Elton John returned to the Palace Theatre last Thursday to re-preview his new Broadway musical "Aida" and declared the production, which is scheduled to open March 23, "an 11 on a scale of one to 10." This was only 10 days after the composer, who collaborated on "Aida" with lyricist Tim Rice, bolted out of the theatre 15 minutes into a Sunday matinee preview performance because he objected to two incidental pieces of his music used in dance numbers.
The Walt Disney company has spent $15 million on "Aida," which has an advance of $15 million in ticket sales, and is certainly the most anticipated new musical of the 1999-2000 season. The show is in its third week of previews. Having opened in Atlanta in 1998, under the title "Elaborate Lives," and to a disastrous reception, the revamped, recast, and renamed "Aida" played in Chicago in December and January. Because of his extensive touring schedule, John has not been able to participate in the musical's day-to-day evolution.
On Thursday, March 9, John sat through the first act, visited with the cast backstage during the interval, and got a standing ovation from the audience when he returned to his seat for the second act.
When John, who also wrote the music for the animated movie "The Lion King" and its Broadway adaptation, visited with the "Aida" cast onstage after the performance he told them, "I've never been more proud of a group of people in my life." The Broadway cast numbers 25, somewhat less than its operatic counterpart.
Giuseppe Verdi's "Aida" (the most-popular opera in the repertoire, based on the number of performances) tells the story of a love triangle among the captive Nubian princess slave Aida; her mistress, the Egyptian pharaoh's daughter Amneris; and Radames, the newly named commander of the Egyptian forces, who is in charge of fighting Aida's people. The Broadway libretto follows the same plot, but now has three authors: Robert Falls, the show's director; Henry David Hwang, the playwright ("M. Butterfly," "Golden Child") who was brought in as "creative consultant" after the Atlanta run; and the original book writer, Linda Woolverton.
John and Rice have added at least one song since the Chicago run, "Fortune Favors the Brave." The new number was designed to enhance the role of Radames, played by Adam Pascal. In addition, Pascal has been re-assigned what was the show's title song in Atlanta, "Elaborate Lives." Aida herself (Heather Headley) sang it through the Chicago run. Headley now only reprises "Elaborate Lives" in the second act. Headley and Rene Scott, who plays Amneris, are the only two cast members left from the Atlanta production, and their characters were said to overshadow that of Radames in Chicago.
The composer's abrupt departure from the Sunday matinee two weeks ago was a reaction to a pair of techno-pop dance numbers based on two of his songs for the show: "My Strongest Suit" and "Another Pyramid." John regarded the numbers as "already dated." The offending numbers have been stricken from the score.
John first saw the "Elaborate Lives" version on opening night in Atlanta, and the "Aida" version ordered by Disney on opening night in Chicago. He had not had a look at the New York version until he attended, and abruptly left, the performance last week.