AIDA 25

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AIDA 25

Posted: 3/24/25 at 7:41am

I can't believe it's the show's 25th anniversary. I had a work trip canceled to Atlanta so missed the tryout but caught it on Broadway in previews and went back I think 5-6 times.

I fear we'll never see it again, especially in a first class staging but it's such a great score.

AIDA 25

Posted: 3/24/25 at 8:53am

Aida is still one of my all time favorite Broadway productions. Heather Headley deserved every ounce of praise and recognition she received from a beast of a role that she made look effortless onstage.

The transition from the present to the past and the past to the present was beautifully done and carried by Sherie Renee Scott in her Amneris as narrator mode.

The staging at times was simple, but it didn't need much to make those songs soar. The light pyramid at the start of Act II as Headley, Scott, and Adam Pascal sang their hearts out to A Step Too Far is forever burned in my memory.

And that final sequence left me in tears every time I saw it.

AIDA 25

Posted: 3/24/25 at 9:13am

Does Disney own the license to produce it?

AIDA 25

Posted: 3/24/25 at 9:19am

I have been begging for a revival for what seems like 24 years. It is time. Somebody DO IT please! Or at least get Headley back to Broadway stat.

AIDA 25

Posted: 3/24/25 at 2:31pm

The original finale, The Messenger, is one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard… but it’s also unfortunately so pro-death and pro-suicide that Disney said “you’ve got to cut this one.”

AIDA 25

Posted: 3/24/25 at 2:34pm

darquegk said: "The original finale, The Messenger, is one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard… but it’s also unfortunately so pro-death and pro-suicide that Disney said “you’ve got to cut this one.”"

You can watch "The Messenger" here.

AIDA 25

Posted: 3/24/25 at 2:37pm

There was desire to have a revival. The workshops and UK version under the director at the time, The Wiz's Schele Williams, went poorly. Rumor is Disney is seeking new leadership on the project.

Updated On: 3/24/25 at 02:37 PM

AIDA 25

Posted: 3/24/25 at 2:38pm

CoffeeBreak said: "There was desire to have a revival. The workshops and UK version under the director at the time, The Wiz's Schele Williamswent poorly. Rumor is Disney is seeking new leadership on the project."

And it would likely go better if they mainly return to the original book...

AIDA 25

Posted: 3/24/25 at 3:52pm

The Broadway original book, or the touring/licensing version revised by Hwang? I thought the Hwang book was relatively good, and can't speak to the original.

#10

AIDA 25

Posted: 3/24/25 at 4:43pm

Aida was the show I took my out-of-town visitors to in the 2001-2004 era and they always enjoyed it. It was also the show I saw on NYE the year I spent the night in Times Sq. Just walked out of the matinee and stood there for nine crazy hours. I would welcome this show back to Broadway.

#11

AIDA 25

Posted: 3/26/25 at 1:31pm

I saw this in Atlanta during development a few times. Sherrie and Heather were phenomenal. The Radames fellow, not so much. Later I saw the show a few times on Broadway, and it was improved upon. I **LOVED** the reincarnation theme at the end, much improved on the wonky Atlanta ending.

I would SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO love a revival of this!

please delete this user account

#12

AIDA 25

Posted: 3/26/25 at 1:44pm

I will never understand how Contact was nominated, let alone WON, the tony award for best musical over this.

My father (AIDS) My sister (AIDS) My uncle and my cousin and her best friend (AIDS, AIDS, AIDS) The gays and the straights And the white and the spades

#13

AIDA 25

Posted: 3/26/25 at 6:47pm

Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande said last November (during the infamous Wicked press tour) that they would like to do a revival of Aida - and I would LOVE to see that come to fruition after Wicked: For Good. Ariana is a fellow Sherie Rene Scott stan and a Cynthia Erivo performance is always welcome in my book.

Hell, throw in Jonathan Bailey as Radames, and you have the hottest ticket of the season.

….now, I’m sure this in reality is a pipe dream (between schedules and everything), but I’ll take a BCEFA performance!

I am big. It’s the REVIVALS that got small.

#14

AIDA 25

Posted: 3/26/25 at 7:10pm

GiantsInTheSky2 said: "Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande said last November (during the infamous Wicked press tour) thatthey would liketo do a revival of Aida - and I would LOVE to see that come to fruition after Wicked: For Good. Ariana is a fellow Sherie Rene Scott stan and a Cynthia Erivo performance is always welcome in my book.

Hell, throwin Jonathan Bailey as Radames, and you have the hottest ticket of the season.

….now, I’m sure this in reality is a pipe dream (between schedules and everything), but I’ll take a BCEFA performance!"

With this dream cast, it could go back to the Palace.

A Chorus Line revival played its final Broadway performance on August 17, 2008. The tour played its final performance on August 21, 2011. A new non-equity tour started in October 2012 played its final performance on March 23, 2013. Another non-equity tour launched on January 20, 2018. The tour ended its US run in Kansas City and then toured throughout Japan August & September 2018.

#15

AIDA 25

Posted: 3/26/25 at 7:44pm

OMG, I never thought of that casting, but Cynthia could DEF pull off Aida, and Ariana could be a perfect Amneris. THIS WOULD WORK!!!!

GiantsInTheSky2 said: "Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande said last November (during the infamous Wicked press tour) thatthey would liketo do a revival of Aida - and I would LOVE to see that come to fruition after Wicked: For Good. Ariana is a fellow Sherie Rene Scott stan and a Cynthia Erivo performance is always welcome in my book.

Hell, throwin Jonathan Bailey as Radames, and you have the hottest ticket of the season.

….now, I’m sure this in reality is a pipe dream (between schedules and everything), but I’ll take a BCEFA performance!"

please delete this user account

#16

AIDA 25

Posted: 3/26/25 at 11:41pm

“ I will never understand how Contact was nominated, let alone WON, the tony award for best musical over this.”

I think we rewrite the history of Aida a bit too much in this board. Entertaining as hell, a whole lot of fluff, great costumes and score, but best musical it ain’t.

#17

AIDA 25

Posted: 3/26/25 at 11:49pm

It’s just wild that a show that not only gets nominated for but wins Best Score doesn’t receive a Best Musical nomination. Does anyone know how many times that has happened?

#18

AIDA 25

Posted: 3/27/25 at 9:20am

Call_me_jorge said: "I will never understand how Contact was nominated, let alone WON, the tony award for best musical over this."

It was backlash for Disney (Lion King) winning Best Musical over Ragtime a couple years earlier.

#19

AIDA 25

Posted: 3/27/25 at 9:40am

Oh, even at the time we were viewing this with rose colored glasses. The original cast was phenomenal and made the show work in spite of itself. The score gave that cast so much to work with and the costumes/lights added a great sense of movement to the piece.

I remember sitting through Taylor Dayne at the start of her replacement run and realizing how awful the writing was for Amneris (outside of letting her belt her face off) until I Know the Truth. You have no reason to care for her, and that's rough for 1/3 of a love triangle. And then you start to question why Radames was ever with her since the power of royalty never seemed to appeal to him. And then you question how his father still has that much power over him when he so blatantly defies social norms and goes for Aida over and over again. And the dominoes keep falling.

I also music directed a production that let me see the rough stitching in that book up close and personal. If you don't have the budget for spectacle and 5 powerhouse contemporary belters (Aida, Amneris, Radames, Mereb, and Nehebka) + a strong vocal ensemble, the show doesn't seem as impressive.

Still, I love it in spite of itself, and specifically that Broadway production. An updated book with that score would go a long way.

#20

AIDA 25

Posted: 3/27/25 at 11:23am

The original was majestic compared to the woke, feminist, racist, men-hating glasses that Schele Williams was wearing when creating the recent revival.

"And then you start to question why Radames was ever with her since the power of royalty never seemed to appeal to him"

I wish questions like these were still relevant. In this latest version he wasn't even with Amneris nor with Aida. They didn't need men.

Williams butchered all character arcs, texts, storylines, build-up of the show, the songs, everything. She demoted the book.

https://forum.broadwayworld.com/thread/Schele-Williams-directed-AIDA-Revival-News-Discussion-Thread

Updated On: 3/27/25 at 11:23 AM

#21

AIDA 25

Posted: 3/27/25 at 1:37pm

I hope the rumors about seeking new leadership are true. To start, the Schele Williams production cut the entire opening and entry into the story... all of the changes were disappointing and embarrassing and would leave any Aida fan feeling let down and deflated. There are so many of us who've pined for a revival for soooo long. I'm not against some book tweaking, but the Schele Williams vision was beyond misguided. Here's hoping they find a good team to finally bring this back to life (and soon!!).

Updated On: 3/27/25 at 01:37 PM

#22

AIDA 25

Posted: 3/27/25 at 2:05pm

“It’s just wild that a show that not only gets nominated for but wins Best Score doesn’t receive a Best Musical nomination.”

Not really wild when you take into account the year. Two of the best musical scores were ineligible. The Wild Party was really the only other option for score (The Dead was never winning it), but it was arguably just a weak category that year.

#23

AIDA 25

Posted: 3/27/25 at 2:24pm

darquegk said: "The Broadway original book, or the touring/licensing version revised by Hwang? I thought the Hwang book was relatively good, and can't speak to the original."

As Mickey3309 says just above, the most recent Williams production's book. I have no problems with either the book that opened on Broadway or the touring version.

#24

AIDA 25

Posted: 4/4/25 at 4:32am

Was that the Netherlands version slightly more recently, did I read of that?

Seb28 said: "The original was majestic compared to the woke, feminist, racist, men-hating glassesthat Schele Williams was wearing when creating the recent revival.

"And then you start to question why Radames was ever with her since the power of royalty never seemed to appeal to him"

I wish questions like these were still relevant. In this latest version he wasn't even with Amneris nor with Aida. They didn't need men.

Williams butchered all character arcs, texts, storylines, build-up of the show, the songs, everything. She demoted the book.

https://forum.broadwayworld.com/thread/Schele-Williams-directed-AIDA-Revival-News-Discussion-Thread

"

please delete this user account

#25

AIDA 25

Posted: 4/5/25 at 8:02am

Yes, Disney presented it as the new blueprint for all upcoming versions worldwide, including Broadway and London.

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