I just love musical theater! - Jamie and I went to Aida on Wednesday night, in honor of Ian's birthday. Apparently, it was senior citizen discount night at the Kennedy Center. Much of the audience just didn't share our appreciation for such lines as "I have to hand one thing to the E-gypt-shuns... their thread count is fabulous!"

Paulette Ivory's performance as the title character, a Nubian princess brought back to Egypt in chains, was powerful, but I felt like the chemistry just wasn't there between her and her would-be captor/lover, the warrior-captain Radames (Jeremy Kushnier). I found myself really enjoying Lisa Brescia's Amneris, the Pharoah's daughter and Radames' spurned bethrothed, especially when she appeared with the women of the palace in the delightful romp "My Strongest Suit." Ivan, on the other hand, predictably swooned over Aida's gospel-rock rendition of "The Gods Love Nubia."

As befits any Elton John/Tim Rice (not to mention Disney) production, there was a strong homosexual undercurrent in a few scenes, especially among Zoser (Radames' father) and his fellow conspirators. What is it about a cabal of dancing boys with a trim-bearded leader all wearing tight-collared Prussian officer tunics that makes me think "gay gay gay"?

P.S. We had an unscheduled departure from our pre-theater dining plans, since Dominque's at the Watergate is now The Brasserie. Sure looked the same, and the Chilean sea bass over tagliatelle was good, so I'm not complaining.