Aida Libretto

ACT ONE
Prologue
THE MUSEUM

Lights up on the Egyptian wing of a Modern Art Museum. A contemporary crowd,
chic and beautifully dressed, is gathered around various artifacts, all
under glass: a small boat, a model of a soldier with a bow and arrow, a
mannequin of AMNERIS, ancient female Pharaoh of Egypt. The crowd moves
appreciatively around the exhibits. In the center of the room, alsobehind
glass, is a mysterious object - an ancient burial chamber, a tomb. A man and
a woman also dressed in the fashions of today approach the tomb from
different sides. They are both drawn to it. They circle it, intrigued as if
they have seen it before. The man is RADAMES; the woman is AIDA. In a
musical moment, they look up. Their eyes meet and all the action in the room
freezes as AMNERIS,wearing a royal headdress, emerges from the glass
encasement. As she sings, the cast of the modern museumgoers leaves the
stage.

1: EVERY STORY

AMNERIS
Every story, tale or memoir
Every saga or romance
Whether true or fabricated
Whether planned or happenstance

Whether sweeping through the ages
Casting centuries aside
Or a hurried brief recital
Just a thirty-minute ride(AMNERIS steps off of the pedestal and stands before the audience.)

Whether bright or melancholy
Rough and ready, finely spun
Whether with a thousand players
Or a lonely cast of one

Every story, new or ancient
Bagatelle or work of art
All are tales of human failing
All are tales of love at heart

(The lights change violently with a rock and roll chord. Frozen on stage:
the Man staring at amodel of the boat. The WOMAN looks at the figure of
the Archer.)

This is the story
Of a love that flourished
In a time of hate

Of lovers no tyranny could separate
Love set into motion on the Nile's shore
Destiny ignited by an act of war

Egypt saw the mighty river as its very heart and soul
Source of life for all her people
That only Egypt could control
Destruction of her southernneighbor justified
Nubia exploited, left with little more than pride
Ohhhhhhhhhh.


ACT ONE
Scene One
A SLAVE BARGE

As the WOMAN moves off with the model of the boat, large red sails fly in,
creating an Egyptian barge on stage. EGYPTIAN SOLDIERS man the sails as
riches and the spoils of war are loaded on to the deck of the ship.

2. FORTUNE FAVORS THE BRAVE

SOLDIERS
Oh, OhFortune Favors the Brave
Oh, Oh
Fortune Favors the Brave

(RADAMES, an Egyptian Army Captain enters.)

RADAMES
We have swept to glory,
Egypt's mastery expands
From the Nile's northern most delta
To the dry, dry southern sands

The more we find, the more we see,
The more we come to learn
The more that we explore,
The more we shall return

SOLDIERS
Oh, oh
Fortune favors the braveRADAMES
It's all worked out, my road is clear
The lines of latitude extend
Way beyond my wildest dreams
Toward some great triumphant end

We seize the day
We turned the tide
We touched the stars
We mocked the grave
We moved into uncharted lands

RADAMES & SOLDIERS
Fortune favors the brave

RADAMES
The more we find, the more we see
The more we come to learn
The more that we exploreThe more we shall return

Nothing is an accident
We are free to have it all
We are what we want to be
It's in ourselves to rise or fall

This is easy to believe
When distant places call to me
It's harder from the palace yard
Fortune favors the free

SOLDIERS
Oh, oh

RADAMES
Fortune favors the young!

SOLDIERS
Oh, oh

RADAMES
Fortune favors the brave!

(Suddenly, AIDA andNUBIAN WOMEN are pushed onstage. She stumbles. RADAMES
goes over to inspect the Nubians.)

RADAMES
What have we here?

SOLDIER #1
We found them along the riverbank, Captain.

(SOLDIER pushes AIDA forward, into RADAMES' path.)

RADAMES
(to AIDA)
Your country is at war and you go wandering along the Nile's edge. Your must
have a burning desire to see Egypt.
(to SOLDIER)
Put her in...