[/caption]It's no secret that I'm a big fan of musicals. I love the theater, I love the songs and marvel at how elaborate scenes are played out in such amount of space, and I have such high respect for theater performers who perform everything live - no cuts and second takes here.
The latest musical I was able to watch was Elton John & Tim Rice's Aida. Staged at the Carlos Romulo Auditorium in RCBC Plaza, my entire family and I had pretty good seats at the center loge. The musical started a couple of minutes late, but the wait was tolerable.
Honestly, aside from the brief summary that the story is a love story between 2 princesses and a soldier during a time of war between Egypt and Nubia, I didn't know what to expect. So it was a pleasant surprise to see that it wasn't all mush. :P The play starts in a modern setting, inside a museum housing Egyptian relics, we see two strangers who seem to be taking interest in each other more than the exhibits. The statue of a female pharoah, Amneris comes to life, and talks about how 'Every Story is a Love Story' and sets the background of how "This is the story, Of a love that flourished, In a time of hate", when Egypt was at war with Nubia, Aida's homeland.
The scene changes and we are now in Egypt, seeing Captain Radames coming from a successful expedition from Nubia. We see a group of Nubian women captured by his men, bound to be slaves in Egypt. One of the women fights back and out duels most of his soldiers. Because of her spirit, she catches Radames' eye. This girl, is Aida - who unbeknownst to Radames, is the daughter of the Nubian King.
We are also introduced to the other characters of the play. Zoser, Radames' father and chief minister of Egypt, plotting against the king so Radames can ascend to the throne. Amneris, the pharaoh's daughter, princess of Egypt, Radames' fiancee, who acts all shallow and vain but is actually just projecting this image to hide her insecurities, Aida is presented to her as her handmaiden and they become good friends. Mereb, a Nubian servant Radames saved, recognized Aida as his princess and tells the other slaves about her presence, and of course the Pharaoh, who announces that the long-delayed marriage of Radames and Amneris will push through in 7 days. Staged in a time of war between Egypt and Nubia, the love story unfolds between Radames and Aida, with the songs carrying so much emotion you can't help but believe in the connection the two of them have, and also shows us how they are supposed to choose between love or loyalty. Along the way, we also see the other Nubian slaves, who call to Aida to free them from slavery, and Aida's father, Amonasro, who was also captured by the Egyptians. Mereb and Aida bribe the guards so they can visit Amonasro, and planned to use Radames' wedding to Amneris as a distraction to help him escape. Amonasro finds out about her relationship to Radames, demanding her to "cut him out of her heart" and be loyal to Nubia.
Zoser also finds out about Radames and Aida's relationship and warns Radames that it will interfere with his plans to take the throne, they have a heated argument and Radames proclaims that he doesn't care about being pharaoh. Zoser then orders his men to find Aida and kill her, but when the soldiers arrived in the Nubian camp, another slave (Nehebka) sacrifices herself for the princess. This only strengthens Aida's resolve to be loyal to her people and goes out to find Radames that they can no longer be together. When they meet, Radames tells her he will cancel the wedding, do anything to be with Aida. Knowing that this will endanger the plan to help her father escape, she tells him that he needs to go through with the wedding, in spite of what she feels for him. He agrees with the condition that she escapes back to Nubia, that there will be a boat waiting for her at the docks. They say their goodbyes, unknown to them, Amneris hears the entire thing and prepares herself to go through with a wedding that she now knows is a lie.At the wedding ceremony, a guard rushes in and informs everyone of Amonasro's escape. Radames rushes to the docks and finds out Aida's true identity. They have a fight, but Aida assures him her feelings are real, Zoser and some guards arrive and Radames allows Amonasro to escape. Zoser mortally wounds Mereb, and in a tear jerking moment, the injured Mereb utters "I always wanted to see Nubia again, take me home." before dying in Aida's arms. As guards arrive to arrest Radames and Aida, Radames advises his father to flee, and he does, but was later captured and we can assume was brought to justice.
Aida and Radames were brought in front of the pharaoh and Amneris, the punishment for treason is to be buried alive. Amneris, in an act befitting of a future pharaoh, persuades her father to show mercy to the couple, by asking them to be buried together in one tomb. As the punishment is carried out, and they are slowly deprived of light, Radames assures Aida "If I have to search for a hundred lifetimes, I will find you again, Aida."
We then come back to the museum, and Amneris continues the tale that during her time as pharaoh, the death of Radames and Aida brought a time of peace between Egypt and Nubia. She then watches, the two strangers get together, the reincarnations of Radames and Aida, meeting again after a hundred lifetimes, proving how love knows no bounds, and that they were destined to be together.
The story is very beautiful, and the songs are amazing, but I did notice some areas for improvements. Ima Catro's portrayal of Aida, although fierce and strong, lacked the emotional connection with the audience for us to want to root for her. Haji Alejandro had the voice, and delivered some strong scenes, but was not sinister enough for the role, the pharaoh was too strong for someone who was supposedly sick and dying of poison, and lastly and my biggest criticism for the play, is the dancing. Take Zoser's men for instance, although the choreography was fun, the dancers were not together at times and not giving their all, which just made the dance disjointed and a little awkward to watch. The Dance of the Robes was better, but would leave you wanting more if you're a fan of shows like So You Think You Can Dance. Myke Salomon's portrayal of Radames was the most consistent throughout the play, but Rachel Alejandro as Amneris was still my favorite.
Overall, Aida is a wonderful addition to the broadway plays staged in Manila. I highly recommend you to come watch it, tickets are still on sale through Atlantis Productions, or Ticketworld. Shows run until July 10. :)
