Rubber City Shakespeare Company has taken a risk producing its first musical — the epic Aida at that — and it has paid off as a legendary story of forbidden love ignites the Akron stage.
This tiny professional theater, led by director Dane Leasure, has cast the right lead voices to make this Elton John-Tim Rice musical pop. At the same time, he employs minimized staging in a stripped-down version of what originally was a glitzy, elaborately staged musical on Broadway and national tour.
Leading the cast are breathtaking vocal powerhouse Miah Bickley of Canton in the title role as the Nubian princess and the golden-voiced Marcus Martin of Fairlawn as the dashing Egyptian soldier Radames. Their voices are so beautifully matched and their chemistry so strong on stage, you can’t get enough of them.
The musical has a sizzling array of pop, R&B, reggae and gospel-style tunes, a fabulous score that earned John a 2000 Tony Award for best score. Based on the Verdi opera, the musical originally produced by Disney Theatrical Productions tells the story of a love triangle among slave Aida, Egyptian Princess Amneris and Egyptian Captain Radames as Nubia and Egypt are at war.
Bickley delights from the moment her enslaved Aida challenges Radames’ egocentric way of thinking — the first to ever do so — in Enchantment Passing Through. Here, Martin makes it clear that Radames, though engaged to Amneris, is both confounded by and irresistibly magnetized by Aida.
She turns this warrior’s life upside down and their powerful love ballad, Elaborate Lives, aches with desire.
As Amneris, Kent State student Cari Meixner has a cool rock edge to her voice but is rather restrained in her acting as the spoiled, girly-girl princess in the first act. Her acting is more compelling as Amneris grows up in the second act.
Meixner, Bickley and Martin create dramatic intensity in Not Me as each of their characters expresses emotional turmoil. The four-piece band, led by music director Sharon Alberson, rocks out to memorable tunes including vintage Elton John styles heard in Like Father, Like Son and My Strongest Suit.
Dance and costuming are basic, which highlights the performance.Four ensemble members playing handmaidens execute a cute dance break with Meixner in My Strongest Suit. Later, the Nubian ensemble creates urgency with its dance beseeching Aida to accept her leadership role in The Dance of the Robe, which features some African dance moves.
Leasure has used color-blind casting in this show, whose original Broadway version had the Nubians played by black actors and the Egyptians played by white actors. By not dwelling on a racial divide, this choice allows audience members to simply focus on these characters as people.
Director Leasure also proves you don’t need a big cast to pull this show off: He has 12 actors. Notable supporting cast includes Chris Simmons as the unctuous Zoser, who has treacherous designs for son Radames to become pharaoh; and Norton High School student Nicolas Wagner as loyal Nubian Mereb.
Above all, Aida is an unforgettable story of love that grows amid a time of crisis. With seating for 75 on three sides of RCS’s black box stage, this up-close production of the sweeping musical creates an intimate experience for all.
Arts writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com. Like her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/kclawsonabj or follow her on Twitter @KerryClawsonABJ.