About the work
Aida – Das Musical is a musical with music by Elton John and lyrics by Tim Rice. It premiered on Broadway in 2000. Loosely based on the story of Giuseppe Verdi's opera of the same name, it tells the tragic love story between a Nubian princess and an Egyptian commander as a modern pop and soul musical. In 2024 the piece was seen in a German production in Essen, among other places.
Plot
The Nubian princess Aida is taken into Egyptian captivity as a slave and falls in love with the commander Radames — who, however, is promised to the Pharaoh's daughter Amneris. Between duty and passion, between the enemy peoples of Egypt and Nubia, the couple is caught in an irresolvable conflict. When their love and Aida's royal origins come to light, Aida and Radames choose death together: sealed alive in a tomb, they find each other in dying — sustained by the hope of meeting again in a next life.
Cultural significance
Aida won four Tony Awards, including for best score, and ranks among the most successful works by the Elton John/Tim Rice team after "The Lion King". The fusion of Verdi's classic operatic drama with pop, soul and gospel made the piece an independent stage success performed around the world.