I don't know many gay men or straight women who wouldn't slap down hard currency to watch Gary Floyd walk around shirtless for two hours. Yes he's a great singer, and sure, he's a sweet guy. But let's face it: The man is hot, too.
There's no point avoiding that fact, because director Doug Miller makes ample use of Floyd's ample physique in Uptown Players' Aida, on stage at the Trinity River Arts Center. His big entrance comes in a red gauzy tunic that, when he rushes off stage, flows airily behind like Superman's cape. When he opens his arms in a welcoming posture, nearly everyone in the audience tittered at the thought that he would sweep them up in a bear hug.
That doesn't amount to exploitation, but canniness. Floyd seduces the audience much the way his character, Radames, romances Aida (Kia Dawn Fulton), a Nubian princess captured as a slave. Their flirtation becomes ours, and we swoon just like she does. This is matinee-idol theater at its wooziest.
“Aida” is best known as a Verdi opera, but Elton John paired with Tim Rice to create a light-hearted lyric musical that replaces pomp with camp. It's a tactic Rice perfected with “Jesus Christ Superstar” and “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat:” Litter the anachronisms around stage like grass seed, downplay the tragedy in favor of a perky “love conquers all” coda, joke your way through the rough patches (and there are more than a few — the book is hardly more compelling than the script for “Camelot”).
John's music is more than pleasant, even if there are no instant classics in the score. Some songs come close, though, when Patty Breckinridge sings them. “Every Story is a Love Story” and “ “My Strongest Suit” (hilariously staged like a Goldwyn Girls number) resonate because she belts them out with Broadway bravada.
Fulton's Aida gives her a run for queen diva in the pipes department. The spiritual “The Gods Love Nubia” and heartfelt “Easy as Life” provide her the chance to dig deeply in the character and demonstrate an impressive vocal skill.
But Breckinridge's performance is the one that lingers. As Amneris, Radames' fiancé, she looks to be the villain of the piece, but in many ways the meat of the story is her transformation from vapid princess to benevolent, sober head of state. It's an arc she performs magnificently. Indeed, notwithstanding solid direction and crafty design elements, the triumvirate of Breckinridge, Floyd and Fulton are what make “Aida” a joyous show
by Martha Heimberg - Turtle Creek News
Uptown Players opens its fifth season with a mightily scaled down and dramatically taut Aida, the musical by Elton John and lyricist Tim Rice which opened a humungous Disney production on Broadway two years ago.
This young company, headed by Jeff Rane and Craig Lynch, is noted for their ambitious and successful ability to shoehorn into their black-box theater musicals with a history of big, touring-style productions that require five 18-wheelers packed with sets and a busload of singers and dancers.
The major effort of the squeeze is to focus tightly on the singers and the songs, pull out the stops on imaginative costumes, and choreograph dance numbers that somehow compress all those high-energy, high jumping bodies into a space the size of a McMansion living room. The results have been spectacular – a combination of slight –of-hand and fireworks that bring a fresh appreciation for the original music of shows often technically over produced. And Uptown has done it again with Aida . this show has it all – a cast of 23 talented singers and dances, soaring love songs, rock rhythms, sly humor, sexy choreography and enough sequins, black leather and see-through silk to dress a whole party of New Year's eve celebrants at the Ritz. Director Doug Miler , musical director Scott Eckert and choreographer Vicki Squires keep this ancient Egyptian love triangle fascinating and fast – from the meeting of the star-crossed lovers to the revelation that will make their love a myth.
The legend of an Egyptian hero's fated love for a beautiful Nubian slave, and his rejection of the Pharaoh's daughter, inspired Verdi's opera in the 19 th century, and continues to fuel Sir John's score. “Every Story is a Love Story” is the opening song. Here, the Egyptian Captain Radames ( Gary Floyd , bare-breasted with a strong tenor voice) notices a beautiful Nubian girl his crew has captured sailing home on the Nile . Aida ( Kia Dawn Fulton , slender and spirited with a clear, true voice) resists the captain's invitation to “wash the war “ from his skin and insults him. He's intrigued, of course, by her courage as well as her figure and gives the newly enslaved Aida to serve as a handmaiden to his betrothed, Princess Amneris ( Patty Breckenridge , sleek and funny with an explosive delivery). We're about to get two princesses in close quarters! But nobody knows Aida's father is the Nubian king.
The story gallops forward from here. Radames' father ( Regis Allison ) is an ambitious court regular with a developer's plan for himself and his popular son. With his leather-robed henchmen, he sings one of the show's funniest songs: “Put a thousand slaves on standby! Build another pyramid!” he exults. But the hero has other thoughts on his mind – all confirmed when he has a chance conversation with Aida and discovers, melodically, that they both love sailing the Nile and exploring new worlds.
And when we meet the fabled Egyptian princess, formally addressed as “first in beauty, wisdom and accessories”, she's poshing it up in the baths with her many maids. She's even taken to Aida, who can make beautiful silk and has an uncanny understanding of her royal problems. Amneris, an unapologetic slave of fashion, sings a great comic song, declaring she “would rather wear a barrel that conservative apparel”, because “dress has always been my strongest suit!” Here follows a fashion show that would make Kim Dawson proud!
Amneris is shallow as can be – but no fool when it comes to which way the wind's blowing. When Radames visits the princess's chambers, now totally addled by his impossible feelings for a slave girl, he encounters the object of his confusion. Amneris winks and retires to her bedroom inviting her betrothed to follow, but he flounders before Aida who tells him, in so many words, to forget it. Meanwhile, Amneris grows impatient and doesn't buy the line that everything's fine, “when there's a buck-naked princess laying on a bed calling your name!” she tells her retiring suitor.
The plot goes as the plot must, but a surprising shift in Amneris' vision brings a new view of the silly fashion-driven princess, and makes the story's ending all the more believable and sad. We are turned to the frame of the ancient legend – people viewing an ancient tomb in a museum – and with some familiar faces.
Among the special treats in this excellent cast are Breckenridge's flirty sense of comedy, and Cedric Neal's combination of loyalty and cleverness in the important role of the smart slave Mereb. The show's outstanding dancers fire up the stage between love songs. Especially evocative is their stunning belly-dance number set in the slave quarters where the enslaved Nubians have learned their princess is nearby. The lovers do a moving rendition, and loaded reprise of the show's hit song “Elaborate Lives”, a declaration of their wish to escape social demands and simply be true to one another in a world that would permit their love.
Dena Hill Contributing Writer - Park Cities People
Many elements of Uptown Players' current production of Aida combine to provide a great evening at the theater. Director Doug Miller skillfully brings out the action and passion in this musical production at theTrinity River Arts Center .
Based on the opera by Giuseppe Verdi, this more contemporary version of Aida (book by Linda Woolverton, Robert Falls & David Henry Hwang) features pop music by Elton John and lyrics by Tim Rice.
The story begins in a modern museum as visitors peruse artifacts of ancient Egypt , but the action soon shifts to the past, where a tragic love triangle unfolds.
Aida, a beautiful Nubian princess, is taken captive by an enemy of her country, an Egyptian soldier named Radames. Unaware of her royal station, Radames is immediately impressed by Aida's beauty and spirit, and he brings her back to Egypt , enslaving her as a gift for Princess Amneris, daughter of the Pharaoh. Radames and Amneris are soon to be wed, but the attraction between Radames and Aida changes all their lives.
Although not perfect, this production excels on many levels. From the moment audience members walk into the Kim Dawson Theater (and they actually have to walk onto the set to get to their seats), the transformation from reality to make-believe hits the senses, literally.
The foggy stage, set to look like a museum room filled with Egyptian antiquities, hints at what is to come in a striking, instantly unnerving haze. From the first musical sequence to one particularly vamped-up number, the strong casting in the leading parts sets the tone.
Patty Breckenridge infuses her role as Amneris with all the flaunting shallowness a spoiled princess could hope for. Breckenridge does a fine job as the jilted woman who comes to understand her heartbreaking situation on the eve of what should be her happiest day.
As the star-crossed lovers, both Kia Dawn Fulton (Aida) and Gary Floyd (Radames) command every moment they spend on stage. Their chemistry together ignites the growing attraction between Aida and Radames, making the tale of forbidden love as packed with passion as it is with drama. Each of these lead actors carries off both rocking pop tunes and tender ballads with style and grace.
For her part, Fulton 's beautiful portrayal of Aida reveals a woman who conducts herself with assurance and strength in the worst of circumstances. As Radames, Floyd matches her charisma, transforming a rugged soldier into a lovesick suitor with increasing tenderness.
Of note in the supporting cast, Cedric Neal stands out as Merb, a slave in the service of Radames, who recognizes Aida's real identity and convinces her to lead her people. Neal is also part of the show-stopping ensemble number, “The Gods Love Nubia ”. this particular musical scene is delivered so powerfully, it resonates with the feel of great gospel music.
From the finely-tuned direction to the well-crafted music and dance performances, Uptown Players' production of Aida has the liveliness always hoped for in a great musical production.
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