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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2022 23:37:51 GMT
Thankfully this production will have a new book, written by Schele Williams and David Hwang. I thought the book in the Broadway production was a snoozefest. It only came alive in the songs, so i'm looking forward to seeing this new version.
Schele Williams writes: "when I recently made some discoveries about the history of its time period, the show broke open for me. It truly is the butterfly effect; subtle shifts have taken a story I love and turned it into
an adventure I can’t wait for audiences to discover"
Because it was a Disney production, they didn't worry about historical accuracy much, and in light of what has happened in the world since 2000, they have gone back to look at it.
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Post by Being Alive on Mar 1, 2022 0:26:08 GMT
I'm sad it took so long for this to happen, as we won't get the trio of Rachel John, Cassidy Janson and Oliver Tompsett
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Post by danb on Mar 1, 2022 6:37:27 GMT
Amneris’ songs have some real belt in them, so I do hope they don’t undercast it with an incapable name, likewise a drippy Rademes. Perhaps they could lure Andrew Polec back, or Tom Francis if ‘& Juliet’ is done by then? Either way I am very excited to see this, especially if they are tackling the limp book.
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Post by mrbarnaby on Mar 1, 2022 6:52:24 GMT
I'm sad it took so long for this to happen, as we won't get the trio of Rachel John, Cassidy Janson and Oliver Tompsett The idea of Cassidy J and Oliver T is too depressing for words. No. |
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Post by robinhanssen on Mar 21, 2022 9:53:53 GMT
Ok everyone, as a Dutch theater visitor I mainly read along, but I would like to help dispel some rumors about the upcoming dutch production. First of all, there was only an audition call in December for the Dutch version. However, you can assume that the production will come, because you can already register for the pre-sale. Secondly, nothing has been confirmed at all let alone about a tour production. I personally very much doubt it will be a tour production. The Tour productions in the Netherlands are not nearly as big as you are used to in the UK. I really think it will either succeed Aladin in the circus theater in the hague or succeed Tina in the beatrix theater in Utrecht. And the latter option seems the most likely to me, Tina has not been doing well in terms of ticket sales for months. And on top of that, there is a constant shortage of replacement actors for different cast members in the event of illness or positive corona contamination. And that, on top of the poor ticket sales, has led to performances being canceled all the time. So it wouldn't surprise me if Tina quits this fall and AIDA replaces it. I can't imagine a tour production for such a big show. And secretly I hope not. Most tour productions in the Netherlands are really stripped-down productions and I can already hear the producer saying at disney that it is becoming much too expensive to tour with a Disney production. That time was once there, but unfortunately not anymore. But apart from that, this is all just speculation on my part. But nothing about the production it self has been confirmed yet except the auditions.
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Post by anthony40 on Mar 21, 2022 15:19:46 GMT
On Broadway, the way the song "Strongest Suite" was performed was simply brilliant! It then made the lyrics and the placement of the reprise all the more poignant!
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Post by Mark on Apr 21, 2022 23:20:40 GMT
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Feb 15, 2023 21:36:17 GMT
Netherlands production rumoured to move to WE in 2024
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Post by theatrefan62 on Feb 15, 2023 21:41:37 GMT
Coliseum next summer?
Also I actually like Like Father Like Son, also don't mind Another Pyramid but it's probably my least favourite. It's one of the few cds I rarely skip a song
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Post by danb on Feb 15, 2023 21:59:02 GMT
Netherlands production rumoured to move to WE in 2024 This is exciting. Ms Steers would act and sing the living crap out of it! Let it be so. |
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Post by theatreian on Feb 15, 2023 22:31:04 GMT
In the Tim Rice show I saw on 10th Feb he mentioned how he hoped Aida would come to the UK soon. They did a song from the show but as I'm not familiar with the show can't remember the title!It was a good song though, that I remember.
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Post by Figaro on Feb 15, 2023 23:06:23 GMT
Who is producing the production in the Netherlands? Would it be another Newsies / Bedknobs type thing where Disney are not the producers?
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Post by anthony40 on Feb 15, 2023 23:07:35 GMT
I saw the show on Broadway with the original cast in 2000 and have been listening to the cast recording in random play ever since.
(To date) I have been waiting 23 years to see it again.
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Post by Mark on Feb 15, 2023 23:13:44 GMT
This album was love at first listen for me. Would love to see a full production
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Post by mrbarnaby on Feb 15, 2023 23:52:00 GMT
Sadly the album is way better than the show. Hopefully this new production improves on that
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Post by bobbievanhusen on Feb 16, 2023 0:36:11 GMT
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Post by viserys on Feb 16, 2023 6:04:34 GMT
It's not a touring production, it will play in the Circustheater in Scheveningen (The Hague) for as long as there's demand. And since it will be in Dutch, I don't think anyone in the UK would pay to see and hear that.
And it's produced by Stage Entertainment, who already crashed and failed in London, but may co-produce. I think they will either risk a proper West End production or do something like a summer run at the Coliseum to test the water.
I love the score and would love to finally hear the show in English and Danielle Steers definitely deserves a big break-through role.
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Post by dan28 on Feb 16, 2023 13:35:54 GMT
Who is producing the production in the Netherlands? I believe it's produced by Stage Entertainment and Disney. It will be a completely new version of the show I think. When auditions were held there was a strictly "No whites" policy. This was very much emphasized, I am not sure why this is because historically it should be mixed, like the previous version. And that policy is not just limited to casting, but also to the material, so they are changing musical arrangements, for example "My strongest suit" will now be a "soul/jazz" version, and sounds like a song from the Supremes, it was performed at some kind of presentation. Also the sets have completely changed. I love this show so I'm curious to see what they have done with it. |
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Post by distantcousin on Feb 16, 2023 13:38:11 GMT
Who is producing the production in the Netherlands? I believe it's produced by Stage Entertainment and Disney. It will be a complete new version of the show I think. When auditions were held there was a strictly "No whites" policy. This was very much emphasized, I am not sure why this is because historically it should be mixed, like the previous version. And that policy is not just limited to casting, but also to the material, so they are changing musical arrangements, for example "My strongest suit" will now be a "soul/jazz" version, and sounds like a song from the Supremes, it was performed at some kind of presentation. Also the sets have completely changed. I love this show so I'm curious to see what they have done with it. "No whites" - wow. They can actually get away with this.... |
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Post by shownut on Feb 16, 2023 14:30:20 GMT
I believe it's produced by Stage Entertainment and Disney. It will be a complete new version of the show I think. When auditions were held there was a strictly "No whites" policy. This was very much emphasized, I am not sure why this is because historically it should be mixed, like the previous version. And that policy is not just limited to casting, but also to the material, so they are changing musical arrangements, for example "My strongest suit" will now be a "soul/jazz" version, and sounds like a song from the Supremes, it was performed at some kind of presentation. Also the sets have completely changed. I love this show so I'm curious to see what they have done with it. "No whites" - wow. They can actually get away with this.... It is being produced in Holland (with a Dutch cast) first so bear in mind that any language that says "no whites" might have been taken out of context or jumbled in translation. However, you are correct that it has been cast with non-white actors. Given that one likely didn't see blonde-headed, pale skinned people lounging around in Nubia or Egypt in ancient times, this makes sense. :-)I haven't heard this new version of "My Strongest Suit" but the original Atlanta production (and I believe The Spice Girls take on the concept album) also had more of a "Supremes" feel. And while I love the Broadway staging, the Atlanta version was one of the funniest things I have ever seen - thanks to Sherie's take on the number (which was very broad) and a few (intentionally) hilariously bad costumes. The entire original creative team are working on this (according to what Tim Rice said on a podcast) so will be curious to see what they do with it. One change, already announced, is a new character, Aida's mother. I think her material and addition may mean that they have written off the father. I am curious if they include some of the things that were cut out of town that actually worked quite well in the Atlanta and Chicago tryouts: a different Act One ending that was vocally outstanding (but with some lyrics that could use a tweak) and an Act Two duet for Aida and Radames, "The Messenger" (which actually was cut before Chicago....I think). Tim Rice has long said it deserved a West End production and I hope this comes to pass. I worked for Disney quite a while back and saw the paperwork from ages ago stating it was going into The Drury Lane but, of course, that never happened. |
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Post by Mark on Feb 16, 2023 14:53:31 GMT
If they’re doing a big production I’d love to see it somewhere like the Dominion.
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Post by anthony40 on Feb 16, 2023 15:05:35 GMT
Depending on how its being staged, that could work.
I remember the theatre we saw it on Broadway was HUGE!
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Post by dan28 on Feb 16, 2023 23:19:05 GMT
"No whites" - wow. They can actually get away with this.... You are correct that it has been cast with non-white actors. Given that one likely didn't see blonde-headed, pale skinned people lounging around in Nubia or Egypt in ancient times, this makes sense. :-)Actually, there are a few historical hypotheses, and nobody knows for sure, because there is evidence of all races being present in that time. In the caucasian/hamitic hypothesis, on the ethnographic map of Africa, showing the supposed Hamites in white. The Caucasian hypothesis is the hypothesis that the Nile valley "was originally peopled by a branch of the Caucasian race". It was proposed in 1844 by Samuel George Morton, who acknowledged that Negroes were present in ancient Egypt but claimed they were either captives or servants. George Gliddon (1844) wrote: "Asiatic in their origin .... the Egyptians were white men, of no darker hue than a pure Arab, a Jew, or a Phoenician. Then there's also the Asiatic race theory, the Turanid race hypothesis and the Dynatic race theory. The black Egyptian hypothesis is 1/5 of the possible scenario's. Even though the casting call was "No whites", it ended up meaning "all black" because there is no Asian or any other race represented in the possible theories present in the cast list. www.stage-entertainment.nl/nl/shows/musical/aida/castIt seems that the role of Aida's mother is named "Kandake". And I wonder if the role of Nehebka is gone too. Maybe the mother will sing her part (the lines in Dance of the robe, etc). Here is a clip of the press presentation by the way: |
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Post by anthony40 on Feb 17, 2023 9:40:07 GMT
I’m going purely from memory here- again, it was over 20 years ago since I saw the show- however the show opens in the Egyptology department of a modern day museum and flashes back to Ramades, leader of the Egyptian army returning from war in Nubia with slaves, including AIDA.
He is engaged to Amneris, however from his end, this is loveless. He gives AIDA to be her handmaiden.
However it is Mereb, Ramades’ personal servant who recognises AIDA for who she really is- a Princess of Nubia.
She begs him to keep quiet for her personal safety however it is when she returns to the settlement where the slaves are their squalid living conditions that she realises that she must speak up, in doing so, reveal her true identity. This is where AIDA sings The Dance of the Robes, with the slaves.
I do remember her father, the King captured when Ramades and his army invaded and AIDA going to visit him in jail.
I don’t remember her mother
Then the problem is Ramades and AIDA falling in love and keeping it from Amneris.
The score and lyrics are great, with My Strongest Suite being a highlight- especially with the way it is staged- initially in a luxurious bathhouse and then on a fashion runway.
The other great thing about this song is, whilst there’s no doubt it’s playful and fun, you soon realise that as the character of Amneris starts to develop and grow, there is a seriousness brewing underneath, especially in the reprise.
Interesting fact- AIDA was released as a concept album, just had Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita and Chess before it (all lyrics by Tim Rice) and on this concept album, My Strongest Suit was recorded by The Spice Girls.
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Post by viserys on Feb 17, 2023 10:04:11 GMT
I have that concept album. And the OBC.
Amneris was/is really the secret core of the show, developing from a shallow rich poppet to a wise young woman and ruler. I think both her change and the frame work of the museum, where Aida and Radames meet again after all these centuries, both work as a little happy end of sorts after the tragic finale taken straight from the opera.
I'm not touching the whole "no whites" thing with a ten-foot-pole...
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