Aida thoughts.
From the final night of Aida.
Walking into the cafeteria, there were displays of Egyptian "artifacts" that people could bid on. I thought this was a great way to get people into the mood of the show. And selling shirts outside? That was great! I saw little kids proudly showing off their Aida shirts inside the theatre.
Amneris- Hope Appleford. I've known Hope since grade school, and her talent has never ceased to amaze me. Her work in Jekyll&Hyde really brought alot to that show, even if she was in just a few scenes, but you just knew there was so much more potential that would be released in future shows. Well, Aida was that show. She blew me away, from beginning to end, with her playfulness in "My Strongest Suit" to her final song with "Every Story is A love story". She totally captured the emotions of her character, from believing she was everyone, to her realization of what love is. You felt sorry for her when she actually realized she was in love with Radames, and you felt compassion when her character let Radames and Aida die together. Clarkston is losing a great person and performer in Hope.
Aida- Stacie Swearingen- Words can't describe what an actresss and singer Stacie is. Her ability to be playful, cry, and put really emotion into her songs were simply amazing. Listening to her sing made you feel she WAS Aida, going through all the heartache. Stacie should have been in the starring role in the plays for the last 4 years of her high school life, cause she has what it takes.
Radames- Kirk Gustafson- Kirk did an outstanding job with his characters and vocals. He had problems hitting the high notes, and staying on pitch sometimes, but the majority of the time he was great. Expect good things from this guy.
Mereb- Farid Moaveni- What can I say? His vocal abilities are perhaps the best I have ever heard in a high school production. Everything was so clear, and his delivery was amazing. His song with Stacie "How I Know You" was simply amazing, and probably one of the best in the entire show. I noticed real chemistry between their two characters.
If I were to go out and buy the show, which I think I will, I want to hear Stacie, Farid, Hope, and Kirk. They are the cast, and everyone else just won't be the same. Each one of them gave so much to their characters, and each one of them made the show THEIRS in their own way.
I was impressed by the dancing too. Some of the stuff was ok, but then other stuff........wow.......The whole stick twirling and waving around thing was awesome, cause everyone was in time and everyone hit their staffs at the same time!
The End of Act One was great, seeing the whole cast up there, it brought back Les Mis, and the finale of the show that we did up at the front of the stage.
Ok, now the technical side of things.
Overall, I thought this was an amazing production. The orchestra was perhaps the best that it has ever sound. It wasn't too loud, and everything seemed to fit into place. The sets were great again, although I do wish the timing of placement was a bit better; it's always a let down to still see a tech person on stage when the lights come up.
Mics are a continuing issue. There was alot of interference, and static coming from some source in the place, plus Hope's mic was cutting out way too often. Speaking of mics, the clipping of the mics at the wrong time was really unfair to the audience and to the performers. The cues should have been timed, and the orchestra cues should have been known 100 percent. It's really hard to do sound and lighting control in the auditorium, because everything is in the open. In a real theatre, all of the controls would be in a seperate room, where the show director would be able to call out the cues to the mic and lighting board, without disturbing everyone in the theatre. That is one of the biggest problems with the Auditorium, but that's a whole 'nother issue.
The skrim was great. It;s been a long time coming for the school to finally get one.
I had a problem with the house lights flashing like they did when they were turned down at the beginning of each act. Also, throughout the show, the lights jumped on and off on stage where there was no action taking place. I don't know if this was just people pushing the wrong buttons, or just the scenes were programed wrong.
Speaking of lighting, someone didn't tell the girls that their khakis and white gowns and stuff would be see through on stage cause of the lights. Yeah, the audience got a show here and there. Light clothes on stage is like the number one thing not to do, but what can you do. Also, some of the costumes were a bit short, and with the height difference of the stage to the audience, what you think is covered may not be. This is something that alot of people noticed, cause I heard chuckling and snickering at different instances of above mentioned stuff.
The beinnging of the show with all the people walking around was confusing at first, and seeing Kirk and Stacie on stage was confusing too, but at the end of the show, everything came into light, and there were people crying everywhere in the theatre, including myself. The emotional impact that the cast had on the audience was simply amazing, and a show hasn't done that since Les Miserables.
I believe this show was a great way to send off the seniors, and more importantly, Fred Dole. His contribution to the arts will not be forgotten and the shows just won't be the same with him not there.
I wish I could have seen Aida more than one night, because this show was simply amazing. Well done!
Walking into the cafeteria, there were displays of Egyptian "artifacts" that people could bid on. I thought this was a great way to get people into the mood of the show. And selling shirts outside? That was great! I saw little kids proudly showing off their Aida shirts inside the theatre.
Amneris- Hope Appleford. I've known Hope since grade school, and her talent has never ceased to amaze me. Her work in Jekyll&Hyde really brought alot to that show, even if she was in just a few scenes, but you just knew there was so much more potential that would be released in future shows. Well, Aida was that show. She blew me away, from beginning to end, with her playfulness in "My Strongest Suit" to her final song with "Every Story is A love story". She totally captured the emotions of her character, from believing she was everyone, to her realization of what love is. You felt sorry for her when she actually realized she was in love with Radames, and you felt compassion when her character let Radames and Aida die together. Clarkston is losing a great person and performer in Hope.
Aida- Stacie Swearingen- Words can't describe what an actresss and singer Stacie is. Her ability to be playful, cry, and put really emotion into her songs were simply amazing. Listening to her sing made you feel she WAS Aida, going through all the heartache. Stacie should have been in the starring role in the plays for the last 4 years of her high school life, cause she has what it takes.
Radames- Kirk Gustafson- Kirk did an outstanding job with his characters and vocals. He had problems hitting the high notes, and staying on pitch sometimes, but the majority of the time he was great. Expect good things from this guy.
Mereb- Farid Moaveni- What can I say? His vocal abilities are perhaps the best I have ever heard in a high school production. Everything was so clear, and his delivery was amazing. His song with Stacie "How I Know You" was simply amazing, and probably one of the best in the entire show. I noticed real chemistry between their two characters.
If I were to go out and buy the show, which I think I will, I want to hear Stacie, Farid, Hope, and Kirk. They are the cast, and everyone else just won't be the same. Each one of them gave so much to their characters, and each one of them made the show THEIRS in their own way.
I was impressed by the dancing too. Some of the stuff was ok, but then other stuff........wow.......The whole stick twirling and waving around thing was awesome, cause everyone was in time and everyone hit their staffs at the same time!
The End of Act One was great, seeing the whole cast up there, it brought back Les Mis, and the finale of the show that we did up at the front of the stage.
Ok, now the technical side of things.
Overall, I thought this was an amazing production. The orchestra was perhaps the best that it has ever sound. It wasn't too loud, and everything seemed to fit into place. The sets were great again, although I do wish the timing of placement was a bit better; it's always a let down to still see a tech person on stage when the lights come up.
Mics are a continuing issue. There was alot of interference, and static coming from some source in the place, plus Hope's mic was cutting out way too often. Speaking of mics, the clipping of the mics at the wrong time was really unfair to the audience and to the performers. The cues should have been timed, and the orchestra cues should have been known 100 percent. It's really hard to do sound and lighting control in the auditorium, because everything is in the open. In a real theatre, all of the controls would be in a seperate room, where the show director would be able to call out the cues to the mic and lighting board, without disturbing everyone in the theatre. That is one of the biggest problems with the Auditorium, but that's a whole 'nother issue.
The skrim was great. It;s been a long time coming for the school to finally get one.
I had a problem with the house lights flashing like they did when they were turned down at the beginning of each act. Also, throughout the show, the lights jumped on and off on stage where there was no action taking place. I don't know if this was just people pushing the wrong buttons, or just the scenes were programed wrong.
Speaking of lighting, someone didn't tell the girls that their khakis and white gowns and stuff would be see through on stage cause of the lights. Yeah, the audience got a show here and there. Light clothes on stage is like the number one thing not to do, but what can you do. Also, some of the costumes were a bit short, and with the height difference of the stage to the audience, what you think is covered may not be. This is something that alot of people noticed, cause I heard chuckling and snickering at different instances of above mentioned stuff.
The beinnging of the show with all the people walking around was confusing at first, and seeing Kirk and Stacie on stage was confusing too, but at the end of the show, everything came into light, and there were people crying everywhere in the theatre, including myself. The emotional impact that the cast had on the audience was simply amazing, and a show hasn't done that since Les Miserables.
I believe this show was a great way to send off the seniors, and more importantly, Fred Dole. His contribution to the arts will not be forgotten and the shows just won't be the same with him not there.
I wish I could have seen Aida more than one night, because this show was simply amazing. Well done!