Aida

The sheer audacity of Fiddle Theatre Company producing Elton John & Tim Rice's "Aida" makes one wonder what they will attempt next year -- "Starlight Express?" "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark?"

This enormous musical won a Tony Award in 2000 for it's eclectic, rock-operatic score by the pop star Elton John, and the John/Rice team brought Broadway one of its most mammoth successes, "The Lion King." It's little wonder at the turn of the century Walt Disney Theatrical jumped on board to produce this classic tale of the romance between an Egyptian soldier and an enslaved Nubian princess.

Needless to stay, Disney had a lot of money to put into their production. With less money, but with no less drive, the Fiddlehead Theatre Company presents the exclusive Boston production of "Aida," and on top of that, they are donating a portion of the proceeds to the AIDS Action Committee.

The setting is "Ancient Egypt" in the loosest sense of the phrase. It bears no resemblance to the actual location or time period. This is "Disney Ancient Egypt," where characters pretend to sing into imaginary microphones in styles from hip-hop to Motown to gospel, all the while flaunting the ideals of courtly love (set forth in the Middle Ages) and the morality of the Victorian era.

The story, touted as "a modern day 'Romeo and Juliet' '" (set in Ancient Egypt), deals with the relationship between Aida (Ta'Nika Gibson) and Radames (Gene Dante). These two meet cute: Radames plunders Aida's city and takes her and her people as slaves. "Fortune Favors the Brave," he sings, as his father stresses the importance of enslaving Nubians to build "Another Pyramid."

As you can imagine, the relationship doesn't start off very well. Radames kind of puts his foot in his mouth by saying, "Scrub my back, slave." And Aida's responds, "Oh no; you didn't just say that." He can't understand why she doesn't just obey him, so she explains that, although he took her country, he will never take her spirit ("The Past Is Another Land").

Radames likes this Aida girl. She's got spunk and so he gives her to his fianc�e as a little engagement present, the way one does when one is showing affection to a slave.

The most dynamic character in the play is Radames' betrothed, Amneris (Christiana Rodi), an Egyptian princess who will become a female Pharaoh. This character must overcome betrayal and jealousy to display compassion and forgiveness, the qualities of a noble leader.

It's all very "Camelot," though without the sophistication, because unfortunately, for some inexplicable reason, Amneris behaves like Snooki on "Jersey Shore" and dresses like Jeannie II, the evil twin sister in "I Dream of Jeannie."

As a testament to Amneris' superficiality, she has some fabulous bling, which she shows off in a Motown-inspired drag fashion show ("My Strongest Suit").

In one scene, Amneris -- irked by the fact that her fianc� of nine years is talking to her slave rather than having sex with her for the first time -- flies into the room in a huff and cries out, "Excuse me! There's a "buck naked princess" lying in bed, and you're talking to a slave!"

The wonderful thing about couples that fall passionately and irrationally in love (and then sacrifice their lives for that love), is they never have to deal with the years of passive/aggressive bickering that comes after the gloss of a new romance has worn away. Like Romeo and Juliet, this couple won't live long enough to need couples therapy. But unlike Shakespeare's play, there is no examination of passion versus reason or the ironies of fast-burning "true love."

The cartoonish script is made worse by ad-libbing extras. It took a committee of three writers, Linda Woolverton, Robert Falls, and David Henry Hwang, to confabulate this book. The show doesn't need any more writers.

However, the look of this production is astounding and the scoring is spectacular. The show could use more rehearsal, especially in the dance numbers where the timing is off and the movements are unsynchronized, but directors Meg Fofonoff and James Tallach focus on the most important aspect of this show: The singing. And that is amazing.

In spite of her poorly-written character, Rodi has a powerful pair of pipes. Gene Dante lets us know that he is "Acting" with a capitol "A," playing Radames by making a lot of broadly drawn faces. But his singing is good, and when he simply sings his songs, he's fine.

Nothing is finer in this production, though, than the vocal performance of Gibson as "Aida." When she sings, she controls the entire show and makes the narrative her own. Because her singing is so passionate, we begin to wonder about details of Aida's personality... details that simply aren't present in the book.

We wonder, Why in the world does Aida love Radames? One would think a princess would have enough self-confidence to avoid such a masochistic relationship. Is this Stockholm syndrome?

For better or worse, though, there is one question that audiences consistently ask in regard to Fiddlehead shows at the Strand Theatre: How is the sound?

The answer is: Much improved, but far from perfect. The good news is the sound system doesn't have the horrific technical defects that disrupted "Ragtime" and "The Little Princess." The bad news is the show's mixing leaves a lot to be desired. The music overpowers the voices, the incorrect mics are turned up when they shouldn't be, and the lyrics can be difficult to understand.

The finale at the end of Act One, the gospel-inspired number "The Gods Love Nubia," is one of those awe-inspiring moments that keeps the musical theatre alive. It's not a showy number, but the cast comes together with such emotional force and vocal power that it takes one's breath away. All of this proves that it's not the size of a show that gives it power; it's the investment of the storytellers, the directors and the performers.

Elton John and Tim Rice's "Aida" runs through Oct. 26 at the historic Strand Theatre 543 Columbia Road, Dorchester, MA. For tickets or information, call 617-229-6494 or visit www.fiddleheadtheatre.com.