2000: new millennium, new age for broadway / AIDA

ugh, today killed me. so, for those who don't know, i'm in a job transition right now. i'm leaving a low-paying job as the head of the music lessons department for a music company...for a high-paying receptionist/admin asst for a doctor's office in Dupont specializing in gay men's health. yes, i will be working in dupont. aka no need to find myself an apartment. i can just work, go to happy hour, go straight to bars, then pass out in my office until the morning. good plan. my start date at the new job is a week from monday. which means i need to sift through neverending resumes (most of them horrible...who the hell sends a freaking headshot with their resume?), schedule interviews, hire someone, and train them in a week and a half. oh yeah, not to mention the fact that training me for this job took about a MONTH. fml.

enough chatter and more showtunes. so for the inaugural entry, i decided to pick a year that showcases great, exciting changes on the Broadway stage...and also the year that we freaked out about all computers on earth going haywire. how were we ever going to know what day it was from the top right corner of our computer screen?!?! AHHHH THE WORLD IS OVER. yes, i'm talking about Y2K. the year 2000 brought us some pretty groundbreaking musicals, and the first one i'll highlight did NOT get nominated for Best Musical that year. actually, it's one of the only musicals to win a Tony for Best Score (thanks to Sir Elton and his former lyricist buddy Tim Rice) and not even get a nomination for Best Musical. quite a shocker, especially since the show took home three other Tonys, too, including Best Actress. if you haven't guessed yet, here it is:



AIDA!! the typical love triangle musical. guy and girl 1 are supposed to fall in love. guy meets girl 2 who he's supposed to hate. guy ends up falling in love with girl 2. girl 1 suspects and breaks down. guy and girl 2 do whatever it takes to be together, even death. girl 2 has a ridiculous belt number. death. ta-da! applause.

legend: guy = Egyptian soldier (Radames); girl 1 = Pharaoh's daughter (Amneris); girl 2 = diva Nubian slave (Aida) who we learn later is a princess! OMFG!



based on Verdi's opera (which is the second-most frequently performed opera by the Met only behind La Boheme), AIDA was Disney's third try at a Broadway show (after Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King received such critical acclaim and large audiences) and the first one that wasn't inspired by an animated film. actually, AIDA was originally conceived as a new Disney animated movie...before it decided to pretend to be a Broadway show. the movie was, in turn, never created.

AIDA first opened in Atlanta, where it was slammed by critics, calling it disconnected and trying too hard to be appealing to a wide variety of audiences ("thrashing between child silliness and civic preachiness"). the show was completely transformed, especially the set. in Atlanta, the tomb was raised eight feet off the stage, but after it collapsed (oopsy daisy) and caused Heather Headley (Aida) and Adam Pascal (Radames) to faceplant on the floor, they decided that it'd probably be a good idea to avoid the lawsuits and have the tomb at stage level. speaking of the two characters, here's the epic duet from the musical where Radames and Aida sing while awkwardly feeling each other up. WOO!:

Written In The Stars - Heather Headley & Adam Pascal

there are no words for Heather Headley. after performing as Nala in the Disney musical immediately preceding AIDA, The Lion King, she completely exploded on the stage and received much critical acclaim...and a Tony for Best Actress in a Musical. i mean, LISTEN TO HER. girl can SAANG. also i have a minor obsession with bald diva black girls.



other notable performers:
Radames : Adam Pascal
(most famous for his role as Roger in RENT four years prior...and is still currently performing the role on national tours...when will he just give it up?)
Amneris : Sherie Renee Scott
(her first big role actually...later went on to star in The Last 5 Years, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels...and Ursula in The Little Mermaid, which was probably the worst casting choice of the decade. wa-WA.)

other performers playing lead roles after the originals left:
Deborah Cox, Toni Braxton (ser?), Michelle Williams (Aida)
Will Chase, Patrick Cassidy (Radames)
Idina Menzel (WIIIIIICKEEEEED!), Mandy Gonzalez (Amneris)

recent chatter!! there is talk of a movie version of AIDA starring Beyonce and XTina. get out of town. if this happens, i will be the first in line to see it. well, second...right behind Kyle Mihalcoe.



well, there you have it. thanks, sir elton, for spitting out yet another epic musical. and for just being freaking fabulous.

myles*