A Utah Theater Review by Kara Henry
My husband, David, and I left our four children in capable hands, and I was fluttering with excitement as we drove up from Spanish Fork to see The Sandy Arts Guild’s production. As we’ve come to expect, Utah community theater delighted us. I’m a bit of a romantic at heart. Maybe a lot of a romantic. There is nothing so romantic as forbidden love, and Aida’s story of a hopeless love affair does that as well as any story can. We are both actors ourselves, and we appreciated all the hard work and talent that went into this production. It was a delight to watch it unfold before our eyes. It was easy to forget that we were there to review the show and simply immerse ourselves in a wonderful story.
The story of Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida was adopted from an opera originally written in the late 1800s. It tells of a Nubian princess, Aida, captured by an Egyptian captain as their countries are at war. She impresses him immediately with her courage and intelligence, and instead of sending her to the copper mines as his father suggests, he gives her to his betrothed, an Egyptian princess, to be her handmaid. Soon, however, Aida and the captain find themselves in love and caught in up in a country torn by war.
The musical opens in a museum, and I had goosebumps from the first note as Britani Cavaness as Amneris (the Egyptian princess) sings “Every Story is a Love Story,” although David wasn’t sure about her until she exploded in “My Strongest Suit.” We agree that she was a delight as she opened up with abandon and put on the character of the princess who hides behind her love of fashion. She dug into the role here, and the stage rang with her energy. The live orchestra added to the immediacy in every number, a touch we really appreciated.
All the leads were strong, especially Robin Auva’a in the title role. From the moment she said her first line, I knew she was going to be fantastic. She was perfect for Aida—strong stage presence, unwavering voice, and ability to show a range of emotion. I never got tired of watching and listening to her. She made her character believable with crisp acting, and chemistry with her counterpart, Trent English as Radames.
Trent brought this role life. It wasn’t faultless (his voice wasn’t quite as strong as Robin’s), but he came through when it mattered, and he was sincere; he made the audience breathless with understanding and support for his position. We especially loved their duets, as their voices blended beautifully, even while belting. One of the highlights of the show for both of us was their duet “Elaborate Lives,” which they sang with intensity. I believe I leaned over to David during this one and said, “Whoa.”
Craig Clifford, as Radames’ father Zoser, wasn’t as strong at line delivery, but built a great character with his body language and facial expressions. We agreed his character developed during his first song, “Another Pyramid,” which was full of gleeful plotting—all his minions behind him, dancing, reinforced this. I particularly love the ease in which he handled the huge staff with the eye of Ra, making it an extension of his arm as he moved around the stage. His eyebrows were also a great piece of makeup.
We both agreed that Kyle Khou (Mereb) struggled a little on the acting side, but played the character with a lot of earnestness, which endeared him to us. When he sang, he stood out, particularly on the reprise of “How I Know You” in the second act where he was flawless.
Melanie Taylor as Nehebka sang with a clear, sweet voice. Jason Wadsworth as Pharaoh had great body language as the princess’ ailing father, and William Ferrer as Amonasro moved me as he was being torn away from his daughter.
Having just been an ensemble member in a musical, I was paying special attention to the ensemble, and I was impressed. Every movement had purpose, and they had great onstage relationships with each other. Stephanie Magg, the choreographer and assistant director, did an outstanding job on the choreography. It fit the mood of each piece. One of my favorite pieces was the ballerinas en pointe as court dancers in an almost belly dancing number. I’m not sure how to describe it except to say it worked, and I didn’t want to move my eyes from them. We both agreed that there were a few moments where the ensemble needed a little more energy (we’re getting picky here!), but in all the entire cast put together a strong performance, which had us laughing, almost crying, and finding ourselves immersed in another time and place.
Director Trevor Jerome’s vision for this show was fabulous. David had a great way of putting this, saying, “I think that one of the ways that the directing was best displayed was by the way the sets flowed on and off the stage, with the actors moving around them as if they were one more dancer on stage.” The actors stayed stationary, but the set moved around them, transporting us to another place. Sonja Ervin’s sets were minimalist, yet the pieces themselves were intricate and beautiful, and really contributed to the story, as well as the visual spectacle. Also contributing to the visual feast were the costumes, designed by Brenda Harman, with a couple of fun onstage costume changes to make them even more interesting. I would have come just to see the outrageous outfits in the fashion show in “My Strongest Suit.”
Cole Adams deserves special mention for lighting design. I was particularly moved by the way it came together in “The Gods Love Nubia,” the last song of the first act. Aida is torn as she tries to decide what type of leader she can be, and then as she tries to inspire her people. The movement and emotion here flowed effortlessly with the lighting design, which shifted in color and intensity, subtly, but distinguishably, as if you were watching the light from two or three days in fast-forward.
This show is a little bit more mature in its themes and isn’t totally benign in its language, although I almost feel silly saying it has language. No curse words, but some strong descriptors of certain characters. If it were a movie, I would rate it PG. Although we saw in on a date, and it’s a great show to see with a date, it explores some themes that are valuable for families to talk about together. During the show, Radames is forced to confront why he is at war with Nubia as Aida challenges his world view and the ideas he’s always held. Both of them are forced to see each other as complex people, and they struggle to help the people from their own countries come to the same realization about each other (Radames and Aida as sort of ambassadors of each) as they fight to have their love survive. This could act as a great conversation starter to talk to children about racism and seeing others as equals.
The Sandy Amphitheater is a fantastic place to see a show. The lower bowl of seats puts you right up close to the stage, which is beautifully framed by tan stonework, so a large portion of the audience can be right in the action. The seats are all plastic, and while they aren’t terribly uncomfortable, some wise patrons brought seat cushions. There is also plenty of seating up the hill on the grass if you want to bring a blanket or your own chair. However, the stage is fairly small, so if you get too far away you start to feel separated from the action, so get there early to snag a good spot. Staff was extremely helpful and friendly, and we noticed many volunteers helping people find their assigned seats. There are large clean restrooms, two large parking lots and a great snack bar (outside food is allowed, but no alcohol or glass bottles). We parked in the upper parking lot near the Senior Center and enjoyed a walk down a path through a beautiful landscaped garden with two water features, which took us away from everything we had on our minds and prepared us to enter the story we’d see on stage. On top of all that we got to watch a gorgeous sunset as we waited for the show to start.
Coming from Spanish Fork to Sandy, it wasn’t a short drive to see Aida, but it was more than worth it. We talked to some of the production team, and they said that this show is getting stronger and stronger each night. While it had a few weak areas, it is worth seeing. Don’t miss the chance to see one of the last two shows, and give yourself not only a chance to indulge your hopeless romantic side, but the chance to see two worlds attempting to come together.
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