Who thinks Aida was underrated? — Page 2

I hated how they changed the ending though. In the opera it's so much more romantic when she chooses to die with him.

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Count me in as someone who adores this show. I sat down and enjoyed it immensley. For me, that's all I need.
Broadway Blog: 50 Amazing Broadway Performers in 50 Weekdays

Random, but does anyone know why the musical changed Ethiopia to Nubia?

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Haha... I guess "The Gods Love Ethiopia" just doesn't sound very good, now does it?

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Here's some excerpts from Brantley's review. The only thing he praised was Headley.

PRETTY much everything that's right about 'Aida,' the new Disney cartoon pretending to be a Broadway musical, can be summed up in two words: Heather Headley.

Without Ms. Headley there would be nothing for grown-ups to focus on once they get past the visual jolt of the Las Vegas arcade that is passing for ancient Egypt, the work of the eminent set designer Bob Crowley.

Children under 12 may also find sitting through the evening's two and a half hours a chore because the show seems to keep anxiously changing its mind about just to whom it is trying to appeal. Like many Broadway megamusicals today, it has the disconnected, sterile feeling that suggests it has been assembled, piecemeal, by committee.

Mr. John's score for 'Aida' might have been assembled from a 'make your own Elton John song' software program. It has all the memory-grabbing adhesiveness of unchewed gum, but it would work fine as background music for enchanting bits of animated whimsy. (You know, singing sphinxes and the like.)

Mr. Pascal, who emerged as a bona fide matinee idol for the under-20 set (a rare thing on Broadway) in 'Rent,' looks embarrassed to be wearing all those regal robes and armor here, and his movements and line readings are correspondingly stiff and self-conscious. When he sings, he sounds remarkably like Elton John, which doesn't contribute much to his characterization.

Cheap laughs are milked from her desperate attempts to win Radames's love. ('There's a buck-naked princess lying in bed, calling your name,' she screams.) And she is asked to sing lyrics like, 'I would rather wear a barrel/Than conservative apparel.' But she finally turns out to be a monument of political virtue, invested in the cause of world peace. Who, other than Diana, Princess of Wales, could convincingly pull off such a transition?

For those who live to follow the trajectories of rising stars, a trip to 'Aida' may be worthwhile. Everyone else is advised to wait for the cartoon.


I love this review!

Updated On: 8/2/07 at 09:32 PM

for me, nothing could compare to Heather's performance. And Sherie was amazing- such great comic timing. I LOVED this musical when it was on broadway but in retrospect, it's definitely not great...but i think I was 18 or 19 when it was on broadway, and it was one of the first shows that really got me into musical theater.

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When I saw Aida with the original cast, I immediately found it to be terrible overrated. The score was ok, but not great, and far from the best that season (Wild Party and Marie Christine were both immensely superior, in my opinion). The set design was baffling, but the lighting was excellent. With the exception of Sherie, the performances were average. Adam was horribly miscast and gave a rather amateurish performance. Heather's singing was great, but she mumbled her dialogue and spoke the majority of her lines with a rather bizarre affected cadence and tone (you can hear a bit of it on the CD as well). The combination of book, design, lighting and score appeared as if none of the production team met until opening night to see what it all looked like. It was a messy mish-mash of styles with no apparent concept to tie everything together. The addition of the museum scenes only confused me further. Were we to assume it was a modern twist on an ancient story? Then why the contemporary scenes which imply the story takes place in "ancient Egypt" (where nothing looks ancient or even remotely authentic). In a stronger season, I'm not sure the show would have fared as well. I think Rent and Elton John fans are probably mostly responsible for the show's success.

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I thought the lighting design was incredible, and I really liked the song "I Know the Truth."

This thread reminds me that there is a show that I disliked more than THE WEDDING SINGER. I guess it's because I saw both acts of AIDA and only the first act of THE WEDDING SINGER When I saw AIDA my mind kept wandering and, when I again took notice of what was happening on stage, I couldn't figure out if the same musical number was still going on or if it was a different musical number that sounded like almost every other song in the show :)

Completely OVER rated.

The score is dreadful.

The score is dreadful but the book is WORSE. It's amazing that the 3 people involved managed to write that clunker!

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I don't know if I'd call it underrated.

I do know I love that show. It's in my top 5.

How I Know You is my #2 most played song on iTunes as well...And Another Pyramid is #4...

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