As La Cieca scours the web in search of new candidates for the Regiequiz, she sometimes is simply stopped in her tracks by a Konzept so new, so unusual and so innovative that your doyenne cannot help but shift her paradigm. Such a production is this Aida in (of all conservative places) Vienna.

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Who ever would have thought to reset the action of this classic Verdi opera in present-day Manhattan, with Aida and Amonasro as fake-baked “other” from the far side of bridge and tunnel?

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La Cieca welcomes your nominations of further examples of Bad Aida Makeup.

La Cieca

James Jorden (who wrote under the names "La Cieca" and "Our Own JJ") was the founder and editor of parterre box. During his 20 year career as an opera critic he wrote for the New York Times, Opera, Gay City News, Opera Now, Musical America and the New York Post. He also raised his voice in punditry on National Public Radio. From time to time he directed opera, including three unsuccessful productions of Don Giovanni. He also contributed a regular column on opera for the New York Observer. James died in October 2023.

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