Review: Proctor's a grand setting for the magnificent 'AIDA'

By Carol King, The Schenectady Daily Gazette_November 27, 2006

SCHENECTADY -- Proctor's Theatre was festooned for the holidays this past weekend, with garlands of winter greenery and festive twinkling lights, and the event that took place there was every bit as grand as the 80-year-old building itself. "Aida," based on Guiseppe Verdi's opera as adapted by Elton John and Tim Rice, was presented for two performances, Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.

The production follows the story of the original fairly closely. Timeless themes and characters remain, but dialogue, by Linda Wolverton, Robert Falls and David Henry Hwang, along with John's wonderful tunes and Rice's lyrics, bring this version into the 21st century.

The title character is a beautiful Egyptian slave (Marja Harmon) who is really the daughter of the Nubian king. She has been captured by an Egyptian soldier, Radames, sensitively played by Casey Elliot, who falls in love with her. The problem is that the countries are at war. To bedevil Radames even further, he is loved by the pharaoh's daughter Amneris (Leah Allers) and a marriage has been arranged between them.

These three characters are at the root of the story that explores not only the horrors of war but the question of who are the "we" and who is the "other." Aida refuses to be the other even though she is in Egyptian territory. "The water is a different color where you live," Radames tells her. "No," she responds pridefully, "it is different where you live."

As in any good anti-war story, the play also explores the wisdom of national pride taken to the extreme. But it is first and foremost a love story, a story of star-crossed lovers, and that is the play's haunting center.

Harmon, as Aida, was quite simply spectacular as the noble princess turned into a slave. Her athletic singing voice compelled Sunday afternoon's audience in numbers such as "The Past is Another Land" and "Easy As Life." She and Elliot gave gorgeous life to "Elaborate Lives." Leah Allers, as Amneris, displayed a flair for comedy in "My Strongest Suit" and an understanding of pathos in the meltingly heartbreaking "I Know the Truth."

Talented Performers

Of the large talented ensemble, Dane Harrington Joseph stood out as Aida's fellow Nubian, Mereb, who, though enslaved by Egypt's government, was still a loyal Nubian at heart. His rendition of "How I Know You" was passionate and thoroughly engaging.

Amonasro, ably played by Edward C. Smith, is the Nubian king, Aida's father, and though his role is small, this is no "small" actor. He gave majesty to his part, even as he condemned Aida's love for an Egyptian. DJ Rudd was appropriately and often wittily sinister as Redames' evil father.

Sets, by Neil Patel and lighting by Charlie Morrison were remarkable for their imagination in creating spaces that passed fluidly, thanks to tons of dry ice, into the present, past and future. This was a magnificent production that the Sunday afternoon audience rewarded with an unquestioned and quite spontaneous standing "O."