#1
Posted: 7/10/04 at 12:20am
Wow, Adam IS back !!!! He sounds absolutely incredible !! He is totally revitalized in the role.
Just got back, and it was great seeing Adam again ! As for the rest of the cast.. Okay, let me first preface this by saying that we saw Heather and Adam 14 times in the opening months of "Aida". To this day, Heather's performance was the best that I have ever seen in any show. Heather owned "Aida". (We also saw Toni Braxton in the role, but I wont even comment on that!) BUT....I did go in with a totally open mind.
Deborah Cox has a very nice voice... best thing that I can say. Just too many times, she seemed to be just going through the motions. Her best was "Dance of the Robe". "The Gods Love Nubia" was okay, but it seemed like she needed the rest of the cast to carry her, and because of that, her voice seemed to get drowned out a bit. I will say that her duet with Adam on "Elaborate Lives" was excellent. As far as her acting.. it was okay. She didnt seem to have the comic timing down. Aida does get a few sarcastic, funny lines to say, but they did not come off as that funny. Her line regarding the "egyptian thread count" drew almost no laughs at all, and it is usually very funny. I dont know, in my opinion, she just doesnt show enough emotion, but the audience seemed to really like her.
Out of the current cast, Eric LaJuan Summers, as Mereb was the best. Excellent voice, and perfect as Mereb.
Lisa Brescia as Amneris did not do it for me. Nice set of pipes (although a few times she sounded like she was screeching), but she didnt seem to play up the materialistic, somewhat ditzy, blond aspect that much.
Micky Dolenz as Zoser... all I have to say is.... OY !!! Hey, I love the "Monkees", but I felt like I was watching a cross between Bill Clinton, and a comedy skit about William Shatner doing Kirk, with a little hint of Kermit the frog for the voice. He basically talks "Another Pyramid" and "Like Father, Like Son" was painful !! I felt bad for Adam during this song.
Overall, not the "Aida" that I was used to, but still lots of fun, and great seeing Adam, who had a huge number of people waiting for him at the stage door. He stopped to sign, and take pictures, and was very cordial.
How does the song go.... ? "you dont know what you got till its gone"...
Sherie, Adam, and Heather !!! OH MY !!!
Just got back, and it was great seeing Adam again ! As for the rest of the cast.. Okay, let me first preface this by saying that we saw Heather and Adam 14 times in the opening months of "Aida". To this day, Heather's performance was the best that I have ever seen in any show. Heather owned "Aida". (We also saw Toni Braxton in the role, but I wont even comment on that!) BUT....I did go in with a totally open mind.
Deborah Cox has a very nice voice... best thing that I can say. Just too many times, she seemed to be just going through the motions. Her best was "Dance of the Robe". "The Gods Love Nubia" was okay, but it seemed like she needed the rest of the cast to carry her, and because of that, her voice seemed to get drowned out a bit. I will say that her duet with Adam on "Elaborate Lives" was excellent. As far as her acting.. it was okay. She didnt seem to have the comic timing down. Aida does get a few sarcastic, funny lines to say, but they did not come off as that funny. Her line regarding the "egyptian thread count" drew almost no laughs at all, and it is usually very funny. I dont know, in my opinion, she just doesnt show enough emotion, but the audience seemed to really like her.
Out of the current cast, Eric LaJuan Summers, as Mereb was the best. Excellent voice, and perfect as Mereb.
Lisa Brescia as Amneris did not do it for me. Nice set of pipes (although a few times she sounded like she was screeching), but she didnt seem to play up the materialistic, somewhat ditzy, blond aspect that much.
Micky Dolenz as Zoser... all I have to say is.... OY !!! Hey, I love the "Monkees", but I felt like I was watching a cross between Bill Clinton, and a comedy skit about William Shatner doing Kirk, with a little hint of Kermit the frog for the voice. He basically talks "Another Pyramid" and "Like Father, Like Son" was painful !! I felt bad for Adam during this song.
Overall, not the "Aida" that I was used to, but still lots of fun, and great seeing Adam, who had a huge number of people waiting for him at the stage door. He stopped to sign, and take pictures, and was very cordial.
How does the song go.... ? "you dont know what you got till its gone"...
Sherie, Adam, and Heather !!! OH MY !!!
"Get a job!!!"
"Thank you... honey"
(. As far as Adam goes... the more I think about it tonight... this is the best that I have ever seen him as Radames !!!
In which case, the casting of Simone and Patrick was highly inappropriate - but I still enjoyed them, and thought they worked well together. Maybe it's my awareness of the opera that allows me to think of them as being portrayed by older people. Obviously Heather wasn't that old, and certainly many of the replacements haven't been either. I guess I just didn't think they came across as 'ancient.'
