Elton John and Tim Rice’s ‘Aida’ at Broadway Theatre of Pitman: Dazzling costumes, set design, and vocals distract from mundane story
The singing and dancing are spectacular, the monumental set design and lighting effects even more so. Yet the plot verges too near soap opera, and the musical numbers are too forgettable, to make "Aida" a top-tier musical per se. But the Broadway Theatre has dazzling spectacle in store.
With its orchestrated songs, color, lights, dance, and flashy staging, Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida at the Broadway Theatre of Pitman is commanding. Full of moving parts, the show captures your attention, employing dazzling spectacle to distract you from a melodramatic story line.
The set design of director John D. Smitherman tells its own story. A 40-foot backdrop, etched with a stylized mystical eye, hangs from the ceiling. Sporadic floor-to-ceiling light shows by designer Shawn McGovern highlight its looming presence. Two 15-foot pyramidal triangles move with changing scenes, fleshing out a sense of the monumental.
This dramatic and cinematic setup serves a larger purpose: the three lovers Aida, Radames, and Amneris look small amid these engulfing environs. You feel their helplessness, especially when they sing solos. Entrapped by circumstance, the lovers take decisive action but cannot alter their fate.
The songbook of Elton John and Tim Rice drew de rigueur acclaim in Aida’s Broadway debut (2000), but it is unremarkable. Though “Another Pyramid” has a reggae tinge and “The Gods Love Nubia” is gospel-inspired, most are in John’s pop music mode. No melodies are memorable, and Rice’s lyrics are mundane (where nothing is “as high as an elephant’s eye,” and you are never “bewitched, bothered, and bewildered”).
But Salvatore Mazzocca’s peppy orchestration helps talented performers turn the musical numbers into affecting stand-alone moments. Queade Norah is a confident Aida who agreeably modulates her strong voice, and Andy Boettcher, as Radames, complements her in duets. Sophie Jones shines as Amneris, Aida’s love rival. With Jones’ phrasing and presence, “My Strongest Suit” is finely comical, “I Know The Truth” despairing.
Rounding out this plush production are the variegated costumes of Kate Edelson. Costume follows character. Flighty Amneris constantly changes clothes, but steady Aida wears the same violet dress. Choreographer Amanda Desouza creates a show within a show in dance numbers that function as segues between scene changes (one drew its own applause).
Stories in opera tend to be soap-opera affairs, often full of stock characters. Here, we have the standard, one-note piano “villain,” Zoser (David M. Mooney-Todd), and the comical, loyal “sidekick,” Mereb (Philip Anthony Wilson). The story tends to be a platform for singers with extraordinary voices to explore their power and range.
Stories in the best of musical theater can be more involving (think Sweeney Todd or Cabaret). But you cannot turn Aida’s warmed-over plot into a top-tier musical. So the Pitman theatre takes an “operatic” approach, exploiting the story to bedazzle you with musical theater artistry.
THEATER REVIEW
Aida
Through May 19 at Broadway Theatre of Pitman, 43 S. Broadway, Pitman, N.J. Tickets: $35. Information: 856-384-8381