages, Mary Poppins, Wicked, Mamma Mia, Beauty and the Beast and even Oh! Calcutta! ran longer than Aida. And plenty of Best Musical winners (Contact included) didn't run as long as Aida. I think Aida's popularity had more to do with its target age demographic and timing. Most of the fans of the show I personally knew were all young Rentheads delighting in a new pop musical with a trendy cast.

[Jon]

Posted: 9/26/14 at 3:32pm

"Considering Contact had no book..."

Tell that to John Weidman, the book writer. It had characters, plot and dialogue. Saying it had no book is like saying Les Miz has no book because everything is sung.