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Also this issue: The Music Man ICE, Baby Camping Trip Artsbeat Greek Tragedy |
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June 27-July 3, 2002
theater
 Pyramid Schemes: Jeremy Kushnier and Paulette Ivory in Elton Johnâs Aida. |
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AidaThrough July 7, Forrest Theatre, 1114 Walnut St., 800-447-7400
Aida, Disney’s Elton John-Tim Rice rendition of Giuseppe Verdi’s richly textured opera about slavery in its many forms -- slavery to the oppressor, slavery to the heart, slavery to duty and family -- pulls off a pretty neat trick.
It's a very entertaining night of musical theater, despite often-incomprehensible lyrics or any truly memorable songs or even lines. (Rice certainly failed to come up with a "Je-sus Christ, Su-per-star" stunner here.)
The whole of Aida is greater than the sum of its parts due to its three stars -- particularly the two female leads -- and Disney's amazing stagecraft.
The title character is a willful Nubian princess who is captured by Egyptians because she failed to heed her father's warnings about not leaving her village, setting off a chain of events that leads to forbidden love, jealousy, betrayal and, ultimately, death (on which Disney manages to put a happy face). British-born Paulette Ivory, who plays Aida, commands the stage with her presence and her strong voice (even if she, like all the other singers, cannot always be understood).
Kelli Fournier, who plays Amneris -- daughter of the Pharaoh and long-suffering fiancée of war-loving captain Radames -- is brilliant as a spoiled clotheshorse of an E-JAP-tian princess. Aida's best moments come during "My Strongest Suit," the over-the-top ode to haute couture that the very foxy Fournier plays with stunning comic panache. By night's end, she transforms from bubbly babe to scorned woman who finally sees her periods of long denial.
Though less of a stage presence than his two love interests, Jeremy Kushnier plays Radames -- the Egyptian captain who captures Aida only to fall in love with her despite his father's machinations to have him marry the daughter of the Pharaoh -- with a roguish bounce and a voice that, at times, sounds eerily like Sir Elton himself, complete with garbled lyrics.
As good as the three stars are, it is Disney's magnificent stagecraft -- in this case, by scene and costume designer Bob Crowley and lighting designer Natasha Katz -- that holds Aida together and keeps it moving despite some slow scenes.
From the opulent production number "My Strongest Suit" to the five-spots-and-stage-smoke solo simplicity of "Easy as Life," Crowley and Katz -- and touring conductor Steven Cosmo Mallardi -- make Aida a banquet for the eyes and ears.
Imagine what this could be like if you could understand more than half the lyrics.
