This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Brittany Campbell: Let's play a little game of Marry, Date, or Dump, since this is a story of a love triangle. So, Marry, Date, or Dump, which of course is the G-rated version of the other one, Amneris, Rodimus, Aida. I think that's so clear, right? I mean, it's pretty clear for me.

[0:20] Jeff Parsons: No, it's clear. It's clear. Obviously, we're marrying Aida.

[0:27] Brittany Campbell: Interesting. Yeah. Yeah, I'm dating Rodimus just because, like, he's a little wishy-washy. And then Amneris, obviously, has got to go.

[0:34] Jeff Parsons: She gets the dump?

[0:34] Brittany Campbell: Yes. Obviously, she's got to go. Why's she got to go? Dress has always been my favorite. Like, I'm cool. Like, I don't know what conversations we're about to have. And, like, I don't know if I'm willing to spend that much time on her.

[0:52] Jeff Parsons: I got you. I got you. She's come around, though.

[0:59] Brittany Campbell: Yeah, she comes around. But, like, I feel like the base... Yeah, she grows a lot throughout the story. I mean, she grows the most out of all of them, you might say. But I still get this high-strung flavoring that I just don't really want to deal with on the daily. You know what I mean?

[1:14] Jeff Parsons: When I thought about this, I was going to go Mary Amneris because she doesn't take herself too seriously, unlike those other two who are, like...

[1:20] Brittany Campbell: Yeah, they are really emo.

[1:20] Jeff Parsons: They're emo. They're so emo. But I'm emo, so I'm, like, ready to be, like, on the boat, like, talking about life. You know what? We're not even in a tomb. Let's just turn out the lights in our bedroom and pretend that we're in a tomb forever.

[1:36] Brittany Campbell: And I dump Rodimus because he's a little whiny.

[1:36] Jeff Parsons: Yeah.

[1:37] Brittany Campbell: And date Aida because she's cool. I mean, she is cool. But no marriage. It's too serious. She's too serious. I think she might be a little... I think she might intimidate the crap out of me, to be honest.

[1:47] Jeff Parsons: Yeah. I'm into Aida because it's lessons, and I feel like I'd always be, like, you're slightly, like, cooler than me.

[1:57] Brittany Campbell: Like, yeah. I'm a G. I'm a G. I'm a G.

[2:13] Jeff Parsons: Welcome, everybody, to a musical theater podcast where we discuss the cultural and emotional impact of some of our favorite musicals and of some of our favorite... What is it? Where we discuss the cultural and emotional impact of some of our favorite shows in musical history, something like that. My name is Jeffrey Scott Parsons. You can call me Jeff. Today, I got Brittany Campbell in the studio with me. Thank you so much for coming.

[2:34] Brittany Campbell: Thank you for having me.

[2:34] Jeff Parsons: We're talking about Aida. Did you warm up today?

[2:50] Brittany Campbell: If I could afford the copyright, I would just force you to sing the score.

[2:55] Jeff Parsons: From beginning to end. Ladies and gentlemen, and now track seven.

[2:55] Brittany Campbell: That would be so rough. So much made up things, but you know.

[3:01] Jeff Parsons: Now, you have Hamilton roots.

[3:07] Brittany Campbell: Yeah. You're my first Hamilton guest on the podcast.

[3:13] Jeff Parsons: Yeah. There's so many of us now. I feel like that's impossible.

[3:13] Brittany Campbell: It's a whole generation.

[3:20] Jeff Parsons: Yeah. That's interesting. Well, I'm happy to be the first.

[3:20] Brittany Campbell: Yeah. Thank you for coming on.

[3:24] Jeff Parsons: How do you feel emotionally right now?

[3:24] Brittany Campbell: I feel seen.

[3:24] Jeff Parsons: I feel woke. And validated. Absolutely. How do we feel about woke Aida?

[3:31] Brittany Campbell: Woke Aida?

[3:31] Jeff Parsons: Yeah. Do we think that in the new quote unquote revival, that's not totally a revival because it's just actually a tour? I don't know. Is a white girl going to be on there?

[3:42] Brittany Campbell: I do not know. I don't know what this cast is looking like. I'm interested to see their approach. I hope that they make it all sorts of colors. I hope it's not like the classic black and white thing because it's just weird to put that on that story. A and B. And I feel like Egyptians are like, we're not white.

[4:07] Jeff Parsons: Yeah. That's what I'm saying. That's weird to put a black and white thing on the story that is in Africa.

[4:14] Brittany Campbell: Yeah. So let's make it like all sorts of colors. Fair enough. That's what I feel. I dig it.

[4:22] Jeff Parsons: Yeah. I did a production of Aida in college, which we're talking Brigham Young University in Utah.

[4:32] Brittany Campbell: Who were you in this version?

[4:32] Jeff Parsons: I was ensemble dance captain. That's my baby.

[4:40] Brittany Campbell: Yeah. Shows in school. I mean, it's basically a class. So it's three months of rehearsal. It's like vigorous rehearsal. It's a long period. And I specifically remember during the run of that show thinking, I think I need to graduate and start getting paid for this.

[4:53] Jeff Parsons: Making some coins.

[4:53] Brittany Campbell: Because this is too much. I'm not sure this is worth it anymore.

[4:59] Jeff Parsons: I feel you entirely. The only thing that I like, I loved doing musicals in high school because my high school was like intense about it.

[5:05] Brittany Campbell: Yeah, I'm sure.

[5:05] Jeff Parsons: And would let us skip a lot of school.

[5:12] Brittany Campbell: Oh my God, I probably shouldn't be saying that. Because like a football player's never been able to skip classes.

[5:17] Jeff Parsons: Exactly. Come on, Arts. Step back.

[5:24] Brittany Campbell: That's great. You are a native New Yorker.

[5:24] Jeff Parsons: Yeah.

[5:24] Brittany Campbell: Brooklyn?

[5:24] Jeff Parsons: Yeah, Flatbush.

[5:34] Brittany Campbell: Flatbush. That's like Fran Fine, the nanny, right?

[5:34] Jeff Parsons: Is she from Flatbush? I thought she was like from Queens for some reason.

[5:39] Brittany Campbell: Flushing. Oh, she's from, you're right. She's from Flushing, Queens. Mabel from Mac and Mabel's from Flatbush.

[5:45] Jeff Parsons: I don't know Mac and Mabel. What's Mac and Mabel?

[5:50] Brittany Campbell: Look what happened to Mabel. It's a Jerry Herman's show about like.

[5:55] Jeff Parsons: I don't know Mac and Mabel. Mac and Mabel. It was a flop. What's another Jerry Herman show?

[6:02] Brittany Campbell: Hello Dolly, Mame, Le Cajon Faux.

[6:07] Jeff Parsons: Is She Loves Me, Jerry?

[6:07] Brittany Campbell: No, that's Jerry Bach. Also a Jerry. I knew there was a Jerry.

[6:13] Jeff Parsons: She Loves Me is the show that we talk about almost every episode of this.

[6:18] Brittany Campbell: Really? I don't know why it always comes up.

[6:24] Jeff Parsons: It's because it's so beloved. I mean like I love that show.

[6:30] Brittany Campbell: Yeah, it's a great show. It's got gorgeous music. And fantastic characters. There's nothing to not like about She Loves Me.

[6:34] Jeff Parsons: Yeah, I would love to sing those songs. That would be awesome. Will He Like Me is like my favorite musical theater song.

[6:39] Jeff Parsons: If there was like any classic musical that I would ever want to do, it would be that.

[6:39] Brittany Campbell: I would love to see it and you'd want to be Amalia, right?

[6:39] Brittany Campbell: Kill it. Do it. Do it now. Let's get the producers.

[6:48] Jeff Parsons: You did Eliza Doolittle, right?

[6:48] Brittany Campbell: I did.

[6:48] Jeff Parsons: And how was that experience?

[6:54] Brittany Campbell: It was crazy. You know, I went to the audition thinking like, I'm not about to get this. So let me put like a sort of stronger spin on her because that is if I was going to be Eliza Doolittle, that was what the approach was going to be just like, who is that girl? I'm not going to pretend to do Audrey Hepburn.

[7:09] Jeff Parsons: No, no. And we're not there anymore.

[7:09] Brittany Campbell: And like, yeah, so I went in there. I did what I did. And like, it turned out that the director Alan Sousa was just as kind of bored with the story because he had done it a lot. He'd even played Freddie at one point and was looking to kind of do this new thing.

[7:26] Jeff Parsons: And he kind of said when I came in, he was like, OK, this is like this. This is what we're going to do with this production, with my 100th production of My Fair Lady. Like, this is going to be the approach.

[7:39] Brittany Campbell: But it ended up being kind of an amazing thing, especially because we were, you know, so close to Washington, D.C. And, you know, I also wasn't expecting so many people to be upset at having the role of Eliza Doolittle as a black woman.

[7:59] Jeff Parsons: So many people upset, which was just like personally offended, like writing letters to the only theater. I mean, like, I just don't think that this role needs to be ever played by a black woman, which was just like so eye opening to me.

[8:11] Brittany Campbell: Yeah. It's just weird when you have those moments as an American where you're just like, oh, this is this is where I'm living. This is where we're at. OK, well, I think sometimes we get in a bubble, especially with our social media.

[8:30] Jeff Parsons: Yeah, there's quite a big part of the population that you don't talk to, that you don't really coexist with, despite all of our coexist bumper stickers.

[8:36] Brittany Campbell: To be doing this at the time, what was it, 2017, made us all feel ultimately good. You know, the cast and crew that we were doing something that was pushing the world that the world that this place in America forward, you know, I kind of feel like if you're not pissing somebody off, then you're not doing any. What is the point? No. You know?

[9:00] Jeff Parsons: Yeah. And I get scared with theater when, you know, I look out into the audience and see that it's mostly like older white people that can see it. And so part of me goes like, oh, is this a genre of entertainment that is sort of stale and hasn't, you know, moved anywhere?

[9:20] Brittany Campbell: So when you get an opportunity to do something like a classical piece like My Fair Lady and like, take a new spin on it, it's exciting.

[9:27] Jeff Parsons: That's really cool.

[9:27] Brittany Campbell: Yeah. And did you realize you could kind of sing anything at an early age?

[9:37] Jeff Parsons: I don't know. I was just sort of singing like, yeah. The first thing I ever the first time I was telling my friend that the first time I ever sang in front of a bunch of people was at Carnegie Hall for an opera competition.

[9:48] Brittany Campbell: I'm sorry. What?

[9:56] Jeff Parsons: Yeah. The first time I ever sang in front of people.

[10:04] Brittany Campbell: The ghosts are like, welcome to the stage. So you want to do this?

[10:09] Jeff Parsons: Yeah. That was my first experience singing in front of a significant audience.

[10:16] Brittany Campbell: And you were never nervous again.

[10:22] Jeff Parsons: For some reason, I've never felt nervous on stage. Nervous if I'm ever like in a type of show where there's like 50 people there and like, it's very intimate. That makes me very nervous, but never on stage.

[10:27] Brittany Campbell: Yeah.

[10:27] Jeff Parsons: And then what was your first professional gig? Like as an adult?

[10:27] Brittany Campbell: Yeah, like as a graduated.

[10:33] Jeff Parsons: As a graduate.

[10:33] Brittany Campbell: Oh, I did a Carolina change at the Human Race Theater in Dayton, Ohio.

[10:38] Jeff Parsons: How cool. And did you get your equity card from that?

[10:42] Brittany Campbell: No, I got I had my equity card since I was like nine years old.

[10:42] Jeff Parsons: I'm sorry. How did you get when did you?

[10:42] Brittany Campbell: So I was in the professional kid.

[10:49] Jeff Parsons: How did I not know this?

[10:49] Brittany Campbell: Yeah, it's a professional kid. So going back, yeah, did that thing at Carnegie Hall, then got recruited to the Metropolitan Opera in the Metropolitan Opera. There was a kid's choir. And most of those kids were like Broadway kids.

[11:00] Jeff Parsons: Okay.

[11:06] Brittany Campbell: And so the parents got talking, my mom got talking to the stage moms and like, I was like, Oh, let's like go on these Broadway auditions. And I ended up in a show called the Civil War.

[11:12] Jeff Parsons: Stop it. Are you ready for this? You are not ready for this.

[11:17] Brittany Campbell: I was there.

[11:17] Jeff Parsons: The closing performance of the Civil War.

[11:25] Brittany Campbell: That's insane. I got my tickets, you know, months in advance, and it just happened to be the very last one.

[11:32] Jeff Parsons: Do you remember Cheryl Freeman?

[11:41] Brittany Campbell: Yes, of course. She was like, all of us would ride and ever I'd be by your side. Tell you that woman was like my idol. And she was so cool.

[11:48] Jeff Parsons: Really?

[11:48] Brittany Campbell: Yeah, she was really cool to me. Like she was like, she gave she gave that show some meat and soul and bones and everything. I loved her.

[11:55] Jeff Parsons: And I do love her because I mean, who's Tommy?

[12:01] Brittany Campbell: She's awesome. She's also like one of the muses in Hercules. Did you know that?

[12:06] Jeff Parsons: Yes, of course.

[12:06] Brittany Campbell: Let's go through them. Because I love those women, man. Those women were everything. That's why I was such a fangirl. And I never fangirl but I was like, obsessed with it. Like a nine year old me was like, that's cool.

[12:19] Jeff Parsons: I've been hurt. So I'm like, Oh, did you get your equity card out of college? You're like, No, it was actually my Broadway debut when I was nine.

[12:31] Brittany Campbell: No, what did you do in Civil War? So probably by that time that you saw it, my role no longer existed.

[12:39] Jeff Parsons: Really?

[12:39] Brittany Campbell: I played this little angel and I came out and opened the show with this with this song that also ended the show. They decided that it no longer works.

[12:46] Jeff Parsons: And was that the song that Linda Edder sings at the end of the concept album?

[12:52] Brittany Campbell: Probably. It's like this prayer song for all of the fallen.

[13:04] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Welcome back to A Musical Theatre Podcast. Today, we are diving into the world of AIDA, and I am thrilled to have Brittany Campbell with me. Brittany, how are you?

[13:34] Brittany Campbell: I'm doing great! Thank you so much for having me.

[13:49] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Of course! AIDA is such a powerful show. It’s one of those musicals that really hits you in the feels, right?

[14:09] Brittany Campbell: Absolutely! It’s a rock concert of a show, and it has so much emotional depth. The music is just incredible.

[14:29] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: And let’s not forget about Heather Headley, who originated the role of AIDA. She became a goddess in the musical theatre world after that performance.

[14:49] Brittany Campbell: Yes! Heather Headley is phenomenal. Her voice and the way she embodies AIDA is just breathtaking.

[15:09] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: I remember when the show first came out, it was such a big deal. It brought a lot of soapy drama that we were all craving at the time.

[15:29] Brittany Campbell: Definitely! The story is so rich and layered, and it really pulls you in. It’s a classic love story with so many twists and turns.

[15:49] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Speaking of twists and turns, what was your first experience with AIDA?

[16:09] Brittany Campbell: I first saw AIDA when I was nine years old. I was just blown away by the music and the performances. It really inspired me.

[16:29] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Wow, nine years old! That’s such a formative age to see something so impactful. What do you remember most about that experience?

[16:49] Brittany Campbell: I remember feeling so moved by the story. I was captivated by the characters and their struggles. It made me want to pursue musical theatre even more.

[17:09] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: That’s amazing! It’s incredible how a show can inspire someone at such a young age.

[17:29] Brittany Campbell: Absolutely! It opened my eyes to the power of storytelling through music.

[17:49] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: And now you’re in the industry yourself! What has your journey been like since then?

[18:09] Brittany Campbell: It’s been a wild ride! I’ve had the opportunity to work on some amazing projects, including HAMILTON, which has been a dream come true.

[18:29] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: That’s fantastic! HAMILTON has had such a huge cultural impact. How does it feel to be part of that?

[18:49] Brittany Campbell: It’s surreal! Being part of a show that resonates with so many people is truly special. I feel so grateful.

[19:09] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: And you bring such a unique perspective to the table, especially having grown up with shows like AIDA.

[19:29] Brittany Campbell: Thank you! I think it’s important to remember how these stories shape us as artists and as individuals.

[19:49] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Absolutely. AIDA is such a rich tapestry of themes and emotions. What do you think makes it stand out among other musicals?

[20:09] Brittany Campbell: I think it’s the combination of the music, the story, and the characters. Each element works together to create something truly unforgettable.

[20:29] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Well said! The music is definitely a standout feature. Do you have a favorite song from the show?

[20:39] Brittany Campbell: It’s hard to choose just one, but I really love “The Gods Are Good.” It’s such a powerful moment in the show.

[20:59] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: That’s a great choice! The emotion in that song is palpable.

[21:19] Brittany Campbell: Yes! It really captures the essence of AIDA’s journey and her struggles.

[21:39] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: And the way the music builds throughout the show really enhances the storytelling.

[21:59] Brittany Campbell: Exactly! The score is so dynamic, and it really elevates the narrative.

[22:19] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: It’s fascinating to see how music can drive the story forward.

[22:39] Brittany Campbell: Absolutely! It’s one of the reasons I love musical theatre so much.

[22:59] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: And it’s clear that your passion for it shines through in your work.

[23:19] Brittany Campbell: Thank you! I truly love what I do, and I hope to continue sharing stories that resonate with people.

[23:39] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: I have no doubt you will! AIDA has left such a lasting legacy, and it’s wonderful to see artists like you carrying that torch.

[23:59] Brittany Campbell: Thank you! It’s an honor to be part of this community.

[24:19] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Well, Brittany, thank you so much for joining me today to talk about AIDA.

[24:39] Brittany Campbell: Thank you for having me! It’s been a pleasure.

[24:59] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: And to our listeners, make sure to check out Brittany’s music and follow her on Instagram.

[25:19] Brittany Campbell: Yes! I’d love to connect with everyone.

[25:39] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Until next time, keep celebrating the magic of musical theatre!

[26:09] Brittany Campbell: She's won some Grammys for her solo work.

[26:13] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: And then Amneris is played by Shari Renee Scott, also from the beginning.

[26:17] Brittany Campbell: At that point, she's just Shari Scott in Atlanta.

[26:21] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: And then at some point before she gets to Broadway, they've got to add the Renee.

[26:26] Brittany Campbell: And the first time I became aware of her, she was Sally Simpson in The Who's Tommy with Cheryl Freeman.

[26:32] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: And then she becomes the Amneris. I think Elton John just becomes obsessed with her.

[26:36] Brittany Campbell: How could you not be?

[26:38] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: I love that.

[26:39] Brittany Campbell: Okay, so I saw AIDA.

[26:40] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: You saw AIDA?

[26:41] Brittany Campbell: Yeah, I saw it.

[26:42] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: How did you feel about it?

[26:43] Brittany Campbell: I was obsessed.

[26:45] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Okay.

[26:46] Brittany Campbell: I felt like how I always thought women felt about soap operas, like watching their stories.

[26:51] Brittany Campbell: I was so in it. I immediately went and bought my cast album.

[26:58] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yes.

[26:59] Brittany Campbell: In the theater, listened to it in the hotel room while I was falling asleep.

[27:03] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Oh my gosh.

[27:04] Brittany Campbell: It's one of those that you can just listen to it doing anything.

[27:07] Brittany Campbell: I used to literally just spend hours on my mom's bed just listening to the album on repeat.

[27:13] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Okay, so that's kind of...

[27:15] Brittany Campbell: Oh, and then it opens, is a huge smash, runs for like four years.

[27:21] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Right.

[27:22] Brittany Campbell: A lot of people come through the show.

[27:24] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Debra Cox.

[27:25] Brittany Campbell: Debra Cox, yes. I forgot about that.

[27:27] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Voice of a Goddess, speaking of.

[27:29] Brittany Campbell: And Toni Braxton, they lower in all those keys.

[27:32] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Wait, did Toni Braxton get to play Aida?

[27:34] Brittany Campbell: Yeah.

[27:35] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: What?

[27:36] Brittany Campbell: There's some stuff online.

[27:38] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: That's crazy.

[27:39] Brittany Campbell: It's like...

[27:42] Brittany Campbell: That's great.

[27:48] Brittany Campbell: That's like the first thing I'm going to do when I get home is look up these bootlegs.

[27:53] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Sorry about it.

[27:54] Brittany Campbell: Not sorry.

[27:56] Brittany Campbell: 90s R&B is my jam.

[27:59] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Because it's the best point of R&B.

[28:01] Brittany Campbell: The best point.

[28:03] Brittany Campbell: Like the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack? Babyface.

[28:05] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: I was literally just talking about this the other day.

[28:08] Brittany Campbell: How are you going to get Chaka Khan, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston.

[28:13] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: One album.

[28:14] Brittany Campbell: Brandy.

[28:16] Brittany Campbell: Monica.

[28:17] Brittany Campbell: Mary J.

[28:18] Brittany Campbell: Monica.

[28:19] Brittany Campbell: We got everybody showing up.

[28:20] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yeah.

[28:21] Brittany Campbell: It's like the greatest soundtrack of all time.

[28:23] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Let it flow.

[28:24] Brittany Campbell: Let it flow.

[28:26] Brittany Campbell: Let it flow.

[28:29] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yes.

[28:30] Brittany Campbell: Okay.

[28:31] Brittany Campbell: That's why Aida comes at this perfect time for me, I think.

[28:34] Brittany Campbell: Because I had...

[28:35] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Right, it's like full circle.

[28:37] Brittany Campbell: Okay, let's talk about the Tony Awards before we go through the show itself.

[28:42] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: It doesn't get nominated for Best Musical.

[28:44] Brittany Campbell: Okay.

[28:45] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: The nominees for Best Musical are Contact, the dance show by Susan Stroman, James Joyce's The Dead, which is kind of like a musicalized version of that famous short story by James Joyce, Swing, which is another dance show, and The Wild Party, Michael John Lecusa's Wild Party.

[29:07] Brittany Campbell: Which I love.

[29:08] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Which I love.

[29:09] Brittany Campbell: I love it.

[29:10] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Right?

[29:11] Brittany Campbell: So it's interesting that there are two dance shows nominated for Best Musical.

[29:15] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: But that being said, Aida ties with Contact as the musical that wins the most Tony Awards that night.

[29:23] Brittany Campbell: Interesting.

[29:24] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: So it's crazy.

[29:25] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: It wins four of the five Tony Awards that it was nominated for, but it didn't get nominated for Best Musical.

[29:31] Brittany Campbell: Yeah, I think that's like...

[29:33] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Do you think that that's Broadway just being like poo-poo on Disney?

[29:36] Brittany Campbell: Yeah, I think that's like a political thing, as award shows are, you know?

[29:41] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Because I don't think it deserved the Best Musical Tony Award.

[29:44] Brittany Campbell: Right.

[29:45] Brittany Campbell: But a nomination, for sure.

[29:46] Brittany Campbell: I think it probably should have got nominated over Swing.

[29:49] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yeah.

[29:50] Brittany Campbell: I mean, Aida, it's hard for me to speak on it because I don't know the book.

[29:56] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: The book?

[29:57] Brittany Campbell: And I hear varying things.

[29:59] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Well, not varying things.

[30:00] Brittany Campbell: I hear one thing about the book that is not very great.

[30:02] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: It's not great.

[30:03] Brittany Campbell: No.

[30:04] Brittany Campbell: There are things about the show that are not great.

[30:06] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yeah.

[30:07] Brittany Campbell: But the other stuff that is so good...

[30:10] Brittany Campbell: Now, if you had...

[30:11] Brittany Campbell: I also have heard if you had Aida with minus Heather Headley, it's also like...

[30:17] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Might be a little rougher.

[30:18] Brittany Campbell: Yeah.

[30:19] Brittany Campbell: That's true.

[30:20] Brittany Campbell: I only...

[30:21] Brittany Campbell: No, because I mean, I did do it.

[30:22] Brittany Campbell: I also got food poisoning during that production of Aida.

[30:25] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: How did you and why did you get food poisoning?

[30:27] Brittany Campbell: I don't...

[30:28] Brittany Campbell: I think it was college.

[30:30] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: You were living your life, eating things.

[30:32] Brittany Campbell: I probably just ate some bad eggs that were in the refrigerator.

[30:37] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yeesh.

[30:38] Brittany Campbell: But yeah, I was supposed to be on stage dancing Dance of the Robe, and I was instead puking into the toilet.

[30:45] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: No!

[30:46] Brittany Campbell: Yeah.

[30:47] Brittany Campbell: Because I'm like, the sound guy doesn't know what's happening, and I don't want the audience to suffer.

[30:51] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: So you're blah, blah, blah.

[30:53] Brittany Campbell: You know, blah, blah, blah.

[30:56] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: That's amazing.

[30:57] Brittany Campbell: Yeah.

[30:58] Brittany Campbell: Terrible.

[30:59] Brittany Campbell: Maybe that's why I was like, I got to get paid for this.

[31:01] Brittany Campbell: I got to get paid never again.

[31:04] Brittany Campbell: But I can't think of another show that wasn't nominated for Best Musical that ran for four years and was a huge financial success.

[31:11] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yeah.

[31:12] Brittany Campbell: I can't think of it.

[31:13] Brittany Campbell: And what's also interesting is that even though it was a huge financial success, it is still the only show that Walt Disney Theatricals has produced that wasn't a film first on Broadway.

[31:21] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: What do you think about it made it so compelling to people?

[31:28] Brittany Campbell: I mean, it's called Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida. Like it wasn't even Disney's Aida.

[31:31] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: So I think Elton was really hot at that point.

[31:36] Brittany Campbell: Right.

[31:37] Brittany Campbell: And then I think people were really hungry for Heather Headley.

[31:40] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: That's what I think too.

[31:42] Brittany Campbell: Like we needed a new star on Broadway.

[31:45] Brittany Campbell: And for her to sound so unique and be so powerful and charismatic.

[31:50] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: That's like it.

[31:51] Brittany Campbell: That's it.

[31:52] Brittany Campbell: And it also didn't look like any other show.

[31:54] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Oh, really?

[31:55] Brittany Campbell: Yeah.

[31:56] Brittany Campbell: What did it look like?

[31:57] Brittany Campbell: It was incredibly colorful.

[31:58] Brittany Campbell: I think it was really surprising.

[32:00] Brittany Campbell: The lights.

[32:01] Brittany Campbell: I remember seeing specific musical numbers and thinking, Oh, I love this song.

[32:05] Brittany Campbell: And then I realized, Oh, like, I don't love that song. I just love the lighting.

[32:09] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Sure.

[32:12] Brittany Campbell: Like that's how good the lighting design was.

[32:14] Brittany Campbell: It was so intricate and interesting.

[32:16] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Cool.

[32:17] Brittany Campbell: Okay.

[32:18] Brittany Campbell: Let's actually talk.

[32:19] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: I wish I saw it.

[32:20] Brittany Campbell: Let's talk about the show because I'll talk a little bit about these things.

[32:23] Brittany Campbell: One of the things that I think Robert Falls brought to the show is this bookended thing of the museum.

[32:27] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Because when the show starts.

[32:32] Brittany Campbell: Right.

[32:33] Brittany Campbell: It's everything.

[32:34] Brittany Campbell: And that's in the museum.

[32:35] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: And please feel free to sing the entire score.

[32:37] Brittany Campbell: Sorry, that's how it's going to be.

[32:38] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yeah, I love it.

[32:39] Brittany Campbell: I'm just like going through it because all I know is it from the song.

[32:42] Brittany Campbell: The track listing.

[32:43] Brittany Campbell: Yeah.

[32:44] Brittany Campbell: So it begins in this museum and you have Amneris, who's like this queen princess in glass.

[32:50] Brittany Campbell: And she's like, you know, posed.

[32:51] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Oh, cool.

[32:52] Brittany Campbell: Just wearing the costume, but then she's actually the character.

[32:56] Brittany Campbell: And you have modern day Aida Radames going through the museum.

[33:01] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Okay.

[33:02] Brittany Campbell: Yeah.

[33:03] Brittany Campbell: Like reincarnated versions of themselves.

[33:04] Brittany Campbell: Right.

[33:05] Brittany Campbell: Just their souls.

[33:06] Brittany Campbell: Exactly.

[33:07] Brittany Campbell: Yeah.

[33:08] Brittany Campbell: And they're looking at her, at Amneris, and then their eyes meet.

[33:11] Brittany Campbell: And then that is when she goes, this is a story of a love.

[33:19] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: And first huge lighting change.

[33:22] Brittany Campbell: Right.

[33:23] Brittany Campbell: And then she steps forward to kind of tell this story.

[33:26] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yeah.

[33:27] Brittany Campbell: And this is when I'll give some serious props to Shari Renee Scott.

[33:30] Brittany Campbell: We were so focused on her delivering this as she's stepping forward and doing all of her riffy cool stuff that the museum completely disappears.

[33:40] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Cool.

[33:41] Brittany Campbell: And now we're in ancient Egypt.

[33:43] Brittany Campbell: And I didn't see it happen at all.

[33:46] Brittany Campbell: And I was like seeing her magic.

[33:49] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: That's so cool.

[33:51] Brittany Campbell: And I think from that moment, because that was such a seamless, like beautiful opening, I was in.

[33:57] Brittany Campbell: Granted, I'm also a teenager at this point.

[33:59] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: So you're like gagged, like loving.

[34:01] Brittany Campbell: Yes.

[34:02] Brittany Campbell: Yes.

[34:03] Brittany Campbell: That's so cute.

[34:04] Brittany Campbell: So she introduces us to Egypt.

[34:06] Brittany Campbell: Egypt is at war with Nubia because of the Nile River.

[34:09] Brittany Campbell: And Egypt wants full control of the river, so they're dominating Nubia.

[34:13] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Right.

[34:14] Brittany Campbell: Then we meet Radames, who's like the captain of the guard.

[34:16] Brittany Campbell: He's the son of the chief minister of Egypt and is next in line to the throne.

[34:22] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Why Radames is the next to the throne and not his father, who's the chief minister, I find strange.

[34:28] Brittany Campbell: But we do meet Radames, and he is.

[34:31] Brittany Campbell: He's like fortune favors the brave.

[34:34] Brittany Campbell: He's got a really gravelly voice.

[34:36] Brittany Campbell: We are swept to glory.

[34:40] Brittany Campbell: He sings fortune favors the brave.

[34:42] Brittany Campbell: Now these Tim Rice lyrics throughout the show tend to be a little cerebral for my taste.

[34:46] Brittany Campbell: You want to hear what I'm thinking?

[34:50] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: What are you thinking?

[34:51] Brittany Campbell: Here it is.

[34:52] Brittany Campbell: Give it to me.

[34:53] Brittany Campbell: And then the character says exactly what they're thinking.

[34:55] Brittany Campbell: So there's not a lot of imagery.

[34:57] Brittany Campbell: It's like, I'm here and my life is set.

[35:01] Brittany Campbell: And I'm feeling this.

[35:03] Brittany Campbell: And I'm conquering things.

[35:04] Brittany Campbell: And it's feeling great.

[35:06] Brittany Campbell: So we meet Radames.

[35:07] Brittany Campbell: We learn that fortune favors the brave.

[35:09] Brittany Campbell: And then at the end of the song, one of his minions says, Look, we found all of these Nubians on the shore near the water.

[35:19] Brittany Campbell: And Radames is like, you're not very smart.

[35:21] Brittany Campbell: We're at war right now.

[35:22] Brittany Campbell: What are you doing?

[35:23] Brittany Campbell: Well, we're going to take you captive, and you're going to be our slaves now.

[35:26] Brittany Campbell: But little does he know that among these slaves is one, Miss Aida, who is the princess of the Nubians.

[35:31] Brittany Campbell: But they're all protecting her because if they know it's really the princess, she's dead.

[35:34] Brittany Campbell: Instead, however, she picks up a sword and starts fighting with the dude.

[35:44] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: But that's why you're marrying Aida, though, because this is lit.

[35:48] Brittany Campbell: Okay.

[35:49] Brittany Campbell: You're right.

[35:50] Brittany Campbell: Exactly right.

[35:51] Brittany Campbell: Radames is like, okay, fine.

[35:53] Brittany Campbell: Don't kill my man.

[35:54] Brittany Campbell: I won't kill your people.

[35:55] Brittany Campbell: But also, I'm using you for a special purpose, which is to give me a bath.

[36:02] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Right.

[36:03] Brittany Campbell: Great.

[36:04] Brittany Campbell: Awesome, Radames.

[36:05] Brittany Campbell: So next scene is Aida scrubbing him down.

[36:11] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: I'm dead.

[36:12] Brittany Campbell: Okay, yes.

[36:13] Brittany Campbell: This is great to know.

[36:15] Brittany Campbell: I mean, it's a power play, right?

[36:17] Brittany Campbell: And she's going along with it, but finally she's had enough, and she does her crazy Heather Headley energy, and he immediately sits like an obedient dog.

[36:28] Brittany Campbell: You know nothing about me.

[36:31] Brittany Campbell: Okay, cool.

[36:32] Brittany Campbell: So that's that moment.

[36:33] Brittany Campbell: Okay, so if that comes at you, you stop and you listen.

[36:37] Brittany Campbell: I think that's the other thing about Heather Headley.

[36:39] Brittany Campbell: It's that thing.

[36:40] Brittany Campbell: You stop and you listen.

[36:42] Brittany Campbell: What else is there to do?

[36:44] Brittany Campbell: Nothing.

[36:45] Brittany Campbell: Adam Pascal doesn't stand a chance.

[36:47] Brittany Campbell: I think this kind of wakes him up a little bit.

[36:51] Brittany Campbell: He's like, oh, yeah, I guess you kind of feel bad.

[36:54] Brittany Campbell: Yeah, Egypt is really messing with your country.

[36:58] Brittany Campbell: I didn't even think about that.

[37:00] Brittany Campbell: I'm not going to let you go, but I'm going to let you be the servant to my betrothed princess, Amneris.

[37:07] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Thanks, Adam.

[37:08] Brittany Campbell: Because that's like a cushy job.

[37:10] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Cutting me slack.

[37:11] Brittany Campbell: Right?

[37:12] Brittany Campbell: So now they go to the palace so that she can start working for the princess.

[37:18] Brittany Campbell: This dude Merib, who's a Nubian, meets her to take her to the princess, and he's like, wait, you're a princess.

[37:27] Brittany Campbell: You're literally the princess.

[37:28] Brittany Campbell: I'm a Nubian.

[37:29] Brittany Campbell: I haven't been there for a while because I've been here being a slave.

[37:32] Brittany Campbell: But I know who you are.

[37:33] Brittany Campbell: And he sings How I Know You.

[37:35] Brittany Campbell: That guy has a gorgeous voice.

[37:36] Brittany Campbell: How I know you.

[37:38] Brittany Campbell: You don't know me.

[37:40] Brittany Campbell: OK, now this is all making sense.

[37:42] Brittany Campbell: This is so great for me right now.

[37:43] Brittany Campbell: I'm so glad.

[37:44] Brittany Campbell: This is clearing up the whole situation.

[37:46] Brittany Campbell: Great.

[37:47] Brittany Campbell: So he takes her to meet Amneris.

[37:50] Brittany Campbell: We meet Amneris now.

[37:52] Brittany Campbell: And what was really cool about the original production is they had this crazy forced perspective swimming pool.

[37:56] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: OK.

[38:01] Brittany Campbell: When you looked at the stage, you were looking at an overhead shot of a swimming pool.

[38:06] Brittany Campbell: OK, yes.

[38:07] Brittany Campbell: So then they had a girl flying, looking like she was swimming in the swimming pool.

[38:12] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: That's so cool.

[38:13] Brittany Campbell: And then Amneris pops out of it, and she's like, whew, nice little swim.

[38:17] Brittany Campbell: What a swim.

[38:19] Brittany Campbell: Amneris is a clothes horse.

[38:21] Brittany Campbell: She's kind of a spoiled, shallow princess.

[38:24] Brittany Campbell: And she's, like, OK with being that because that's all that's expected of her.

[38:28] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Right?

[38:29] Brittany Campbell: So she sings Strongest Suit.

[38:30] Brittany Campbell: Now, what's interesting is, like, this is right around the emergence of Paris Hilton.

[38:35] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: That's so funny.

[38:37] Brittany Campbell: Do you think that she greatly influenced the character?

[38:39] Brittany Campbell: I think that type of stereotype really becomes, I don't want to say celebrated, but certainly.

[38:46] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Well, yeah, celebrated.

[38:48] Brittany Campbell: I mean, consumed.

[38:50] Brittany Campbell: Yeah.

[38:51] Brittany Campbell: You know?

[38:52] Brittany Campbell: So to give a character like that a bigger arc, I think, was probably considered actually pretty cool.

[38:58] Brittany Campbell: Yeah.

[38:59] Brittany Campbell: Although people do have a problem with Strongest Suit.

[39:01] Brittany Campbell: I actually think it's some of the funniest lyrics, though.

[39:04] Brittany Campbell: From your cradle, via trousseau, to your deathbed, you're on view.

[39:08] Brittany Campbell: So never compromise, except no substitutes.

[39:14] Brittany Campbell: I mean, like, you know, because I haven't seen it, I would love to see an interesting performance of it, or maybe like, I'd love to, to be able to actually watch the arc.

[39:25] Jeff Parsons: Yeah. What it feels like to me is Elton though, too. Where you know, like Elton sometimes lives out his just like, gay fantasies. Like he wants to be in Amneris's closet.

[39:36] Brittany Campbell: For sure, just like all the things.

[39:38] Jeff Parsons: Yeah, yeah. And so the more that I listened to the show, the more I feel like if he could, he would have written Amneris for himself.

[39:47] Brittany Campbell: That's such an interesting idea.

[39:51] Jeff Parsons: Okay, so no, so Strongest Suit happens. They in the Broadway version, they had a runway with all of these women coming in the craziest costumes. Yeah, but like, like Lady Gaga stuff pre Lady Gaga with boxes around your head. And yeah, it was actually really, really fun. I'm once again, totally living for it.

[40:12] Brittany Campbell: After Strongest Suit, Aida and Amneris actually have a heart to heart.

[40:19] Jeff Parsons: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I guess this is when they're talking about like, her dad.

[40:23] Brittany Campbell: Yeah, her dad's not doing well. Who's the Pharaoh? He seems to be ill.

[40:27] Jeff Parsons: So she knows all this responsibility.

[40:29] Brittany Campbell: Oh, that's, oh, that's why. I'm sorry. That's why Radames is going to become the new Pharaoh is because he's marrying Amneris.

[40:37] Jeff Parsons: Yeah, I don't know why I didn't remember that. Because she's the daughter.

[40:41] Brittany Campbell: The actual, yeah.

[40:42] Jeff Parsons: Yeah. So she's upset about, you know, her dad being ill, really nervous about, you know, taking over the responsibilities of that. She doesn't know anything. She's been spoiled. And, and, and so there is kind of a self-awareness and a recognition that she is hiding behind the stuff, the materialism.

[41:02] Brittany Campbell: And Aida says, like, no, like, you have to believe that one day you're going to find something more profound than this.

[41:09] Jeff Parsons: Yeah.

[41:10] Brittany Campbell: You're a person. And I see you for being a person.

[41:12] Jeff Parsons: Yeah.

[41:13] Brittany Campbell: Amneris feels seen for the first time.

[41:16] Jeff Parsons: Aida, once again.

[41:18] Brittany Campbell: Okay, I'm coming around now. Maybe I want to marry Aida.

[41:22] Jeff Parsons: Aida is like, literally gagging everybody, everybody's lives.

[41:26] Brittany Campbell: Everyone's like, can I marry?

[41:28] Jeff Parsons: Yeah.

[41:29] Brittany Campbell: And then we see Radames and his dad Zozer.

[41:32] Jeff Parsons: Okay.

[41:33] Brittany Campbell: Now, I could not press skip faster.

[41:37] Jeff Parsons: What is this song? What is this song?

[41:39] Brittany Campbell: Another Pyramid.

[41:40] Jeff Parsons: Another Pyramid.

[41:42] Brittany Campbell: This is the song where I thought I really liked this number. And in the theater.

[41:47] Jeff Parsons: Oh, in the theater. This is the lighting moment.

[41:49] Brittany Campbell: The choreography and the lighting were timed identically.

[41:52] Jeff Parsons: Cool.

[41:53] Brittany Campbell: So it's like, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun.

[41:55] Jeff Parsons: And so it was all happening at the same time.

[41:58] Brittany Campbell: Yeah.

[41:59] Jeff Parsons: Cool.

[42:00] Brittany Campbell: But now I listen to it and I'm like, ugh.

[42:03] Jeff Parsons: Yeah, I always hated that song.

[42:04] Brittany Campbell: No one cares.

[42:05] Jeff Parsons: But it's cool that it's like a lighting moment.

[42:07] Brittany Campbell: It also makes me wish I saw the shit.

[42:09] Jeff Parsons: Fair enough.

[42:10] Brittany Campbell: Looking back, I think that the biggest problem with the show are the males.

[42:15] Jeff Parsons: Yeah?

[42:16] Brittany Campbell: Yeah.

[42:17] Jeff Parsons: Why?

[42:18] Brittany Campbell: Because Radames is whiny and Zozer is just a bad guy.

[42:22] Jeff Parsons: So do you think that Radames is just not developed enough?

[42:26] Brittany Campbell: As vapid as Amneris is, at least she's got something to work against.

[42:31] Jeff Parsons: The most interesting thing about Radames is Aida.

[42:35] Brittany Campbell: Why do you think it ended up written feminine?

[42:38] Jeff Parsons: Focused on the females.

[42:39] Brittany Campbell: Yeah.

[42:40] Jeff Parsons: I think that they are just ultimately the more interesting characters.

[42:43] Brittany Campbell: And, I mean, this goes for toxic or stereotypical masculinity.

[42:47] Jeff Parsons: There's nothing really interesting about it, you guys.

[42:50] Brittany Campbell: Well, yeah.

[42:51] Jeff Parsons: Unless it's a Gaston character and you mine it for comedy.

[42:55] Brittany Campbell: Yeah.

[42:56] Jeff Parsons: I think people thought, well, he needs to be the hot guy that the girls fight over.

[43:01] Brittany Campbell: But we were all like, forget about the hot guy.

[43:04] Jeff Parsons: Can we just get back to the two ladies?

[43:05] Brittany Campbell: Yeah, let's see.

[43:06] Jeff Parsons: Okay.

[43:07] Brittany Campbell: Yeah.

[43:08] Jeff Parsons: I don't know.

[43:09] Brittany Campbell: That's kind of my feelings.

[43:10] Jeff Parsons: Get him out of here.

[43:11] Brittany Campbell: Get him out of here.

[43:12] Jeff Parsons: It's true.

[43:13] Brittany Campbell: And when I listen to the album, that's kind of what I do.

[43:14] Jeff Parsons: I'm like, all right.

[43:15] Brittany Campbell: You're right.

[43:16] Jeff Parsons: You're right.

[43:17] Brittany Campbell: That's totally my experience as well.

[43:19] Jeff Parsons: Anytime Radames was on there, I'd be like, all right, thanks so much.

[43:22] Brittany Campbell: Okay.

[43:23] Jeff Parsons: Another pyramid, blah, blah, blah.

[43:24] Brittany Campbell: Mm-hmm.

[43:25] Jeff Parsons: I think I went a little bit out of order.

[43:27] Brittany Campbell: That's okay.

[43:28] Jeff Parsons: Now Radames and Aida have a moment together.

[43:31] Brittany Campbell: Okay.

[43:32] Jeff Parsons: And they're kind of talking about their goals and they actually realize that they're similar.

[43:37] Brittany Campbell: Okay.

[43:38] Jeff Parsons: Obviously, because they're both royalty and avoiding the responsibilities of it.

[43:41] Brittany Campbell: Right.

[43:42] Jeff Parsons: The inevitability.

[43:43] Brittany Campbell: The weight of it.

[43:44] Jeff Parsons: Yeah.

[43:45] Brittany Campbell: Yeah.

[43:46] Jeff Parsons: And that's kind of what them passing through is all about, is this moment of like, oh, we're sharing the same things.

[43:49] Brittany Campbell: And why am I saying it to you, of all people?

[43:52] Jeff Parsons: Right.

[43:53] Brittany Campbell: From there, Merib, our friend Merib, comes to Aida and says, hey, there's a whole camp of Nubian slaves.

[44:01] Jeff Parsons: And I think it would be really great if you went and talked to them.

[44:05] Brittany Campbell: And talked to them and gave them spirit. Some moral courage, you know?

[44:09] Jeff Parsons: And she's like, ah, but this is too much.

[44:13] Brittany Campbell: Yeah.

[44:14] Jeff Parsons: Not to mention I'm like feeling feelings for this dude.

[44:16] Brittany Campbell: Right.

[44:17] Jeff Parsons: But she goes.

[44:18] Brittany Campbell: She goes to just shake hands, essentially.

[44:21] Jeff Parsons: But then they turn it into this whole ritualistic thing.

[44:24] Brittany Campbell: We've taken all of these scraps of cloth and have created a robe for you to wear because you are our queen.

[44:31] Jeff Parsons: Yeah.

[44:32] Brittany Campbell: And throughout this song called Dance of the Robe, she grows up and says, okay, well, I need to lead these. I'll do this.

[44:40] Jeff Parsons: Yeah.

[44:41] Brittany Campbell: I need to lead these people. I need to represent my home. I need to forget all of my fears. I need to forget all my insecurities and do this.

[44:47] Jeff Parsons: Yeah.

[44:48] Brittany Campbell: And it's one of the coolest numbers I've ever seen in theater.

[44:52] Jeff Parsons: Cool.

[44:53] Brittany Campbell: To see her draped in that huge robe.

[44:56] Jeff Parsons: What does the robe look like?

[44:57] Brittany Campbell: It looked pieced together.

[44:59] Jeff Parsons: It's a patchy, cool.

[45:00] Brittany Campbell: Yeah, patched with netting and all sorts of things. And then they lifted her up and they're just chanting Aida.

[45:06] Jeff Parsons: And then she's like, it's Aida!

[45:09] Brittany Campbell: Yes!

[45:12] Jeff Parsons: Oh, it is everything.

[45:14] Brittany Campbell: It's everything.

[45:15] Jeff Parsons: I honestly thought, oh, that's the end of the first act because it was that big of a number.

[45:19] Brittany Campbell: And it wasn't.

[45:21] Jeff Parsons: But I think it makes perfect sense for the gods love Nubia.

[45:25] Brittany Campbell: Oh, absolutely.

[45:26] Jeff Parsons: To leave it on that hopeful Nubia before.

[45:31] Brittany Campbell: More stuff has to happen, too, because they find out that her father has been taken captive.

[45:38] Jeff Parsons: The king of Nubia has been taken captive.

[45:40] Brittany Campbell: And so when that happens, then now the entire camp has fallen victim to this hopelessness.

[45:50] Jeff Parsons: Yeah.

[45:51] Brittany Campbell: And even though Dance of the Robe is her moment to declare herself as queen, gods love Nubia is her first opportunity to act like one.

[46:00] Jeff Parsons: Yeah.

[46:01] Brittany Campbell: And to do something about it.

[46:02] Jeff Parsons: So yeah, you're right.

[46:04] Brittany Campbell: Yeah, like the moment where she is soothing, where she is helpful, you know.

[46:08] Jeff Parsons: Before that, though, this whole Not Me sequence, which is another great song, they go into kind of a market.

[46:14] Brittany Campbell: And Radames begins giving his valuables to the poor.

[46:24] Jeff Parsons: Okay.

[46:25] Brittany Campbell: After kind of listening to some of the things that Heather Headley... Sorry, that Aida's been saying.

[46:30] Jeff Parsons: So he's giving of his things.

[46:34] Brittany Campbell: And Aida takes the opportunity to look at that and be like, oh, there's something else to this guy that I didn't realize.

[46:42] Jeff Parsons: Maybe I do have feelings and maybe he's worthy of them.

[46:45] Brittany Campbell: They kind of cement that deal through Elaborate Lives.

[46:48] Jeff Parsons: It's a great song.

[46:50] Brittany Campbell: I love it.

[46:51] Jeff Parsons: Do you know what? It is interesting that Adam Pascal blends so beautifully with Heather Headley.

[46:56] Brittany Campbell: So beautifully.

[46:57] Jeff Parsons: Because you could not have two more different voices.

[46:59] Brittany Campbell: I think it's like the roundness covers that.

[47:01] Jeff Parsons: So it's like it becomes this cacophony of goodness.

[47:05] Brittany Campbell: Yeah.

[47:10] Jeff Parsons: It's the concert moment you've been waiting for.

[47:12] Brittany Campbell: It is.

[47:13] Jeff Parsons: This whole show is the concert moment you've been waiting for.

[47:16] Brittany Campbell: Do you see how quickly I'm going through the script? Because it honestly doesn't matter.

[47:19] Jeff Parsons: At some point, there's like a dinner scene, which I love a good dinner scene in a musical, because there's always some drama that goes down.

[47:27] Brittany Campbell: The dinner scene in this show is so boring.

[47:30] Jeff Parsons: Really?

[47:31] Brittany Campbell: What happens in the dinner scene?

[47:33] Jeff Parsons: The pharaoh is there. Amneris' dad is there. And I think when we realized that Zoser, Radames' dad, is the one who's poisoning.

[47:43] Brittany Campbell: He's like slowly poisoning the pharaoh so that he'll die and Radames becomes the king.

[47:48] Jeff Parsons: I'm a little gagged by that.

[47:50] Brittany Campbell: But it's not gaggy in the theater.

[47:53] Jeff Parsons: Like he takes a drink of the wine or something and then is like, oh no, something's happening.

[48:00] Brittany Campbell: I think I'm going all out of order.

[48:03] Jeff Parsons: It honestly doesn't matter.

[48:05] Brittany Campbell: It doesn't matter.

[48:06] Jeff Parsons: That's what I've been told.

[48:08] Brittany Campbell: That's kind of the awesome thing about this show.

[48:11] Jeff Parsons: So then Act Two starts, and in the Broadway version, they had an actual triangle with lasers.

[48:18] Brittany Campbell: They shot lasers to make a triangle.

[48:20] Jeff Parsons: Cool.

[48:21] Brittany Campbell: Because it's a love triangle.

[48:24] Jeff Parsons: But Step Too Far is the song that they sing.

[48:27] Brittany Campbell: Each one revealing, once again, exactly what they're thinking.

[48:31] Jeff Parsons: This is...

[48:33] Brittany Campbell: Yes.

[48:34] Jeff Parsons: Another concert moment we've been waiting for.

[48:36] Brittany Campbell: It is.

[48:37] Jeff Parsons: It's just so epic.

[48:38] Brittany Campbell: Yeah, every song is epic.

[48:40] Jeff Parsons: They all sound amazing doing it.

[48:42] Brittany Campbell: You get the right cast.

[48:44] Jeff Parsons: And it's Litty Boots.

[48:48] Brittany Campbell: I'm sorry.

[48:49] Jeff Parsons: I've heard that one before.

[48:50] Brittany Campbell: Litty Boots?

[48:51] Jeff Parsons: You've heard Litty Boots?

[48:52] Brittany Campbell: No.

[48:53] Jeff Parsons: Litty Boots.

[48:54] Brittany Campbell: I don't even know where I got that one from, but people do say Litty Boots.

[48:58] Jeff Parsons: I buy it, and I like it.

[49:00] Brittany Campbell: After Step Too Far, it's easy as life.

[49:03] Jeff Parsons: Okay.

[49:04] Brittany Campbell: Now, I thought this song was called Easy As Lie.

[49:06] Jeff Parsons: Why?

[49:07] Brittany Campbell: Oh, because you couldn't...

[49:08] Jeff Parsons: I couldn't...

[49:09] Brittany Campbell: Because she's giving you...

[49:11] Jeff Parsons: As a lie.

[49:12] Brittany Campbell: As a lie.

[49:13] Jeff Parsons: As a lie.

[49:16] Brittany Campbell: That's so silly.

[49:17] Jeff Parsons: It's not, though.

[49:18] Brittany Campbell: It's not, though.

[49:19] Jeff Parsons: It's called Easy As Life, with an F.

[49:21] Brittany Campbell: And the reason that she sings that is because they sneak into the prison to see her dad.

[49:26] Jeff Parsons: Okay.

[49:27] Brittany Campbell: And in order to get him out, she needs to, like, betray Radames and kind of use her...

[49:33] Jeff Parsons: Yeah, her feminine wiles.

[49:35] Brittany Campbell: Well, use her privilege of working within the palace to make the escape happen.

[49:39] Jeff Parsons: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[49:40] Brittany Campbell: So she's taking advantage of his kindness and double-crossing him in order to save the dad.

[49:44] Jeff Parsons: Let's look at how he literally has your family captured and your people so, like...

[49:49] Brittany Campbell: Also, Radames doesn't know that she's princess. She's like, I love him, and he's gonna find out all this stuff, and then we're not gonna be together.

[49:57] Jeff Parsons: And so...

[49:58] Brittany Campbell: I won't have a boyfriend anymore.

[50:00] Jeff Parsons: So she sings a song about it, because life isn't easy.

[50:03] Brittany Campbell: Right.

[50:04] Jeff Parsons: Is what she's saying.

[50:05] Brittany Campbell: The metaphor of the song.

[50:07] Jeff Parsons: Easy as life.

[50:08] Brittany Campbell: Here's another great opportunity for Heather Headley to freaking wow us all, and we're dead.

[50:14] Jeff Parsons: Just completely dead.

[50:16] Brittany Campbell: Is there another role?

[50:20] Jeff Parsons: I mean, like, Elphaba...

[50:22] Brittany Campbell: Yeah, Elphaba is crazy.

[50:24] Jeff Parsons: Who else sings down?

[50:26] Brittany Campbell: But, like, this show has so many songs. You do the first one, and then you're like, well, there's one, but I got seven more to go.

[50:34] Jeff Parsons: Seven more treacherous ones.

[50:36] Brittany Campbell: Yeah.

[50:37] Jeff Parsons: Like, long, high-note-at-the-end ones.

[50:39] Brittany Campbell: Every time.

[50:40] Jeff Parsons: Do you like doing those types of roles?

[50:42] Brittany Campbell: Yeah, I just like... I love roles where I get to sing incessantly.

[50:46] Jeff Parsons: Do you really?

[50:47] Brittany Campbell: Yeah.

[50:48] Jeff Parsons: Okay, that's cool.

[50:49] Brittany Campbell: If I were doing this role, which I would not, just in case anyone had thought...

[50:52] Jeff Parsons: I would turn it down.

[50:53] Brittany Campbell: I would turn it down, because I'm a good person.

[50:55] Jeff Parsons: I would do this role, but I would not do Elphaba.

[50:58] Brittany Campbell: Interesting.

[50:59] Jeff Parsons: Yeah, that seems like my voice is gone after that.

[51:04] Brittany Campbell: Interesting.

[51:05] Jeff Parsons: Yeah.

[51:06] Brittany Campbell: Eight shows a week of that?

[51:07] Jeff Parsons: Yeah.

[51:08] Brittany Campbell: No, no, no.

[51:09] Jeff Parsons: That's a very specific voice type.

[51:10] Brittany Campbell: Yeah, to do it and not hurt yourself.

[51:12] Jeff Parsons: I mean, I know so many people who have hurt themselves doing it, and it's just like, you know...

[51:16] Brittany Campbell: Not worth it.

[51:17] Jeff Parsons: Yeah.

[51:18] Brittany Campbell: Oh, so anyway, we're all dead, and then what's the next thing?

[51:22] Jeff Parsons: Another song from Radames and Zozer, and I'm like, skip!

[51:26] Brittany Campbell: Oh!

[51:27] Jeff Parsons: Wait, which song is this one?

[51:28] Brittany Campbell: Like father, like son.

[51:30] Jeff Parsons: Oh my god.

[51:31] Brittany Campbell: Literally, this is what I did. I literally skipped most of Radames' stuff.

[51:38] Jeff Parsons: For sure.

[51:39] Brittany Campbell: And in the Broadway version, all of the guards had these staffs, you know, like Jafar staff sort of thing, and they turned them into a boxing ring.

[51:50] Jeff Parsons: So then Radames and Zozer were circling each other like they were in the ring.

[51:53] Brittany Campbell: I mean, at that point, the possibility of seeing a bad show on Broadway did not exist for me.

[52:01] Jeff Parsons: Right.

[52:02] Brittany Campbell: Everything was... Everything was fantastic. Civil War was the best thing I'd ever seen.

[52:07] Jeff Parsons: Civil War is the best musical that has ever hit Broadway, dear God.

[52:13] Brittany Campbell: But even at that point, I remember like father, like son happened.

[52:17] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: And at the end of the number, I was like, all right, it's like, what's going on? What's going on with the ladies? Can we get Amneris back out there?

[52:22] Brittany Campbell: You guys, stop! That's so funny. Radames writes a letter and he sings a song about it called Radames's Letter. Now, originally, this was Amneris's letter. Why was it switched to Radames's letter? Because I think they thought he needed some help character-wise, which they were correct about. I just don't know if this gives him everything that they thought it would. What does it reveal? From what? How does this song go? They didn't even change the lyrics because Aida had a concept album that Elton John put out before, kind of Andrew Lloyd Webber style, to try and get everyone interested in the music. And Shania Twain sang the song, and it was called Amneris's Letter.

[53:01] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Wow, she actually sounds pretty awesome.

[53:07] Brittany Campbell: I love Shania Twain!

[53:08] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yeah, me too! Who doesn't? Like, come on! Still, when I ran, it's like one of the best songs ever!

[53:18] Brittany Campbell: Absolutely! There was a weekend, you know, sometimes on cable, a specific channel will do a free weekend?

[53:23] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yeah.

[53:30] Brittany Campbell: And I remember I was flipping through channels one weekend, and I was like, oh, Epix is suddenly part of my plan! And it was the Shania Twain filmed concert from Vegas, and I was like, no, you said your ass right there!

[53:44] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: I sure did! I was like, I know what I'm doing while I fold laundry for the next hour and a half!

[53:50] Brittany Campbell: So funny! And I got teary-eyed because at one point, she brings a horse out.

[53:56] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: What?

[54:02] Brittany Campbell: Yeah, no, you need to see Shania Twain on a horse singing "You're Still the One." She's on a horse literally singing the song, doing tricks with the horse! It's so awesome! And everyone's applauding, and I'm so proud of the horse!

[54:16] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Wait, she—okay, literally, she is singing "Still the One" on a horse while doing tricks?

[54:23] Brittany Campbell: Yeah! Yeah! Like, the horse is doing complicated footwork!

[54:32] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: You lie! This is a lie!

[54:40] Brittany Campbell: Yeah, that's really insane! It's a very talented horse! It's a very talented woman! I'm all about it!

[54:43] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Oh my gosh, how did I get on Shania?

[54:46] Brittany Campbell: I don't know how you got—oh, because she sang the song "Amneris's Letter," which is actually Radames's letter.

[54:51] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: So what is it saying? I don't even remember this.

[54:54] Brittany Campbell: It's just basically saying, I'm sorry for being a douche.

[55:00] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Oh, is it the one that ends, "I love you"?

[55:04] Brittany Campbell: Yeah, okay, cool! Yeah, it softens him a little bit. It gives him some depth.

[55:11] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yeah, and honestly, probably helps Aida a little bit about feeling guilty for double-crossing him, you know, because we need that for sure.

[55:20] Brittany Campbell: Oh, I think because she receives the letter, then she's like, I don't know if I can do this. I don't know if I can do this!

[55:31] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Girl, I need you to pull up!

[55:37] Brittany Campbell: Yeah, and Marib's like, you know what? I thought I knew you, but I don't know you!

[55:43] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: That's so funny!

[55:44] Brittany Campbell: How I Know You reprise! Exactly! There are a gajillion reprises in the second act! You're clearing so much up for me right now!

[55:50] Brittany Campbell: Then comes the big ballad, "Written in the Stars," which is interesting. Now that I think about it, it's a lot like "Rewrite the Stars" from The Greatest Showman. It's interesting that "Written in the Stars" and "Rewrite the Stars" are incredibly similar.

[56:01] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Coincidence? I think not!

[56:03] Brittany Campbell: I think not! Where they're like, we could be together if this were a different lifetime, right? Aida did it first!

[56:09] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: So, you know, they're confessing their love for each other, and it's in this beautiful garden setting with like a wall, like a brick wall. They're like on this side of the wall.

[56:14] Brittany Campbell: So then they go off, and then Amneris comes around the corner. She's been here the whole time, and what's interesting is that she doesn't get pissed. She's actually sad.

[56:23] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: But this moment is really beautiful because she sings "I Know the Truth," and all of her maids are dressing her in her wedding dress as she sings this song.

[56:33] Brittany Campbell: Yeah, so you feel bad for Amneris. These are two people that she has a really strong connection to. She's known Radames since she was little. They were supposed to get married, and Aida is kind of like this new sense of purpose in her, so she doesn't know what to do. But she still has to get married, so she goes to her wedding.

[56:54] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Wait, they still—

[56:59] Brittany Campbell: And I'm getting married!

[57:04] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: So they go—so yeah, she's going through with it. She's not going to say anything because she doesn't want to get either of them in trouble, right?

[57:07] Brittany Campbell: Right! And then their wedding is interrupted last minute by people saying the Nubian king's escaping! They've found out about it! So then the wedding gets canceled while they run to the docks to see if they can stop the king. Aida and Marib and the king are all getting ready to go, but then like Zozer, like the bad guy, comes with Radames, and they're trying to stop him.

[57:27] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Zozer hits Marib and wounds him fatally, and Aida's crushed. The king is like, I won't go without my daughter! Radames cuts the lines and makes the boat go off stage, so he's like, she's left there.

[57:40] Brittany Campbell: So she's left there because that was the only way to save him. While everything else was going on, the whole thing is discovered that they've been in cahoots.

[57:58] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yeah, and Marib dies.

[58:00] Brittany Campbell: Doesn't Amneris know that she's a princess until this point?

[58:08] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: No, nobody knows! This is the moment where they realize that she's the princess!

[58:13] Brittany Campbell: Yeah, because of all of the treason and all of the lying!

[58:19] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Oh, and then I think the Pharaoh dies at some point.

[58:25] Brittany Campbell: At some point! See, like this is soap opera! It's giving you drama at the highest degree!

[58:32] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Which is why when you're in it, like you're in it! You're like, what? Because you're just popcorn!

[58:37] Brittany Campbell: Yeah, you're just letting it wash over you! You don't have to think too hard! Every vocal is stunning, right?

[58:43] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: And the story just kind of washes over you, and you're huge too! So it's like—

[58:49] Brittany Campbell: And yet somehow still more nuanced than the opera!

[58:54] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: So, Zozer gets, you know, tossed out on his can. Radames can't become the king, become the Pharaoh, so that means Amneris has to step up, right?

[59:01] Brittany Campbell: And so now her first decree, her first big major decision has to be about what to do with them, and they've committed treason, so death is inevitable. But her sign of mercy is that she allows them to be buried together, which, I mean, would also be against the law, right? For a Nubian and Egyptian to be sharing a space for a culture that believes that your burial space is incredibly sacred.

[59:23] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: I mean, you look at those tombs, you're surrounded by lots of treasures for you to take with you into the afterlife or into the next life. So the idea that one of those treasures would be that person from another country is actually kind of beautiful.

[59:35] Brittany Campbell: So they're buried alive, but then they did this really cool thing where they kind of did an iris close as the tomb was being buried. The iris came in and was closing until they were gone.

[59:49] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: And it was acted so well because they were acting as though they couldn't see each other and feeling each other's faces. It was directed really well, in my opinion.

[59:58] Brittany Campbell: And this was, I think, another thing that Robert Falls did was change the entire ending because it used to be, if you look at the concept album, and there is some footage from like a pirated video in Atlanta, it was this whole song called "The Messenger" about how death isn't the end, it's just the messenger of where to go from here, right?

[1:00:18] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Right.

[1:00:24] Brittany Campbell: And it was this really long song that Aida and Radames would sing together, and then Amneris would come and take it over, and then everybody would appear on stage with Aida and Radames in the back appearing like in front.

[1:00:38] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Exactly!

[1:00:39] Brittany Campbell: Yeah, okay! And it's not good! They wisely cut that number completely, just did the reprise of "Enchantment Passing Through," and then as they are buried completely, Amneris comes out and finishes up her story, which is that the love of these two people radiated from the earth and created an era of peace between the two countries.

[1:01:01] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: And then all of a sudden, we're shifting back into the museum, and she talks about how it's a love that will never die, and she gets back into her place, and now we're seeing once again the modern-day Aida and Radames meeting each other finally in a way that they could be together.

[1:01:24] Brittany Campbell: Cool!

[1:01:25] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: And then that's how the show ends.

[1:01:28] Brittany Campbell: That's lovely!

[1:01:30] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: It was! And I immediately loved my feet! I have not given a faster standing ovation in my life!

[1:01:38] Brittany Campbell: Now, they were going to make a film version with Beyoncé and Christina Aguilera, and it didn't happen.

[1:01:45] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: That's fine!

[1:01:46] Brittany Campbell: Yeah, thank you!

[1:01:47] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: That's great! Can you imagine Beyoncé?

[1:01:49] Brittany Campbell: No, no, I can't! And I love me some Queen Bee, but like, no!

[1:01:52] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Would you want a film version?

[1:01:59] Brittany Campbell: Hell yeah! I would love that to show my kids! I think it would actually work really well in some sort of film version. I think it would work better because it just seems like the environment of ancient Egypt just, you know, calls for budget.

[1:02:20] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: And you know, it is a simple story, but there seems to be so many locations within the palace to like, I think it would behoove itself to be on film.

[1:02:31] Brittany Campbell: Honestly, sometimes I find those make even better films because if the material is really sophisticated, you can't blow it up very much, right?

[1:02:46] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: You know, if it's two people communicating Sondheim lyrics, you can't really do anything else with the camera or the setting than that communication.

[1:02:52] Brittany Campbell: If someone is just having all of these thoughts and they're spilling out like, you know, a conscious stream of consciousness, it's pouring out, you can have them doing whatever!

[1:03:03] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Right! It gives so much room for so many different—go for a walk, go for—you know, you can do anything!

[1:03:13] Brittany Campbell: Yeah! And like stuff like "My Strongest Suit," that could use some movie magic! That would be insane!

[1:03:19] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yes! We all love a great fashion montage!

[1:03:28] Brittany Campbell: Yes! Yeah, it would be a really cool movie!

[1:03:30] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: So, that's Aida!

[1:03:35] Brittany Campbell: That is Aida! You did such a great job of explaining the whole story!

[1:03:41] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Oh my gosh, I feel like I wasn't there!

[1:03:43] Brittany Campbell: Thank you! I'm so grateful you were here!

[1:03:51] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Well, what I will say is that I think that the message we can take away from this show is one of unity and love.

[1:03:58] Brittany Campbell: Love over opulence!

[1:04:05] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Love over opulence! Also just humanity being one! I mean, it's—

[1:04:13] Brittany Campbell: Yeah, we need to simplify!

[1:04:19] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yeah, yeah, we got to simplify, I think so! And I think we can stand for that message a little bit more!

[1:04:24] Brittany Campbell: Oh yeah, it's so easy!

[1:04:29] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: It's so easy!

[1:04:34] Brittany Campbell: All right, thank you everybody for listening! As always, if you have any suggestions for shows that we cover here on A Musical Theatre Podcast, you can email me at amusicalpodcast@gmail.com.

[1:04:40] Brittany Campbell: Also, please follow us on Instagram and Twitter at amusicalpodcast! For all things Brittany Campbell, how do we follow you?

[1:04:45] Brittany Campbell: You can follow me on Instagram at Brittany Campbell Music or just check me out on brittanycampbell.com, and you can also find all of her stuff on Spotify!

[1:04:50] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Which I have listened to! Your meme video is really sick!

[1:04:55] Brittany Campbell: Thank you! Thank you!

[1:04:59] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Yeah, it's awesome! It looks so good! And what should our tagline be for this episode?

[1:05:05] Brittany Campbell: Shania on a horse!

[1:05:09] Jeffrey Scott Parsons: Shania on a very talented horse! Bye, everybody!