Music from Sir Elton John and one of the world’s oldest tales was the magic combination that made Aida an immediate hit and an international sensation for the stage. Disney’s Broadway version tells the tale of a Nubian princess who’s forced into slavery and ends up falling in love with a soldier boy named Radames. But her love is challenged when the Egyptian princess Amneris adds a third side to this dramatic love triangle. The smash-hit musical spotlights 19 new songs by Elton John and Tim Rice, including a moving finale to act one with a love-lost Aida singing “Gods Love Nubia.” The show opened as Elaborate Lives: The Legend of Aida at the Alliance Theater in Atlanta on October 7 but the title was shortened to Aida in 1999, when a CD of the soundtrack was released. The musical marked the first cooperation between Disney and a nonprofit resident theater company. It also played in the Chicago Palace Theater from November 12,1999 to November 12, 2000 before it landed on Broadway. All in all, the musical won four Tony® Awards in 2000.
