The Paper Mill Playhouse will present “Aida” in 2021.
The Paper Mill Playhouse describes the production of Elton John and Tim Rice’s “Aida” that it will produce in its 2020-2021 season as “updated and re-imagined,” retaining the original Elton John and Tim Rice score but featuring “a book revised by David Henry Hwang, who co-authored the acclaimed original production with Linda Woolverton and Robert Falls.”
“Aida” will be at the Millburn theater from Feb. 4 to March 7, 2021, and feature direction by Schele Williams (a member of the original Broadway cast) and choreography by Tony nominees Camille A. Brown. Seven-time Tony winner Bob Crowley will handle sets and costumes with six-time Tony winner Natasha Katz doing the lighting; both won Tonys for their work on the original “Aida.”
The rest of the Paper Mill Playhouse’s 2020-21 season will be announced in March.
Follow the Paper Mill Playhouse premiere, the production will go on a national tour.
Based on Verdi’s landmark 1871 opera (though not using his music) and set primarily in Ancient Egypt, “Aida” ran on Broadway from 2000 to 2004, and won four Tonys. The original cast album won a Grammy, and LeAnn Rimes had a Top 40 hit with one of the musical’s songs, “Written in the Stars.”
“I have a rich history with the show that I am very proud of, but when I recently made some discoveries about the history of its time period, the show broke open for me,” said Williams, in a press release. “It truly is the butterfly effect; subtle shifts have taken a story I love and turned it into an adventure I can’t wait for audiences to discover. David Henry Hwang has crafted a book that truly shapes this journey and Elton John and Tim Rice’s score is the glorious foundation we have built upon.”
For information and updates, visit papermill.org.
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