Attracting multiple qualified singers and dancers to an ensemble, believable actors who can sing, and a talented multi racial cast are not small feats for the local stage.
Bethlehem's Pennsylvania Playhouse version of Elton John and Tim Rices AIDA, directed by Laurie Zane Weider, makes a valiant attempt to make this work.
The production has much to enjoy but a few areas that seemed lacking in value for a Pennsylvania Playhouse production.
If you are not an opera aficionado, you may have never heard of the Verdi classic, Aida, although it is one of the top twelve operas performed worldwide.
It was written in 1871 as a commission and premiered in December of that same year in Cairo.
The current production is loosely based on the same story but does not carry with it the music of the opera. It is a somewhat "Disney-fied" version of that classic tale.
In a nutshell, the Egyptians have captured and enslaved Aida(Charlene Jean), a Nubian princess.
Her refusal to back down and be a slave captures the eye of Radames, (Charles Weigold III) an Egyptian military commander. Radames is drawn to Aida and struggles to choose between his love for her and his loyalty to the Pharaoh (Bill Bynon).
To complicate the story, Radames is engaged to the Pharaoh's daughter Amneris (Kendra ODonnell), setting up a rather deadly love triangle, which is illustrated with a rope LED at one point in our story “--cute but a not as powerful as the lasers in the Broadway production.
The playing out of this triangle consumes Act 2 and ends where it began, in a modern day museum.
The show is a mixture of Elton John pop and Broadway, and it can be challenging for singers to master.
The most powerful singer of the evening was Ms. Jean as Aida hands down. She mastered both soft and loud sections and could hold a note on pitch even when singing with someone who was a bit off. Her vocal professionalism outshone the rest of the group.
My hope is she gets to reprise this role again some day. She expressed the pathos of her character very well. I would have liked to have seen more of it but her staging was directed more toward another section of seating in the Playhouse somewhat challenging space.
Special mention MUST be made of Deborah DHaiti as Nehebka--“ a small role but her harmony and outstanding vocals during a few poignant solos left me wanting to hear more of her.
Ms. ODonnell as Amneris has a pleasant voice in quieter sections but her attempts at belting or a belty mix were sadly off pitch throughout the evening.
It was a problem shared by several other actors as well “ perhaps it is the curse of the first Saturday show.
Weigold as Radames acting skills were fairly strong but this reviewer felt he fell into imitation of Adam Pascals Radames (which I did have the pleasure of experiencing) a bit too much for my taste. I really wanted him to develop his OWN Radames “ he has both the acting chops and the vocal capability to do so.
The ensemble numbers, especially The Gods Love Nubia, were well done and harmonized well. Kudos to them!
The intimate setting at the Playhouse does not require amplifying the actors with microphones “ a practice that should be applauded!
The orchestra, under the music direction of Pravin Matthew, while overall well done, was a bit overpowering for some of the weaker singers. There seemed to be more than a few spots where they were either ahead or behind the singers. As they are hidden from both performer and audience, that problem can be somewhat expected. Volume issues should be able to be controlled as the production matures. There is no mention in the program of set, and for good reason. Although I am a big fan of minimalist sets, I dont really like to see sets that look like they belong in a middle school production in a house that usually wows us with set design. The crew coming on and off was jarring at times and took a lot longer than it should have.
There seemed to be some lighting issues in this performance as well since there were several instances of actors being poorly lit (or not at all).
Costuming was interesting at times but also seemed to lack some cohesion throughout.
While it can be tough to re-create a masterpiece, this show was entertaining overall. In this DIRECTORS CUT season at Pennsylvania Playhouse, it is a lively show that ran on Broadway for years.
Simply put, it is worth a visit to Bethlehem.