Trying to Hold It all Together

“Aida” is in town, at the Ahmanson Theatre through early January. Let’s concentrate on the felicities for a paragraph or two.

In the role that won Heather Headley a richly deserved Tony Award, the one-name, many-talents actress Simone offers an Aida with a smoky, supple voice. Simone (daughter of Nina Simone) dominates the show effortlessly. “The Gods Love Nubia,” the Act 1 closer, may carry a bar or two strangely reminiscent of “Let’s Go Fly a Kite” from “Mary Poppins,” but Simone makes it fly anyway.

Her co-star is scenic and costume designer Bob Crowley, or at least he is in my book. Backed by the Disney corporation’s millions, Crowley fashions a series of pictorial stunners. The show’s look is big, but not stupid-big. Crowley’s visions--a swimming pool as seen from above, or palm-backed depiction of the Nile--are beautiful. Which can’t be said of the Elton John/Tim Rice songs. Which is a problem, since “Aida” is a musical.

Verdi’s 1871 opera had all the luck; its story started after the captured slave, Aida, had fallen for her captor, Radames. It didn’t worry about psychosexual master/slave implications. It took its premise for granted, and Verdi took care of the rest.

Here, with all best intentions, the Disney version’s librettists (Linda Woolverton first, the team of director Robert Falls and co-librettist David Henry Hwang second) twist themselves into pretzels trying to get the audience to buy the slave-falling-for-the-conqueror routine.

Radames (Patrick Cassidy) is a liberal in imperialist conqueror’s clothing. Trying to please his scheming father Zoser (Neal Benari) while avoiding an arranged marriage to Amneris (Kelli Fournier), he is transformed by the love of a good Nubian princess in disguise, Aida (Simone).

“Aida” has found many happy customers on Broadway and beyond. But for some of us, the book writers haven’t made enough of a case for Aida and Radames and their forbidden attraction. The moment comes when Aida must declare her post-coital love for her hunky white conqueror, and if that moment elicits a slightly embarrassed snicker, as it did during Friday’s performance, then “Aida” isn’t quite working in story terms.

The score? It’s on par with the duller very ‘70s ballads John and Rice wrote for “The Lion King.” It’s no better or worse than the aural wallpaper they contributed to Disney’s animated “The Road to El Dorado,” to name another project about lovable white guys who become Better Human Beings for having met Exotic Women.

And Disney’s “Aida” belongs to the women. Simone and Fournier, the latter vamping it up in high 90210 mode, hold up their end high and mightily. Director Falls shows some taste and restraint in not hyping the big emotional junctures; he knows enough not to compete with Crowley’s scenic wonders, or with the self-conscious lighting design by Natasha Katz. But what’s with sound designer Steve C. Kennedy’s “stings” at the end of every number? Whummmmmmmbbbbb. BUMM-MMMMMMMM. Dumb. And repetitive, too.

Everyone leaves “Aida” talking about the Act 1 fashion show routine (“My Strongest Suit”), led by Amneris. Crowley’s Egypt-meets-Fire Island headgear is funny. But up against scenes of enslaved Nubians, the camp element curdles. The talented “Aida” collaborators have labored hard to make this thing hang together, by playing into a wide variety of styles. To their credit, it nearly does. The results aren’t dumbed-down so much as dumbed-sideways. And Rice’s lyrics really are a drag.

“I’m so tired of all we’re going through,” Aida sings at one point. If it weren’t for the dames and the sets, those words would be too truthful for words.

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“Aida,” Ahmanson Theatre, Music Center of Los Angeles County, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown. Tuesdays-Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Additional performances: Nov. 19, 8 p.m.; Dec. 26, 2 p.m.; Dec. 27 and Jan. 3, 2 p.m. Ends Jan. 5. $25-$75. (213) 628-2772 or https://www.TaperAhmanson.com. Running time: 2 hours, 25 minutes.

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Simone: Aida

Patrick Cassidy: Radames

Kelli Fournier: Amneris

Jacen R. Wilkerson: Mereb

Neal Benari: Zoser

Mark La Mura: Pharaoh

Merle Dandridge: Nehebka

Jerald Vincent: Amonasro

Robert M. Armitage, Rochelle Aytes, Iresol L. Cardona, Eric L. Christian, Anika Ellis, Tim Hunter, John Jacquet, Jr., Allison Thomas Lee, Ted Napolitano, Natasha Neary, Kristen Oei, Keenah Reid, Greg Reuter, Alexander Selma: Ensemble

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Music by Elton John. Lyrics by Tim Rice. Book by Linda Woolverton and Robert Falls & David Henry Hwang. Directed by Robert Falls. Choreography by Wayne Cilento. Musical producer and supervisor Paul Bogaev. Scenic and costume design by Bob Crowley. Lighting by Natasha Katz. Sound by Steve C. Kennedy. Hair by David Brian Brown. Production stage manager David Lober.