Aida: launching the soul into heaven on the wings
of love
Aida is a passionate story of love, conquest, duty and
family written in the late 19th Century for the Verdi opera by Antonio
Ghislanzoni from a scenario penned by a French Egyptologist. It delights us
with the splendor, beauty and truth of its heroes and instructs us that there
is nobility in choosing love over all.
The modern retelling by Elton John and Tim Rice delights us
in the same measure but instructs us that choosing love is all. In the
end, nothing is lost. “The spirit always burning though the flesh be torn apart,”
calls the stirring voice of Meera Mohan in the title role above the chorus of
hopeful slaves in “The Gods Love Nubia”
which ends the first act. We agree that spirit trumps force. By the end of the
second act, we see that spirit is force and love trumps all evil intent.
This production is a beautiful illustration of the sheer
magic of story-telling on a stage but may not be for everybody. It offers
several points of harmonic convergence when everything is pulling at full
strength in unison in exactly the same direction: the power and depth of the
acting matches that of the singing, the staging, the lighting, the set design,
the set art, the costuming, all in perfect service of the moment. At those
points, the building lifts off the ground and floats gently into the heavens.
If you like that sort of thing and are not concerned about floating off the
ground (you do get down safely), see this show.
The three principal leads and the two principal dancers are
fiery, ardent, sexy, soulful knockouts. The dancers perform intriguing little
dancing jewels, one done down stage center backlit in near silhouette creating
a slowly evolving physical representation of the struggle between the
unyielding call of duty and the ferocious demands of an overwhelming love. It
was a very moving moment
This beautiful, modern resetting of the tale comes in 23
musical pieces, songs and reprises, ranging from stirring production numbers to
soulful ballads with a stop over at a
comic “My Strongest Suit” . This wickedly funny tune is deliciously given to us
by Kimberly Suskind as Amneris, the shallow but highly fashionable princess,
supported by her chorus of fashion plate handmaidens.
Ms. Suskind’s voice shows a fine flexibility of style and
delivery as she provides the play’s exposition with attention-getting passion
in “Every Story is a Love Story” and later pairs in vocal duets with the other
principal leads in “Not Me”, which ends in a splendid choral burst of ensemble
singing, rich and pleasing. Ms. Suskind’s voice and talent are emblematic of
all the principal pieces of this production: great on their own, mind-boggling
in combination.
Tom Coppolecchia plays Radames, the captain of Pharaoh’s
expeditionary force, with the energetic physicality of young King Arthur
awaiting Guinevere or Tony awaiting Maria. He is earnest, restless and eager.
He covers the stage in three bounds then, unable to take the boring familiarity
of where he is, he bounds back. He has to get moving. He’s looking for
something. When he finds it, his
performance explodes.
His duet with Ms. Mohan near the end of the play provides a
moment not to be missed. Staged and lit like Rodin’s The Kiss pouring out its
impassioned story with soul-piercing harmonies, this stage picture moves the
heart even as a mere memory.
But if anyone can be said to make the show, it is Meera
Mohan. From the moment she walks out on stage to the moment she takes the last
bow, it is all there: the pride, the innocence, the passion, the love, the
conflict, the unbreakable bond of family, the ineluctable urgings of love, all
informing her voice, moves and expressions. To say that she makes every
emotional turn with total clarity and force damns her with faint praise. She
embodies the strength of the Nubian princess. Thank you Ms. Mohan. Your talents
are of the first rank. Your performance rocked.
No single talent carried this show. Nearly every aspect
shone. Respect wants to be paid to the
costumes. They provide the crowning jewel to this grand, visual
spectacle with energizing color and texture. Thanks to designers and makers
John M. Maurer, Diana Gilman Maurer,
Tina Heinze, Laurie Gougher and Kathy Slothower.
The lighting in this show is designed and executed to
profoundly solidifying and homogenizing effect with such inspiring use of color
and projection that I take particular effort to notice and thank designer M.
Kitty Gettlik who, in her spare time, is also the artistic director of the
Kelsey. Five jaw-drops to you, Ms. Gettlik. You created dramatic light with
quick changes in full support of the story, glorifying the stage pictures and
accurately pushing the limit: never once standing out on its own but always
going to the edge in support of the moment. Thank you.
The art in the set painting is astonishing. You can feel the
weight of the stone comprising the Egyptian palace. When set pieces glide
gracefully and effortlessly dancing through the set changes, you wonder how
many slaves tugging on ropes it’s taking to move those great, heavy things.
Thank you Amy Foris Bessellieu for your keen eye and your steady hand.
Pleasing as it is, and doubtlessly worth a great deal more
than the ticket price, it is not a perfect production. The opening pantomime in
which the framework of the story is established is very fast and confusing. If
I didn’t already know the story of the show I would not have gotten the setup
then.
The men’s chorus is weak. The choreography is flat at times,
noticeable particularly in certain full-cast situations where everyone is
simply drawn across the stage in a flat line and stands there for a while,
singing. There are some difficulties
with the individuals in the chorus blending into the glorious, unified voice
they eventually become.
And one more note: the scene wherein soldiers come looking
for Aida to kill her forms the pivotal plot event giving Aida reason for her
final decision. The soldiers come in at full charge and stay there. The tension
implicit in the moment does not get a chance to build. It is played quickly and
the audience doesn’t quite get the chance to appreciate its import fully. Ms.
Mohan takes what she gets and spins it into gold, and the show achieves full
height and stride in a great many spots. But it is not perfect. It does,
however, very skillfully use stage craft to cover many gaps in the field. The
gods love glow paint.
It is good to keep in mind that Verdi and Elton John are
doing the same thing: telling a powerful story to the well-heeled patron with
style and message tuned to the day. Antonio Ghislanzoni’s story gives the nicely
mid-Victorian message that the noble
soul chooses love over life. Elton John and Tim Rice’s version gives us the
optimist’s view. The noble soul earns both. This production earns very high
marks and will exalt your heart and rock your mind.
My reviews are written for
Stage Magazine, a primary source of theatre information in the Delaware Valley. Click here to take a look.
You may also be interested
in reviews of other plays done at the Kelsey and elsewhere.
This link is to a series
on theatre and social change, a 2-part entry reprinted in Stage about theatre for the young in Camden, NJ. Click here to read it. Many people tell me the second piece moved them deeply.
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