Is A New Company's 'Aida' Better Than Broadway's? You Be The Judge.

Now and for just two more weeks, an extraordinary, stylish and heartfelt production of Elton John's and Tim Rice's "Aida" is running at the very, very warm American Theater Company space in Chicago's North Center neighborhood. Courtesy of the reconstituted Bailiwick Chicago, and coming as really their very first full-fledged musical outing, it's a stunning production of a pretty good musical. At times, I found myself wondering, "Is this better than the original production?" 

I guess it's not, for most of the problems remain (the plot doesn't really make as much sense as it would like to, for instance), and there are a few new ones (the older actors don't really make much of an impression, and the six-piece orchestra, fine though it is, seems constricted in some of its necessary choices). However, there is so much that is so right about this show that it has become a real hot ticket (pardon the pun) this summer, and the show's lighting effects, by Jarod B. Moore, provide among the most exciting, creative and thrilling theatrical lighting designs I have ever seen. Moore's lights define space, catch faces in the dark, swirl, focus, create walls that aren't there, and always, always, serve the production's goals. A masterful job.

While I'm on the technical elements, the sets by John Holt are creative in themselves, as a contemporary museum setting becomes a highly flexible space for the script's 24 scenes. (I sometimes felt I was on a movie soundstage, minus the cameras.) Frank Mares's projections were wonderful, and Lee Strausberg's props provided touchstones for ancient Egyptian and Nubian life.  The sound design of Sarah N. Ramos ensured that everything was heard, including many lyrics that I've never caught before. And Ricky Lurie's costumes were desert tan and modern earthtone, sexy and revealing and hiding and form-fitting, creating an pan-century aesthetic that probably never existed, but should have. 

For this Chicago non-Equity premiere of the five-time Tony Award winning show, Bailiwick Executive Director Kevin D. Mayes and the show's director, Scott Ferguson, assembled a top-notch artistic team as well, in co-musical directors Jimmy Morehead (vocals) and Robert Ollis (orchestra) and in co-choreographers Gary Abbott (of Deeply Rooted Dance Theater) and Kevin Iega Jeff (from Deeply Rooted and from Purdue University's Black Cultural Center). And the multi-racial cast these men found to work with is comprised of some of the most attractive young performers Chicago has to offer. 

The three leads are exemplary. As Aida, the enslaved Nubian princess, Rashada Dawan has the regal bearing, rich bottom notes and thrilling top belt notes the role requires. She is commanding and exotic, so sympathetic and enigmatic in her feeling of love for her captor, the Egyptian captain Radames. BranDon Chandler plays him, unleashing a thoroughly idiomatic gospel voice that seems so right for the character. Chandler is too young-looking for the role, but his handsome looks serve him well. He and Dawan create some real chemistry up there, and look fantastic together. As Amneris, the slighted princess who also serves as the show's narrator of sorts, young Adrianna Parson (seen this spring in "Hello Again" at Bohemian Theatre Ensemble) makes the spoiled girl a lot more sympathetic than she otherwise might be, and shows a brain beneath all that hair before the evening is through. 

One of the best-remembered numbers in the show is Amneris' "My Strongest Suit," which, unfortunately, still doesn't work for me in the context of the show. It's just not needed. But, at least, Parson seems to have a size zero figure on which the imagination plays, and on display here are the four winning entries from a fashion designer competition Bailiwick held to get some fabulous dresses--without paying through the nose for them. Maria Danae Mandis, Emily Rohm, Christina Telkamp and Kevin Vong won the chance, and their faux-Egyptian creations are fun. A quilt maker, the Rev. Nina "Nabeyah" Henderson, from Kansas City, MO., designed the quilt used at the end of "Dance of the Robe," and it is stunning. 

The Collective known as Bailiwick Chicago, formed in September of 2009, has done a savvy thing in programming "Aida" at this time, tapping into at least three current trends in Chicago musical theater: the Elton John musical ("Billy Elliot" and "The Lion King") the Tim Rice musical ("Chess" and "Jesus Christ Superstar") and the mostly black musical about cultural clashes ("Ragtime" and "Once On This Island"). When you do the right show at the right time, with the right artistic collaborators and a cast of eager youngsters who will dance, fight, sing and act their hearts out (all in a vibrant theatrical setting that would be the envy of many more well-financed theater companies), you have a night of thrilling theater. 

When this Aida, Radames and Amneris play out their tragic love triangle amidst the soldiers and servants of a mythically ancient time, modern alchemy results. If there are any tickets still to be had for this "Aida," they should be gone as soon as folks read this review. Don't miss this eye-popping, soul-searing night of off-Loop theater taking place in your very own backyard. Your imagination will soar, and your heart will ache. Everyone involved in this production should be extremely proud of the gift they have given us.

Bailiwick Chicago's performances of "Aida" take place Thursdays through Sundays, now through August 1, 2010 at American Theater Company, 1909 W. Byron Street in Chicago. Tickets can be purchased at www.bailiwickchicago.com or by calling 866-811-4111.  

Photos: Rashanda Dawan and BranDon Chandler (photograph by PopioStumpf.com); Cast (photograph by Foster Garvin, Jr.); BranDon Chandler and Rashanda Dawan (photograph by Foster Garvin, Jr.);  Adrianna Parson with Andriana Pachella, Daryn Harrell, Kylah Williams and Desla Epison (photograph by Foster Garvin, Jr.); Rashanda Dawan (photograph by Foster Garvin, Jr.)