AIDA 25

[mitchern]

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. 

[trentsketch]

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. 

[Wick3]

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

Does Disney own the license to produce it? 

[Melissa25]

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.

 

[darquegk]

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.”

[Jordan Catalano]

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.

 

[CoffeeBreak]

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

[ChiDoc]

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...

[darquegk]

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.

[Phantom4ever]

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. 

[shomeika]

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! 

 

[Call_me_jorge]

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.

[GiantsInTheSky2]

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! 

[ACL2006]

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.

[shomeika]

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!"

 

[BroadwayNYC2]

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. 

[seaweedjstubbs]

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?

[Phantom4ever]

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. 

 

[trentsketch]

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. 

[Seb28]

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

[Mickey3309]

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

[BroadwayNYC2]

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. 

[ChiDoc]

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.