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Aida
Presented by: Whitehorse Musical Theatre
Venue: The Besen Centre
Reviewer: Craig Maloney
Date Reviewed: Saturday 4th October 2008
Elton John & Tim Rice’s Aida is set against a backdrop of
loyalty, betrayal and forbidden love. Aida is the story of
three people who are forced to make difficult choices that will
forever alter history.
Never before has there been such an evolution
of a story through so many art forms. Based on Giuseppe Verdi’s
Opera, which in turn is based on a classic story by Auguste Mariette
(a French Egyptologist) was originally derived from Shakespeare’s
Romeo and Juliet. Aida has become a classic tale unto
itself.
Opening in a modern day museum, two lovers meet
- but is it for the first time? Suddenly the story reaches back to
Ancient Egypt where our tale truly begins. A love triangle between
Aida, a Nubian princess enslaved by the Pharaoh’s rule, Amneris, a
self involved narcissistic princess and Radames, the soldier they
both love. Soon unfolds a tale not only of love but betrayal,
loyalty & courage!
I
went Burwood to see Aida and I had never seen the show before
and didn’t really know what to expect. The Besen Centre is indeed a
grand theatre and a nice atmosphere as was the reception from the
front of house team; it was like being at the Princess Theatre.
The show began and I was excited from the beginning as I didn’t know
what to expect. I was certainly taken on a theatrical journey. Here
are my thoughts; it is always hard to be reviewed on opening night,
so congratulations to Whitehorse for letting me be present on the
opening to review their work.
Whitehorse has again proven that they have the ability to stage a
show with excellent production and technical accomplishments. The
set was minimalist but absolutely fantastic and very clever. Well
done John Burrett and Brenton Staples. I must make a mention in
particular to the River Nile that came from the fly tower and
spilled down onto the stage as one complete canvas; that was
amazing. Then for the next scene, via a few pulleys, it changed into
a tent as part of the market scene and then via a few more pulleys,
it became another tent. The use of the moving images as scenery was
sensational, in particular the swimming scene with the princess and
the sunsets. (Don’t want to give too much away or there will be no
surprises).
The flawless set changes, by a fantastic backstage crew that moved
things around almost invisible, like magic; well done to Michael
Saxon and crew. It is detail like set changes that shows why
Whitehorse is regarded as one of Melbourne’s leading theatre
companies.
The cast were highly competent, consistent and energetic. The show
was well directed; great work Shaun Kingma. My only feedback is at
times diction was not clear and the dialogue was rushed, but it was
after all opening night.
The choreography was amazing!! Tamara Finch, you are inspiring and
your choreography was flawless. The cast moved all in time and was
well executed. You gave the audience different styles and the
transitions were gorgeous; I hope you were proud of your product.
The lighting was magnificent and very cleverly designed by Jason
Lord and Brad Alcock. They used the right balance of moving lights
and lighting on the cyclorama. At times it was a little dark in
places as cast members were not walking into the pools of light,
which I am sure would have rectified after opening night. The wall
of lights during the floorshow certainly left me “gob smacked”.
Sound was a little patchy at times, but overall quite balanced.
Initially the orchestra was a little too loud, but this got better
and a couple of time the cast members had started to sing before the
microphones were turned up. Other than that, well done to the sound
team.
The costuming was good with a nice use of colours and very fitting
for the production. I do want to pay a special “wow” to the costumes
used in the modelling floorshow. They were very interesting and well
designed; the princesses wedding dress also fits the later.
The cast were nice and tight; Shaun Kingma and team where extremely
fortunate to assemble such a great cast.
Our lead female Aida played by Jessie Yates was a lovely actress to
watch she certainly provided the audience with the triple threat
factor. She could sing dance and act, although I couldn’t understand
her diction at times and her dialogue was a little rushed, but a
nice solid performer who sang beautifully. We will be seeing a lot
of her in musical theatre no doubt. Well done Jessie.
Mark Doran who portrayed Radames was a great performer. I warmed to
him as the show went on; initially I found him quite stilted, but in
hindsight I think that was how the character was portrayed as he
warmed up and worked very well with the other leads in the show. He
had enough sex appeal and charisma as the male love interest in the
love triangle. Well done Mark.
Alana Keily as Princess Amneris was nicely played. Unfortunately, I
couldn’t understand her diction in the opening song, ‘Every story is
a love story’ and I never understood the words she was singing, or
the reasons why we were transported back from modern times to
ancient Egypt. Despite this, she was able to deliver the goods for
the remainder of the show and I particularly liked her
interpretation a narcissistic self indulged over pampered princess.
She also had some great costume changes.
Nicholas Kong who played Mereb was an absolute joy to watch on
stage. He had great timing a lovely singing voice, great acting
ability and I couldn’t help but observe him what ever he was doing
whilst on the stage well done.
Jonathon Sebastian gave a knockout performance as Zoser. He is
certainly a fine performer who never fails to please the audience in
whatever role he portrays; a great voice, great sense of stage craft
and his acting was brilliant.
There were many other knock out performances, particularly the
ensemble members of the show. Many times they go unnoticed but I
thought they were amazing - all strong dancers, lovely vocals and
each moment they were on stage they stayed in what ever character
they were portraying at the time, from sitting at the Nile washing
clothes, playing slaves, henchmen and ladies in waiting the to
‘Princess Narcissistic’. But I don’t want to give too much away.
So do yourselves a favour and go and see this brilliant production
of Elton John & Time Rice’s Aida. You certainly will not be
disappointed. You will come away from the show like I did thinking
“wow that was fantastic”. Well done Whitehorse Musical Theatre,
Shaun Kingma, Andrew Leach, Tamara Finch and all of the production
team - truly amazing.
It is running at the Besen Centre -
87-89 Station Street, Burwood until
Saturday 18th October2008
Craig is well known the community theatre circles and has over 20
yrs experience in professional and non – professional theatre. He
has directed over 20 musicals for various companies, numerous
cabaret shows and plays, his highlight shows include; Grease, Sound
Of Music, Annie, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,
Anything Goes and Guys & Dolls - 3 times. He directed and adapted
the script for the premiere production of Priscilla, Queen of the
Desert for Camberwell Theatre Company. He has also directed Cosi,
Face to Face and many other plays, and has just finished
co-directing Phoenix Theatre Co production of The Full Monty.
He recently returned to the stage as an actor playing “Walt
Waldowski” for the Australasian premiere of M*A*S*H for PTC. He is
the current Vice President of the Lyrebirds Awards and will be
co-directing the next awards ceremony.
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