The story of Ethiopian princess Aida will come to life next week at Mountainview High School.
Seventy year 9-13 students in the musical theatre programme will bring the Elton John/Tim Rice musical to life from August 14 to 17.
Aida is a musical based on the opera of the same name written by Antonio Ghislanzoni with music by Giuseppe Verdi, and tells the story of Aida, an Ethiopian princess held captive in Egypt, in love with a general, Radames, and he with her.
When he is chosen to lead a war with Ethiopia, the story follows the conflict of Aida’s love for both Radames and for her country.
Director and teacher in charge of drama and musical production Catherine Smith said that, like last year’s performance of Evita, it was an ambitious show to stage and probably only possible given the students’ experience; it was the school’s second major production for the year, following on from Mamma Mia.
Aida was very student-centred, with students in the orchestra, lighting and sound crews, as well as performing on stage, Ms Smith said.
The school’s head of the learning area for arts and music Brent Duncan was musical director, conducting the orchestra and playing piano, and former student Matthew Creba — now studying performing arts at the University of Otago — had stepped up to choreograph the show.
It was just nine weeks in production — three less than the usual 12 — as the students had prioritised the show over the recent school holidays to ensure they were ready when the curtain rose.
A lot of the students were already familiar with the songs from the musical, and many were popular choices for singing lessons, Ms Smith said.
