Letter to the Editor: Why the story of AIDA matters, and always will
Liam,
Thank you so much for coming to the show, and for your kind words about our leads’ performances. However, we noticed that you didn’t seem to completely understand the plot, and we wanted to provide some insight that you may have missed.
Yes, Aida is the story of a forbidden love. That may be terribly cliche to you, but don’t roll your eyes at us just yet. You see, the point is neither to love nor pity the star-crossed lovers, it’s to appreciate their backgrounds and the unconditional love that they have- despite prejudice and hate limiting their endeavors. Aida is a Nubian slave who is the strong female leader of her people in their time of despair. She doesn’t fall for Prince Radames immediately as Juliet falls for Romeo. Instead, she shows him the wrong in his ways and defies the vast cultural differences between herself and the prince, eventually showing him how to love despite his fears. Radames, on the other hand, is in a highly privileged place in society, and sacrifices his dignity and successful future to be with some that society would see as “lesser” than him, but he does it anyway out of love.
These “cliche” star-crossed lovers reveal a deeper message that is indeed extremely relevant to today’s society, commenting on severe loss, forgiveness, discrimination, and ultimately a love that transcends all boundaries. In this torn modern world we see the message of Aida becomes more important than ever. In the constant battle with hatred, love always wins.
So, while we appreciate your critique of the show, we think the analysis of the plot may need some revision. The plot of the story is completely out of our control, as we are simply narrators of a story already told, working dozens of hard hours to make it our own, and express this message of acceptance and beauty in our own way. We believe it would have been more appropriate to focus on the amazing performances given by our talented peers, and the tireless dedication the cast and crew has put into this extremely successful production. (Tony and Grammy award winning) Aida will always be an important story to us, and we hope that its message of love and acceptance will reach out to even the most stubborn of critics.
P.S. Did you see our set?
Love never dies. Go Go Mustangs.
Sincerely,
Zoe Lundstram, Mal Carter, Darby Sherwood, Holly Reidy, Randall Kraujalis, Julia Lankisch, Eliana Greenberg, Daniel Scovill, Maya Williams, Joy Semafumu, Nicole Hodge, Macy Margherio, Mandi Ranallo, Danielle Buendicho, RJ Schlesinger, Jessica Marty, Mitch Diaz, Daniel McGarel, Abi Bradshaw, Christopher Lindquist, Hal Baas, Ariana Zaverdas, Austin Martinson, Palash Bhanot, Michael Miller, Mara Loyola, Nathaniel Kiefer, Sammy Mangiarelli, Danny Anderson, Ben Weiss, Maddie Meyers, Carly Casselman, Allison Carter, Jason Zerafa, Reyna Hickey, Delaney Biegelmann, Julia Jansen, Victoria Cortes, Daniel Wren, Cara Neidenbach, Claire Baffes, Josh Keske, and Sanjana Katwala
red • Nov 10, 2017 at 7:28 am
the opera was much better than the musical. sue me
I'm too tired for a witty name • May 19, 2017 at 9:45 am
Y’all are some of the most petty and extra people ever born. Responding to a reviewer by taking time to insult them may represent a few glaring inadequacies in your character.
Jaime Calme • May 18, 2017 at 11:21 pm
Many think the idea is cliche NOW after we’ve had literal centuries and countless variations of Romeo and Juliet. But you guys forget that the original Aida story was written in 1871, way before it was cliche.
Even so, It’s unfair to criticize it based on the fact that star crossed lovers is a popular trope. These stories are still around for a reason. It’s ingrained into our society. It’s an archetype. Saying people shouldn’t write stories with star-crossed lovers is like saying there shouldn’t be stories based around a quest or have a damsel in distress. No new stories would ever be created without repetition of some ideas.
And obviously there is still a demand for these kinds of stories. That’s why in 2017 La La Land can get as many awards as it did. What makes a story good is not its choice of archetype. It’s what new things the story adds to it. Aida has several subplots that make it more complex: Disputes between parents and children over the future of the family, Responsibilities of putting your people before yourself, questioning the faithfulness of a lover and coming to terms with the outcome. You can’t simply see the story as “two people never destined to be manage to find love”.
Lastly, when Elton John and Tim Rice write a Disney musical based on Hamlet it’s the best thing ever and people are still obsessed with it over 20 years later. But when they do the exact same thing for Romeo and Juliet? Apparently it’s just cliche.
:) • May 18, 2017 at 10:17 pm
I feel like even though the musical may have seemed a tiny cliche, all musicals have an originality to them. I also feel like the cast defending themselves wasn’t a bad move. They’re all who they preformed to be. Performance is an art and once you’re assigned a role of a character you feel you understand them. I don’t disagree with either authors. There are two sides to every story. Yet, as someone who has been in and worked with musicals, I feel a deeper perspective of the show is through the characters compared to what the audience sees. We can all see people in the hallways and think their life is great by a glance;however, they could be really struggling. We may not understand that if we don’t put ourselves in their shoes. I feel the cast did do well on really feeling who their characters were which is why they may have felt the need to write this letter. Did no one make a point that the Adam’s Family last year was a bit like this, what people believe, cliche story? Cliche or not, the show was one no one should really regret seeing. I didn’t.
Ibrahim V • May 18, 2017 at 8:43 pm
Did y’all even read the original critique or no? It’s majority overwhelming praise (imo well-deserved), with the only criticisms being of the plotline which is, as is very explicit in the original critique, uncontrollable by the cast. This response comes across and petty and insecure.
Hypocrites? • May 18, 2017 at 2:40 pm
Liam can express his opinions without backlash, but the cast cannot?
Lol • May 18, 2017 at 2:14 pm
Clearly none of these people know how the theater program functions. Students have no control over the shows picked, they have to perform what is given to them. And to say the show has no relevance to people in society today just goes to show how ignorant our society is to our issues. Additionally, to criticize them for defending their art and their passion is truly sad. Writing a professional letter does not seem like a “witch hunt.” What does seem “childish” and “petty” is students reprimanding other students for being passionate about what they love, and wanting to voice their views on something they feel is an issue.
For shame indeed.
what? • May 18, 2017 at 2:01 pm
I believe the letter was extremely kind and courteous and did not “complain”. It was just trying to show the overcritical nature of the original review. Obviously they could not change the story line so it seems absurd for him to give them such criticisms for something they had no authority over. Just because they stand up for something they feel strongly towards, and with good reason, they do not become “childish”. Love Never Dies.
shook.tm • May 18, 2017 at 11:01 am
*clapping hands emoji*
Brandon Yechout • May 18, 2017 at 10:27 am
‘The plot of the story is completely out of our control, as we are simply narrators of a story already told, working dozens of hard hours to make it our own, and express this message of acceptance and beauty in our own way. We believe it would have been more appropriate to focus on the amazing performances given by our talented peers, and the tireless dedication the cast and crew has put into this extremely successful production.’
‘P.S. Did you see our set?’
P.S. Did you read Liam’s review?
The following quotations are from Liam’s review of Aida:
‘I have to note that the story was incredibly cliche . . . This by no means is the fault of the cast or any of the other parties involved in the school adaptation.’
‘The acting was very strong, with each of the leading actors providing engrossing performances.’
‘Elton John’s rousing score was performed excellently by the pit orchestra, which helped elevate the musical to a seemingly more professional level.’
‘. . . the Metea adaptation was a wonderful experience.’
This entire piece is a comically petty criticism of Liam’s article, disregarding the entirety of its contents.
Perhaps you all should have actually read his article before deciding to incite a witchhunt against Liam (implying in your article that he is among ‘the most stubborn of critics’).
For shame.
I'm laughing so hard that it hurts. • May 18, 2017 at 8:32 am
Look, i know it hurts to have something you worked on be criticized but the point of a review is to take peoples criticisms and do better next time, not reply in a way that makes all 43 of you seem immature because your feelings are hurt, so obviously the reviewer is wrong. he didn’t even give it a negative review, or say that the story didn’t matter, but because he even dared to criticize it you guys take it as him saying that the story doesn’t matter… i also love how instead of asking the theatre department for better show ideas or something, you try to defend something with inherent flaws. like maybe you could have something that people can care about that still has a great message instead of something that’s so cliche it hurts.
Theater Nerd • May 18, 2017 at 8:11 am
This letter is a complete mess of a rebuttal against the original criticisms the critic pointed out. While the original article was concise and fair with obvious knowledge of story and plot, this childless rebuttal fails to deliver the point and as always can go no further than the “commentary about our current political climate” argument. In short this rebuttal fails to convince the viewer, get a good point, and is highly childish at attempting to defend their play. I still believe that the play was good, but this attempt at a rebuttal is highly disappointing
I'm laughing so hard that it hurts. • May 19, 2017 at 8:28 am
agreed
YEAH • May 30, 2017 at 9:31 am
ik right
laughing so hard because you all are ridiculous....REAL theater Nerd • May 19, 2017 at 11:27 am
Can I just say that the article, written by Liam was not only disappointing but written from an awful stand point. This letter was the most appropriate and mature way to say how the very hard working cast felt. I saw the show and it was purely beautiful. That mess of an article Mr. Liam wrote was based purely off of his dislike of a cliche plot. He continues to say in his article that he loved the show, but then hated the plot and makes it all about the plot. The cast, who had tech after tech after tech until 11 at night, creating this masterpiece, obviously are just trying to make sure people understand that there are so many things you can take away from this show. The childish review written in the first place did not depict the real portrayal of the show they had done, which is love is love is love. The actors in this letter were nothing but mature and honest about how they felt, and I do not see ONE thing that makes this letter not necessary. You can clearly see it wasn’t all about defending a “play”… Generally speaking, plays stick to spoken dialogue in order to tell a story, while musicals do it with song. Plays focus on the spoken word, while musicals set those words singing (so does opera, but that’s another topic) So i think you meant musical, but the argument they made was making sure their passion and love they put into that show was seen and felt by people of all ages. What I took away was that everyone is different and can come from very different backgrounds, but we will do anything for love and that makes us humans who can unite together and not ignite hate. Liam failed miserably at that article he posted, stating he liked the villain but hated him because he was a villain—“Personally, my favorite was Jason Zerafa as the maniacal and campy Zoser, whose delivery and timing made sure that every time he appeared on stage, all eyes were on him.” / “There was an obvious villain who looked so unbelievably evil that someone who had never seen or heard a story with a villain could tell he was the villain without him spilling an ounce of his diabolical plan.”….yep….confused me too. anyway, I am glad that the theater department is making sure our peers know its not just about whats on the outside. Metea Theater, I have watched and brought many people to your shows, and I see all of the hard work and dedication you put into these Broadway level productions. BRAVO and many hand claps for you all!! Thank you for bringing this story to life for my family and I.
Balkin Tuffle • May 18, 2017 at 7:52 am
The story of Aida is no what near realistic.