Disney's Aida is a visually stunning show, and this road production looks almost the same as the Broadway original. The sun-drenched oranges, reds and pinks and the sparkling stars in the dark night sky are beautiful and exotic. If only Elton John's score had as much luster. John clearly is trying to expand his range. "Easy as Life" is a worthy dramatic monologue, "The Gods Love Nubia" is a stirring anthem, and "Like Father Like Son" is a dramatic argument that advances the plot while rousing us. But most of the rest is conventional rock. The big ballad of love that the inter-racial couple, Aida and Radames, sing in Act One and reprise just before their deaths in Act Two just doesn't rise to the moment -- neither John's melody nor Tim Rice's lyric. To a tune that echoes Amanda McBroom's "The Rose," they sing "We live elaborate lives...I'm so tired of all we're going through." How unromantic! It doesn't even make sense. "Too many choices tear us apart." Not so. Just one basic choice: your lover on one side; your country, job and fiance on the other. Verdi's version, "O terra addio..." ("Oh earth, goodbye") packs more of a wallop. This Disney Aida also errs in going for cheap laughs at a fashion show. Showing the princess Amneris as an airhead is funny but lessens her stature in the serious romantic triangle.
The best news from this road production is that Jeremy Kushnier as Radames is even better than Adam Pascal in the original Broadway cast. Kushnier's lower range is warm and sweet, and his top rings clearly. Paulette Ivory is very good as Aida, but Kelli Fournier as Amneris uses an artificial style that distorts the music and obscures what seems to be an attractive timbre underneath. Ivory is British born but the others aren't, so their phony English accents distract and interfere with their communication to the audience. (That accent is something that many rockers do without thinking, but it's about time they start asking themselves if it serves a useful purpose.)
One final complaint. Although most real Egyptians have dark complexions, this musical portrays them all as white folks, in contrast to the black people of Nubia. The whites are shown as the bad guys, while the Nubians are portrayed as sympathetic victims. This turns the conflict into much too much of a black-and-white issue. It's offensive. It also stacks the dramatic deck and lessens the anguished struggle of a man torn between love and duty.
