Every summer, Camelot Theatre’s Conservatory offers a six week program for aspiring young talents, providing morning instruction in acting, voice and dance, taught by professional artists, with afternoons dedicated to rehearsals and performances of a Summer Production. The program culminates in 6 performances by the Conservatory graduates of the Summer Production on the Camelot Theatre stage. The 2015 Conservatory graduates are currently performing Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida, which I was privileged to attend the premiere performance of. Let me say at the outset, I was mightily impressed by the performance I attended, and the work of the aspiring young talents who performed in it. I will go into some detail about the respective young performers below, but first some helpful background about the show, Aida.
Aida (also known as Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida) is a musical with music by Elton John, lyrics by Tim Rice, produced by the Walt Disney Company. It is based on Giuseppe Verdi’s Italian-language opera of the same name, which was fashioned into a children’s storybook version by renowned operatic soprano, Leontyne Price.
The story begins in the Egyptian wing of a modern museum, where two museum visitors, a man and a woman, catch each other’s eyes in front of a statue of a female Pharoah, Amneris. The statue comes to life and they are transported in time to Ancient Egypt. There, the captain of the Egyptian army, Radames and his troops are just returning from a scouting expedition through the land of Egypt’s longstanding enemy, Nubia. The soldiers capture some Nubian women, and Radames is captivated by one of the women, Aida, who has the gumption to try to duel one of the soldiers. Radames saves Aida from certain death working as a slave in the copper mines and sends her to be the hand-servant of his fiancé, Princess Amneris, the Pharaoh’s daughter. Radames’ father, Chief Minister Zoser, greets his son with news that the Pharaoh is dying, and Radames must prepare to become the next ruler of Egypt. Unbeknownst to Radames, his father is poisoning the Pharaoh in order to accelerate Radames’ ascension to the throne. Aida is delivered to Princess Amneris by Radames’ Nubian servant, Mereb, who recognizes her as the daughter of the Nubian king. She commands him to keep her identity a secret, lest the Egyptians kill her. Princess Amneris immediately likes the “Nubian slave” Aida, who strangely understands the Egyptian princess better than anyone else around her. Princess Amneris is a fashion plate of the time. Aida (of course, actually a Nubian princess) perceives that the Egyptian Princess’ love of fashion only serves as a mask of her insecurities. The dying Pharoah, wishing to see it before his death, announces that Amneris and Radames are to marry in seven days. This distresses Radames because it means an end to his freedom, and glorious life as a military campaigner. He shares his regrets and dreams with Aida, who reciprocates. Later, Aida lends a sympathetic ear to Princess Amneris, who is worried about her father’s illness. Radames enters and monopolizes Aida’s attention, to Amneris’ irritation, and confesses to Aida his growing attraction to her. Then Aida is taken by Mereb, to the Nubian camp, where she reluctantly accepts her people’s pleas to lead them. She implores Radames to help the Nubians and he responds by giving all of his possessions to them and declaring his love to her. She cannot resist him and her affection for him any longer and they embrace. But their bliss is short-lived, and interrupted by news that Radames’ soldiers have captured Amonasro, the Nubian king (and Aida’s father). Radames leaves Aida in distress. Faced with a disheartened and defeated Nubian people, she rallies them with an assurance that Nubia will never die, but live on in their hearts, as the first Act comes to a close.
As Act 2 opens, the trio of Amneris, Radames, and Aida are enmeshed in conflicting loyalties and emotions. Amneris is afraid she is losing Radames’ affection, Radames is worried that his love for Aida will destroy the life he has been living, and Aida fears that her love for Radames may be a betrayal to her Nubian people. With Mereb’s help, Aida gains entry to Amonasro’s prison cell for a reunion with her father. Mereb contrives a plan for the king’s escape while the guards are preoccupied with security for the Amneris-Radames wedding. To save her father, Aida must betray her lover, Radames. Zoser discovers Radames’ affair with Aida and warns Radames that it could cost him the throne, but Radames rejects his father’s ambitions. Zoser reacts by ordering his men to find Aida and kill her. Aida, back at the Nubian camp, receives a written apology from Radames for his lack of empathy and affection for Aida when Amonasro was captured. Egyptian soldiers arrive to kill Aida, but another Nubian impersonates the princess and sacrifices herself to save Aida. Aida resolves to leave Radames once and for all, but first wants to say goodbye to him, over Mereb’s objections. When she finds Radames, he tells her he is calling off the wedding to Amneris. Since that would ruin her father’s escape, she tells Radames he must go through with the wedding. Radames agrees, but Amneris has overheard the conversation and learned that her marriage will be a sham. The wedding goes forward, but is interrupted by news of Amonasro’s escape. As the Nubians are about to set sail for their escape, Radames learns for the first time that Aida is Amonasro’s daughter and a Nubian princess. He is angered that she hasn’t been honest with him, but she insists that she never lied about loving him. At the docks, as the Egyptians try to prevent the escape, Mereb is killed by Zoser, who then flees. Radames facilitates the Nubians escape by cutting the rope tying the boat to the docks, before the Egyptians can reach the boat. Aida stays with Radames, and the two are arrested for treason. At the ensuing trial, Zoser’s apprehension is announced, and Pharoah sentences both Aida and Radames to the traditional Egyptian penalty for treason – to be buried alive. Amneris asserts her role as future Pharoah and over the objections of her father insists that as an act of mercy, for two people she has come to love, that the two lovers be buried to die in the same tomb. Aida and Radames are entombed, and as they face death, Aida looks to Radames for strength and Radames swears he will search through a hundred lifetimes to find her again. Now we are back in the contemporary museum, where the re-animated statue of Amneris announces that when she became Pharoah, the lovers deaths brought a reign of peace between Egypt and Nubia. The two museum visitors are drawn to each other, and prove to be the reincarnations of Aida and Radames, in a new beginning.
Of course, most of the story is presented in song, not prose. The music is stylistically eclectic, including reggae, Motown, gospel, Elton John’s pop, and African influences. [Wikipedia, Aida (musical), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aida_%28musical%29] There are 22 songs sung in the show, including 5 reprises.
| Act 1 | Act 2 |
| Every Story is a Love Story – Amneris Fortune Favors the Brave – Radames & Soldiers The Past is Another Land – Aida Another Pyramid – Zoser & Ministers How I Know You – Mereb & Aida My Strongest Suit – Amneris & Palace Women Enchantment Passing Through – Radames & Aida My Strongest Suit (Reprise) – Amneris & Aida Dance of the Robe – Aida, Nehebka & Nubians Not Me – Radames, Aida, Amneris & Mereb Elaborate Lives – Radames & Aida The Gods Love Nubia – Aida, Nehebka, Mereb & Nubians |
A Step Too Far – Amneris, Radames & Aida Easy as Life – Aida Like Father, Like Son – Zoser, Radames & Ministers Radames’ Letter – Radames How I Know You (Reprise) – Mereb Written in the Stars – Radames & Aida I Know the Truth – Amneris Elaborate Lives (Reprise) – Aida & Radames Enchantment Passing Through (Reprise) – Radames & Aida Every Story is a Love Story (Reprise) – Amneris |
With that background firmly in hand, we can now turn to the Camelot Conservatory’s production. First, let me applaud Camelot Theatre and its professional staff for an extraordinarily well done job in supporting this company of budding young actors and actresses and surrounding them with a first class production. These young actors and actresses were incredibly well coached – the entire company was singing on pitch, in solos, duets, ensemble pieces, throughout the entire show. And they all enunciated the song lyrics and prose lines extraordinarily well, surprisingly so for such young performers, many of whom had never set foot on a stage before or sung in front of an audience. Let me say that I recently saw a performance of another musical in another theater, with a large cast consisting principally of experienced adult actors and actresses. When the final curtain went down on that performance, the audience member in the seat next to me turned to me, grimaced and said, “You know, I didn’t understand a word they said.” Not in THIS show. These Conservatory graduates NAILED it – EVERY word, spoken or sung, was clearly understandable. The acting was as good as the singing – no hesitation, no obvious trepidation or stage fright. The choreography was marvelous to see – several ensemble pieces were absolutely impressive. But it’s one thing to block out an exceptional, beautiful-to-see ensemble routine, and it’s another to actually execute it without any obvious hiccups or flaws – this young company hit all their marks and made it all look natural and easy. There was even a memorable sword fight, at the docks when Mereb is slain by Zoser. And the young actors pulled that off with aplomb too. So I tip my hat to director Rebecca K. Campbell, vocal coach Kendra Taylor, choreographer Sarah Gore, and acting coach Tyler Ward for extraordinarily well done jobs. As I’ve indicated, I have seen theater productions by experienced adults that didn’t approach the quality of this Conservatory performance and that is quite remarkable.
Camelot’s support in providing a first class production doesn’t end there however. The set is superb. The curtain opens to an Egyptian museum set that sent shivers of recognition down my spine. Many years ago, I was awed by a visit to the Sackler Egyptian wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA) in New York City, which features the Temple of Dendur, removed from lower Nubia in Egypt to permit the flooding produced by the Aswan High Dam, and reassembled at the MMA. The Temple of Dendur was built around 15 B.C., dedicated to the great goddess Isis and to two sons of a local Nubian ruler. It was presented to the United States as a gift from the Egyptian government in gratitude for America’s role in saving ancient Nubian monuments. Here is a photo of the front of the Temple of Dendur at the MMA.
Front of Nubian Temple of Dendur in Sackler Egyptian wing of NYC’s Metropolitan Museum of Art
I wish I had a photo of the Aida set for the opening (and closing) scene to show you, but I swear if you go to see this show, the opening curtain will rise and you will be staring at a very realistic looking front of the Temple of Dendur. You’ll be thinking the photo in the article in the Jacksonville Review IS the temple on the Camelot stage. Someone at Camelot Theatre did one heck of a job with the set and set designer Roy Von Rains and his crew deserve major kudos. The set’s physical structures were augmented by the liberal, and very effective use of background projections, which very successfully transformed the set for the proper locations for the different scenes: the Nubian camp, the Nile’s Edge, etc.
The costumes were on a par with the set – spectacular, beginning with the opening scene, where Princess Amneris first appears with a stunning Pharoah-appropriate outfit, headdress and all, joined by her four Egyptian aristocratic cohorts, Isis, Ma’at, Seshat and Sekhmet, each also in fabulous, unique, era-appropriate Egyptian costumes. And so it goes, throughout the unfolding story – Pharoah’s costume is no less stunning and apt than Princess Amneris’ opening garb. Recall that Princess Amneris is a fashion plate. In the role, young actress Aubrey Campell is provided with a full wardrobe of exquisite, gorgeous gowns and looks stunning in them, far beyond what one would expect of someone of her years. The ensemble numbers also are filled with well-costumed characters. The credit for such wonderful costuming goes to costume designer, Chani Hubbell.
One of the problems with the other musical I attended, where the actors couldn’t be understood, was that there was no live sound support. Apparently the cast was so large that the theater couldn’t afford to mic that many performers and so just gave up on providing ANY sound support. Again NOT here, not at Camelot. This cast which was at least as large (easily over 30 cast members on stage at one time or another) as that in the other theater’s disappointing production were well reinforced with wireless mics and excellent live sound support. Credit for setting up live sound goes to Brian O’Connor and operating the sound board to Lindee Newman.
One certainly cannot overlook the music for this production. It was excellent throughout, which certainly had to help the cast in being able to sing so well, stay on pitch, and carry the numerous tunes which constitute the meat and potatoes of this show. Hard to believe such wonderful and well done music was produced by a mere trio of musicians, but that IS the fact. Hats off to music director/keyboard player, Karl Iverson and his cohorts percussionist Steve Sutfin and Lori Calhoun on woodwinds.
So, now we come to the component of greatest interest – the precocious cast of young Conservatory graduates breathing life into all those roles on stage. I first want to single out the trio of young actresses/actor filling the leading roles in this production: Zoe Lishinsky as Aida, Aubrey Campbell as Amneris and Dylan Evans as Radames. All three earned my greatest admiration and appreciation for their fine performances in this show. Ms. Lishinksy is going places as a singer. She has a gorgeous voice and uses it well. Beginning with her first major number, The Past is Another Land, and consistent throughout the show, her singing was an astonishing, striking wonderment – how can someone so fresh to musical theater sing so spectacularly? Ms. Campell is a natural actress – she inhabited the Princess Amneris role like she was born to it, and has been preparing her whole life for it. Stage fright, nervousness, hesitation? Not one sign nor clue. Her performance had an ease and comfort to it that were remarkable. And while the gowns did look gorgeous on her, it was not ALL the costumer’s doing. She wore those costumes like they were made for her to live in, in life, not just on stage. I dare say, both of those young actresses have a future – you will see them again before long, and they will eventually each BE notable somewhere in show business. If for no other reason, come see this production, so when that happens later on, you’ll be able to say, “I saw them when . . . .”
(You may ask, what makes me a reliable soothsayer? Why am I so arrogant to think I’m that good a judge of talent? Well, I don’t think I’m so great, BUT people who matter DO think I’m a good judge of talent. There are feature film casting directors around who actually really contact me to ask me to recommend talent for roles they’re trying to fill, and some who will attest that I have sent them exactly the right performer to play the role they needed filled. And there are some actors around who will tell you they caught a break and got cast in a feature film because I recommended them for a role. So just maybe I can spot talent when I see it. And I’m telling you, banking my reputation on it – these two actresses have talent. If they stick with it, they’ll be going places.)
Now Mr. Evans is something else again. I utterly admire him for his courage and fearlessness in taking on the role of Radames and holding his own on stage, without any moments of doubt or indecision. Mr. Evans will be an 8th grader in the fall. The Radames role is written for a full throated tenor, maybe not Pavarotti or Andrea Bocelli or Mario Lanza, but the role was originated by powerful tenor Adam Pascal, Patrick Cassidy has won awards for his performance in the part. A 14 year old’s voice has not come anywhere close to maturing to what this role really is written for. But damn the torpedoes! Some young soul in the Conservatory who won’t yet have the full mature tenor voice to ideally fit the role has to play Radames, for the show to go on. Young Mr. Evans courageously stepped up and took it on. His acting in the role was remarkably good for one so young. And his singing, despite his youthful limitations was enthusiastic, energized and confident. (Oh, those wonderful Camelot Conservatory coaches clearly did masterful work in helping Mr. Evans prepare for the role). I would encourage Mr. Evans to keep at it. The voice will mature and catch up with him. He’ll be something too, when he’s got the voice to go with his courage, charisma and stage presence.
Of course, the notable acting/singing on stage in the Conservatory production of Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida does not end with the three principals. There are others who deserve good notices. In no particular order, I want to mention 11 year old Madison Garren, who played Zoser. This was interesting – Camelot transformed Zoser from being the father of Radames, as written in the Elton John – Tim Rice play, to the mother of Radames, the role filled by Ms. Garren. So the song Like Father, Like Son becomes Like Mother, Like Son and instead of being the controlling, manipulative father, the character becomes the ultimate stage managing mother, putting even Gypsy’s Mama Rose to shame. Ms. Garren is diminutive, petite even. But her stage presence and voice do not match her diminutive stature. She is loud, assertive, self-assured, and commands attention when she’s on the stage. Whoa! It was pure genius casting her in that part, and she took the role and rode it for all it was worth, and then some. A great turn and an unexpected treat.
Speaking of unexpected treats, amidst all the dancing and choreographed movements, there were a pair of dancers who delivered memorable performances in an “East Indian Dance” number that preceded the Radames – Aida duet, Enchantment Passing Through. The so-called Palace Dancers, Eliza Connolly and Magill Echo Lowe did a silk work routine of impressive aerial acrobatics on bright red silk runners hanging from the rafters. That was an unexpected eye-opener you should look forward to if you go see a performance of the show. Another great dance routine is turned in by Eva Dugre who plays Nehebka. Though she’s part of a larger ensemble dance number, her kicks and energetic moves pretty much steal the show for that number – she needs to move up to a more featured dancing role in the future to more fully employ her talents. By the way she sings well too.
Another surprising, but successful casting choice was Sierra Millburn in the role of Mereb – another girl plays boy adaptation. Mereb is originally written for a baritone, but Ms. Millburn sings and acts the part memorably and quite well, and certainly not as a baritone. The four aristocratic Egyptians surrounding Princess Amneris: Grace Schroder as Ma’at, Emma Kate Murphee as Isis, Maya Ryall as Seshat, and Sophia Berryessa as Sekhmet all deliver nice performances. Their fine singing at the opening of the show, in Every Story is a Love Story is the first clue that this is going to be a special, well sung show and they sustain the fine singing chops, returning with notable singing and performances in Act 2’s Easy as Life number. Alex Welden makes the most of a few, but key, non-singing lines as Pharoah, as does Nick Janisch in the role of Amonasro. As noted above, it is a large cast with many young actors and actresses in the company/ensemble numbers, some as young as 9 or 10 years old. None of them made a false move or were caught singing a false note – as I mentioned at the beginning, these Conservatory students were really well coached, and all rose to the occasion.
Ordinarily, I would encourage everyone to get tickets and attend a performance of a Conservatory program in order to support the education of the next generation of theater professionals, which I believe is vital to sustaining our quality of life. But with this particular production of Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida, I would encourage readers to go see it just because it’s so darn good and there are so many wonderful performances worth seeing in it.
Performances of Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida continue at Camelot Theatre, 101 Talent Avenue, Talent at 2pm and 7pm on Fri., Aug. 7 and Sat., Aug 8, and at 2pm on Sun. Aug. 9. For tickets: order online at http://boxoffice.printtixusa.com/camelottheatre/eventcalendar, or call the box office at 541-535-5250, or in person at 101 Talent Avenue, Talent, Oregon.
Lee Greene was born & raised in a NJ family where the only religion worshipped was classical music, Leonard Bernstein was God, and the radio was constantly on and tuned to classical station WQXR (which is now always on in his Jacksonville home thanks to the miracle of the Internet). Growing up in the New York City metropolitan area and later while residing and practicing law in NYC, Lee attended oodles of Broadway and off-Broadway theater productions, as well as concerts and opera at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall and other NYC venues. Lee is now a retired attorney, runs a computer support business, and has served on the boards of Rogue Opera & Siskiyou Violins. Lee also writes Performing Arts reviews published on the website,