AIDA revival?

[ACL2006]

Posted: 2/28/19 at 6:55pm

I've been wanting a revival of this for a while. Would love to see it reworked and staged differently. Broadway revival by 2022?

 

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Rialto-Chatter-Could-Disneys-AIDA-Be-Headed-Back-To-The-Stage-20190228?fbclid=IwAR2Fk2JwaRWAz5YuneKQmKEEoR324Gr9g9a5z13RiDkzay1dpXMOMwggLKQ

Updated On: 2/28/19 at 06:55 PM

[Theatrefanboy1]

Posted: 2/28/19 at 7:04pm

I have been waiting for this for so long.

I want Aaron Tveit as radames. Cynthia Erivo as Aida and I used to want lea Michele as amneris but I would probably now more likely enjoy Megan hilty or annaleigh ashford or Bonnie Milligan Or someone else

Updated On: 2/28/19 at 07:04 PM

[darquegk]

Posted: 2/28/19 at 7:15pm

If they'd go back, write more music and make it a show that tilted more towards rock opera with some book, as opposed to a score with some rather clunky book scenes between numbers, I think it could be really something.

[MannPhan24601]

Posted: 2/28/19 at 7:18pm

David Cook as Radmes please ....

[Scarlet Leigh]

Posted: 2/28/19 at 8:26pm

I'm torn on this one. I loved the original but upon seeing a tour of the show I saw, it made me kind of see the flaws in the book of this one. I think it would need a little touching up to make it work and would need a good designers to maybe not make it as big and loud and at times a bit laughable as it was the first time around. Again, nothing against the original. Was one of my top 10 favorite shows at the time it came out but I recognize now it was far from perfect.

[BwayLB]

Posted: 2/28/19 at 9:56pm

I have been wanting to see Aida for a long time!

Updated On: 2/28/19 at 09:56 PM

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 2/28/19 at 10:38pm

Theatrefanboy1 said: "I want Aaron Tveit as radames. Cynthia Erivo as Aida and I used to want lea Michele as amneris but I would probably now more likely enjoy Megan hilty or annaleigh ashford or Bonnie MilliganOr someone else"

I didn’t know that I wanted Megan ability as Amneris until just now. Thank you for that. 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 2/28/19 at 11:47pm

Tveit as Radames makes me moist.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 2/28/19 at 11:58pm

Would this be a restaging or a full on revival?

I’d love to see Michael Arden or Alex Timbers helm this

Updated On: 2/28/19 at 11:58 PM

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/1/19 at 9:50am

Would this be a restaging or a full on revival?

New staging is the only way I could sit through it again.  The original staging was one of the silliest messes I've ever seen.

[bwayrose7]

Posted: 3/1/19 at 9:54am

I'd LOVE for this to be true, but I actually wouldn't be that interested in seeing Cynthia as Aida - I'd lean towards Ariana DeBose instead. Cynthia's talented, but just grates me the wrong way.

[WldKingdomHM]

Posted: 3/1/19 at 1:21pm

I don’t think this would work. The OBC was just magic.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/1/19 at 1:53pm

WldKingdomHM said: "I don’t think this would work. The OBC was just magic. "

 

Oh, good. The old “the original cast was great so a revival would never work” argument that has never and will never make any sense since (and I f’king love Aida) faaaaar better shows have produced amazing revivals. It literally happens every. single. year.

 

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 3/1/19 at 2:03pm

Mister Matt said: "Would this be a restaging or a full on revival?

New staging is the only way I could sit through it again. The original staging was one of the silliest messes I've ever seen."

I really enjoyed Bob Crowley's work on this, but I'm a fan in general. I thought there were moments of camp in the design like Amneris' closet and the costumes in the runway sequence, but I felt like it was appropriate for the camp aspect of that particular song. I thought the majority of the design was beautifully simple, abstract and effective like most of his work.

[Vespertine1228]

Posted: 3/1/19 at 2:08pm

There is no way, in 2019, they could get away with having all of the Egyptian characters played by white actors again. There just isn't. It was wrong when they did it in 2000. I wouldn't count on Aaron Tveit as Radames any time soon.

Aida was my first Broadway show, so it has a special place in my heart, but I don't see a reason to revive it. At least not right now.

[JP2]

Posted: 3/1/19 at 2:23pm

Was just coming into post that. It's 2019. Having someone like Tveit in an AIDA revival seems tone-deaf. 

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 3/1/19 at 2:36pm

I was wondering if they might do it like Aladdin and just have an entire cast of racially diverse actors.

[Kitsune]

Posted: 3/1/19 at 2:37pm

Ah, Aida. I was *obsessed* with this show when I was 17, so it has a special place in my heart. I was lucky enough to see the original production with most of the OBC (minus Sherie Rene Scott).

I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for Aida. In retrospect, I think what really worked was: 1) The cast, particularly Heather Headley, and 2) the gorgeous production design and direction. I've re-listened to the cast recording as an adult. For me personally, the weaknesses in the score have become much more apparent with age.

I haven't seen a staged production since I was a teenager, but as an adult I think I'd be more bothered by the dynamic of a black enslaved woman falling in love with her white captor.

All this being said...if there was a tour or a Broadway revival and it was done well, I'd be there.

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 3/1/19 at 2:59pm

Constellation Theatre in DC did a production this year which had an all black cast. Quite frankly, I enjoyed their production much more than the Broadway one. Their set was simple and yet effective and they cut the ridiculous museum setting bookending the show. Amneris just opens the show with her song and it ends  with the promise that their love will bring them together again ... no museum meeting. I'm never going to be a fan of the Elton Johns score , which I find quite ugly - but I found the entire musical, with a much simpler set and staging, to be quite moving.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/1/19 at 3:28pm

I thought the majority of the design was beautifully simple, abstract and effective like most of his work.

I usually love Crowley's work and there were some visually lovely moments in Aida, but on the whole, it was like the entire creative team didn't meet until after opening night.  One thing I'll never understand was the specific intentional use of the museum bookending the show.  Why make such a literal reference to ancient Egypt and then "flash back" to sci-fi disco Egypt?  It was all over the place.  Sure, the swimming pool and fashion show were campy fun, but then you get to the laser "pyramid" (It's a love triangle!  get it?!?!) and the "prison" consisting of 70s optical art with painted cowering black men floating around in it and I have no idea why Egypt or Nubia are really relevant to the setting any more.  Headley did blow the roof off the joint when she sang, but her schmacting was either mumbled or affected with bizarre INFLECTIONS of DRAMATIC IMPORTANCE.  Pascal did a fine job of playing Roger in sci-fi disco Egypt.  Sheri Renee Scott pretty much was the entire show for me.  Her performance was perfection and she made me forget that I was supposed to be taking the show way too seriously for what it was.

[Fan123]

Posted: 3/1/19 at 4:50pm

I'm not very familiar with this show, but did the original Broadway production's white 'Egyptian' enslavers work in the sense of serving as an analogue for the historical US equivalent perhaps? I don't think the show's Egyptians have to be cast as white, but I could see it as a potentially interesting take. Most likely it wouldn't be the right time for such an approach if the show were revived now though.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/1/19 at 5:11pm

I'm not very familiar with this show, but did the original Broadway production's white 'Egyptian' enslavers work in the sense of serving as an analogue for the historical US equivalent perhaps?

I think that might have been the intent...maybe?  But no, that concept was clouded by all the bright colors and modern designs that didn't really evoke the setting.

[Alexander Lamar]

Posted: 7/28/21 at 7:22pm

Is this still happening?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/28/21 at 7:35pm

On the “Aida” cast special on Stars in the House, Schele Williams said it was still happening.

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 7/28/21 at 9:55pm

very excited to see what Schele Williams does with it. think it would really benefit from being toned down in a smaller house .

Its a hokey show but has a powerful score, and seeing Headley sing it was other worldly. Erivo would knock it out of the park, but I agree, is a rather predictable choice and would demand comparison to Headley.