Any news on the AIDA TOUR!!!- Page 4

[GilmoreGirlO2]

Posted: 10/9/06 at 1:08am

Saw the show tonight in IL and loved it. Not crazy about all of the restaging and different set (I really didn't like "Another Pyramid"), but, truthfully, after "My Strongest Suit", I didn't notice too many differences.

All three leads - Aida, Radames, and Amneris - had wonderful voices. Truthfully, Casey (Radames) had one of the best male voices I've ever heard. Marja (Aida) also is in my top voices heard live. I was so excited whenever a song Aida sang in started - I truly could have listened to her sing anything.

The weakest link was by far Radames' father. Any time he had to hold a note out it was sharp. Very painful to listen to. He was also very awkward in his movement and not a strong actor. I also wasn't a huge fan of Mereb - he had a great voice, but was not a very good actor and almost looked uncomfortable being onstage.

The ensemble was amazing. An extremely talented cast all around! I talked to the 3 leads after the show and each was extremely thankful and willing to talk with everyone and take pictures. I would DEFINITLEY recommend seeing this show! To hear the leads' amazing voices is enough of a reason, but the whole production is great!

[singtopher]

Posted: 10/9/06 at 10:35am

I saw it on Saturday, and it was pretty awful. The three leads have awesome voices, but Amneris and Aida overacted a lot. However, Radames was very good. The ensemble is made of talented dancers, though the choreography was sloppy at times. The ensemble singing was painful to listen to. Most of them were simply shouting. The staging didn't do anything for the story. Zoser...well...I don't know what he was doing up there, but whatever it was, I was sitting in my seat cringing.

The set/lights/costumes were great.

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 10/9/06 at 10:42am

I will cover the tour for BWW on 10/18 on it's stop at Commerce Arts Bank Center, Sewell, NJ. I assume this is the same touring cast. (I've been in and out of town and not paid much attention to details). But I'll be there to cover next week.

[SmeagolxIsxSexy]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 11:24pm

I just got back from seeing it tonight in Jersey, and it was amazing! I wasn't expecting it to be as good as it was.

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 10/20/06 at 11:33am

Glad you liked it. I'm afraid I don't share your enthusiam. Can't help feeling that if you liked what director Gayle Edwards did to Jesus Christ Superstar you'll like what this director did with AIDA.

I will be writing up a review this weekend for BWW.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 10/20/06 at 11:34am

This show deserves better, from what I can tell from a lot of these posts.

[TheaterCookie]

Posted: 10/20/06 at 12:32pm

Found a website that has 3 songs from the Aida Tour cast, so you can hear all three leads.

http://www.broadwayinknoxville.com/aida.php

Hope you guys enjoy these, I did. They're AWESOME!
Updated On: 10/20/06 at 12:32 PM

[Sinne]

Posted: 10/20/06 at 2:59pm

Saw it last night in Sewell, NJ. Awesome performance. Chorus was great. Amneris was awesome. Didn't like the modern customes - Pharoah's soldiers had guns? Orchestra was terrific.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 10/25/06 at 3:58pm

those songs are pretty good, although abviously recorded live. I wonder how they got permission to put those on the website. it would be neat if they had all of the songs available to download since someone obviously has them all recorded.
Updated On: 10/25/06 at 03:58 PM

[JamesMacon]

Posted: 11/14/06 at 11:14pm

Just got back from seeing the show. Although I did not like some of the modernizing, overall, it was quite an experience.

Both Marja (Aida) and Casey (Radames) were simply fantastic. Listening to Marja sing was such an experience. She put so much into each song and was very passionate about her character. I was speechless. And Casey just blew me away. Not only was he gorgeous, but he sang the hell out of his songs. They both had great chemistry and were a pleasure to watch.

I did not like the guns, the jeans, and especially, those yellow buckets with the mops. Some of the lighting was a little to flashy and modern, and the background was very different. A lot of the setting was different from that of New York, which made me a little sad. And yes, Zoser was not the best.

Overall, it is worth seeing, if anything, for the music and the two leads. I got goosebumps listening to them sing each time.

[christine_c]

Posted: 11/15/06 at 12:18am

I'm going on December 29th in Baltimore. :)

[C is for Company]

Posted: 11/15/06 at 12:45am

I hope to see the Binghamton stop.

[spayment]

Posted: 11/16/06 at 11:02am

I saw the production of Aida at the N. Charleston (SC) Performing Arts Center last night, Wednesday, November 15. Having seen the original cast on Broadway and a very strong road production several years ago, I have at least some basis for comparison.

First, words are inadequate to describe how painful it was to watch DJ Rudd in the role of Zoser. He was awkward, wooden and completely out of sync with the rest of the performance. His singing voice is quite frankly excruciating to listen to. I can not recall another instance in 30 yrs of musical theatre that I felt so compelled to throw rotten produce at a performer. It was simply awful. It's curious that Mr. Rudd's headshot is the only one missing from the Aida tour website. I imagine taht he fears reprisals from public recognition. (I certianly would.) His bio indicates that his favorite role is as "father to Chrissy". He should really focus all of his time on that role rather than subject any additional members of the public to his version of Zoser. (or any other character role that is required to sing, speak, dance or move.) I'm really not kidding. It was that bad. Our group of six attendees at the performance simply could not believe that Mr. Rudd manages to make a living at this, let alone that others might actually place him in a position to do so. I'll stop now but I understand that I'll be sitting her in slack-jawed amazement at the utter improbability Mr. Rudd's continued employment as a performer. I imagine that it's a good thing that he rarely performs in the same place for more than 2 nights in a row.

As for the rest of the production, it was adequate but a pale shadow of the original. Marja Harmon was the only real standout in the cast but her somewhat muddy vocals often made it difficult to understand many of the lyrics. Leah Allers, while lacking in vocal power, actually surprised me in the second act with a moving performance after what amounted to a silly, amateurish performance in the first act. Casey Elliott has a strong voice but lacks any vocal finesse and created a version of Radames that reminded me more of a drunken frat boy on holiday rather than a proud and able captain and warrior.

Finally, the "whole world out of time", "machine guns & plastic mop buckets" modernized set design is jarringly mis-thought. Perhaps the director/producers/set designers watched the movie version of JC Superstar a few too many times? Pyramids, Egypt & Nubia at war, Kings, Pharaohs, Princesses, sailing vessels & slaves in copper mines just don't jibe with modern weaponry and lap dancing. Still, I only mention this as an afterthought... with monumental effort, I could dismiss these misguided details... But the agony of DJ Rudd's performance remains... oh the horror... the horror.

I wouldn't discourage anyone from seeing the show. It's still a nice evening of entertainment and there are shining moments which are worthwhile. But don't leave the theatre thinking that you've really seen Aida as it should be performed. At the very least, buy the original broadway cast soundtrack so that you can truly appreciate the way it should sound. (Tony winner Heather Headley has a voice that will move you to tears and raise the hair on the back of your neck!)

And perhaps send an email to the producers at [e-mail] if you agree that DJ Rudd (Zoser) needs to find a new occupation.

[popular_elphie]

Posted: 12/2/06 at 1:58pm

Bumping this thread up.

I saw the tour of Aida in Roanoke, VA last night from the front row, and I thought it was absolutely amazing. I could not believe that the leads (but especially Casey Elliott, who is also very nice to look at!) were not on Broadway in something already. Marja and Leah were also extremely fantastic.

I will agree with everyone else that the plastic yellow mop buckets caught me off guard, and were a little weird to see in ancient Egypt, but they didn't take away from the performances at all. I didn't get why Zoser's little group were dressed like Michael Jackson impersonators. Mereb was dressed very modern, in a blazer, t-shirt, jeans, and cap, but I didn't even really notice. It still doesn't take away that the performers were great in their roles, and they put on a very good production of the show.

I thought the set was amazing for them to have to pack it up and take it to a different city almost every night. The costumes were good, too - I especially liked Aida's. Judging from the pictures I've seen of the Broadway production, the outfit looked a lot nicer. And Marja's hair is a lot better than the production photos - it's grown out, and down.

spayment, I think you're being a little harsh on DJ Rudd. Yes, he was a bit stiff, and his diction definitely needs to be worked on, but he was still serviceable and didn't pain me to listen to him.

[JustChillin8908]

Posted: 12/2/06 at 2:21pm

I agree with spayment on DJ Rudd. I cringed everytime he opened his mouth...

[EponineAmneris]

Posted: 12/2/06 at 4:49pm

I saw this on November 18th. I can't believe I forgot to post my review- seeing as how it is and always will be one of my favorite shows of all time.

Leah, Marja and Casey are all fantastic. How they have never been in a show before this, I'll never know

Leah is in my book just as good as Sherie with a bit of her own twist on Amneris.

Where was Marja when they needed a decent cover/replacement for Heather?! *lol*

And Casey is the perfect hero: handsome with a great voice. He could pull off a fierce Chris in MISS SAIGON and Roger in RENT.

LOVED every second of it. Much as JOSEPH and JSC "modernized" their sets and costumes, so did AIDA. And it works. Although I am a die-hard AIDA OBC/original design fan and the 1990's revival of JOSEPH is my favorite, there is still wonder and greatness in the new versions.

[Lizzya9]

Posted: 12/2/06 at 4:53pm

I'm going to see it Jan. 4th, 5th row Orchestra! Soo excited = )

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 12/2/06 at 10:21pm

Unnoficial Opinion....

I saw the touring production in Oct. I didn't officially review it for BWW becasue of some technical reasons. I will say that the tour is very different than the Broadway and Broadway tour which I saw both before they closed.

Granted, this tour is non-equity and cannot afford the Disney-fied spectacular sets. But this is not what makes the huge difference. I have to say that the director took some bold steps to modernize the characters and choreograhy and it does not do justice to the overall theme of the show.

Since when do Egyptiains carry riffles ? And what is with the "lap dancing" chorus. Also many of the costumes look like they are from "the Gap".
All glaring differences from the original Broadwy production that is simply captivating. It really detracts from the ambiance of a piece we are supposed to beleive is set in early Egypt.

Regarding the cast: Well, you'll have to judge that for yourself. As I mentioned, there were some techinical problems at my performance, so I really didn't think it was fair to review what I saw and heard. Also the company never sent programs to the theater, so I can only mention a few cast names from memory. ( I tried to match them up with the AIDA on tour site,though)

AIDA ( Marja Harmon) was very compelling, amazing vocal range and power, but her mike or her accent destorted every song. I hope it was the mike Pity! The rest of the cast is "servicable to good". Radames ( Casey Elliot) was good, though some of his acting was frail and a few spots in vocals were weak. He seemed unsure of himself and simply didn't have enough strength and charm to wooo the Nubian Princess, imo.


The Zoser ( DJ ?) was dreadful. weak actor. He had no clue what to do with the role. Kind of like Joel Grey singing Elvis! Painful!

A pleasant surprise is found with Amneris (Leah ?) very pretty voice and decent feel for the role, (though it's not all that difficult to pull off a "princess blind to what's going on about you and wondering what to wear to the festivals"). Definetly not in the league of Broadway's Sherie Renee Scott, though. She powehoused her way through Amneris attracting lots of praise.

The chorus is STRONG and the choral numbers well executed especially The Gods Love Nubia.

The sets are minimal, a mobile Egypt that seems to be the standard " what do you want for a one town each night show". Guess that's the best they could do, though.

It's a community theater level production with some interesting directional choices.

This is not a formal review...just my take on the night.


Pati b
BWW "Philly"

Updated On: 12/2/06 at 10:21 PM

[Freckles1329]

Posted: 12/3/06 at 11:13am

I'm going to see it Dec 14 in Syracuse!

[spayment]

Posted: 12/7/06 at 11:20pm

Thank heaven that it's not just me... it's been a month since the performance and I'm still have DJ Rudd nightmares... (Shudder...)
Updated On: 12/7/06 at 11:20 PM

[Joeyrj23]

Posted: 12/8/06 at 12:23am

jesus christ...get some class.

[RunswithScissors]

Posted: 12/8/06 at 6:06pm

Updated On: 12/9/06 at 06:06 PM

[spayment]

Posted: 12/20/06 at 10:33am

Gosh Joey, That is quite a thoughtful and well constructed argument you've put together there. Your mum must be so proud. Do you have a differing opinion or are you strictly limited to monosyllabic insults?

Respectfully,
Shawn


Joeyrj23
Swing
joined: 4/1/05 Rudd-erly Horrible!
Posted On: 12/8/06 at 12:23:57 AM

jesus christ...get some class.

[pdjennings]

Posted: 12/20/06 at 12:25pm

They just canceled Baltimore's run. I had front row center tickets -- and was taking my mom as her Christmas present. Thanks a lot, F'ers!

[Kev]

Posted: 12/20/06 at 12:28pm

count me in as one who had great seats to the Baltimore opening, blah.