# Aida

Aida (2000–2004) is a Broadway musical with music composed by Elton John and book/lyrics written by Tim Rice. It is based on Aida (1871), an Italian opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi with a libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni.

## Amneris

* Every story, new or ancient, bagatelle or work of art: all are tales of human failing; all are tales of love at heart... --"Every Story is a Love Story"
* Perfection is such hard work to maintain, but worth the effort, don't you think?
* Conversation? Wit? I am a doubter. Manners? Charm? They're no way to impress. So forget the inner me - observe the outer: I am what I wear and how I dress! -- "My Strongest Suit"
* They want a goddess and I'm just...human.
* Are you trying to get me drunk, Radames? You know it's not necessary.
* This should have been my time; It's over. It never began. -- "I Know the Truth"

## Radames

* 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. -- "Fortune Favors the Brave"
* And who'd have thought I'd throw my world away to be with someone I'm afraid will say "Not me."...Not me. --"Not Me"
* I'm sorry for everything I've said and for anything I forgot to say too. When things get so complicated I stumble, at best, muddle through. I wish that our lives could be simple; I don't want the world: only you. I wish I could tell you this face to face, but there's never the time - never the place! So this letter will have to do; I love you. -- "Radames Letter"
* You are all I'll ever want, but this - I am denied. Sometimes in my darkest thoughts I wish I'd never learned what it is to be in love and have that love returned. -- "Written in the Stars"
* Evil's a distinctive smell. -- "Like Father, Like Son"
* I'm no chip off any block, i wouldn't wish those words on anyone -- "Like Father, Like Son"
* I've done wrong, I can't deny -- "Like Father, Like Son"
* If I have to search for a hundred lifetimes, I will find you again, Aida.

## Aida

* [about Radames] What that man understands could be etched in a grain of sand.
* If you don't like your fate, change it. You are your own master, there are no shackles on you. So don't expect any pity or understanding from this humble palace slave! --"Enchantment Passing Through"
* I know expectations are wild and almost beyond my fullfillment, but they won't hear a word of a doubt or see signs of a weakness. My nigh on impossible duty is clear: If I can rekindle my ancestor's dreams, It's enough. -- "Dance of the Robe"
* [with Radames] We all lead such elaborate lives, we don't know who's words are true. Strangers, lovers, husbands, wives: hard to know who's loving who. -- "Elaborate Lives".
* Nubia will never die! Whether we are enslaved or whether we are far from our native soil, Nubia lives in our hearts. And therefore, it lives.
* I'm here to tell you we can never meet again. Simple really, isn't it? A word or two and then a lifetime of not knowing where, or how, or why, or when you'll think of me, or speak of me, and wonder what befell that someone you once loved so long ago so well. -- "Written in the Stars"
* Is this how the Gods reward the faithful through the ages? Forcing us to prove that all the hardest things we've done are easy. -- "Easy as Life"

## Zoser

* You can't escape your genes -- "Like Father, Like Son"
* You're not the master of your fate -- "Like Father, Like Son"
* Once we rid him of this plight, once that harlot's out of sight, then I think he'll see the light. He won't walk back to daddy, he will run! -- "Like Father, Like Son"
* Eygpt needs me!
* Soon our monarch will have filled a tomb, just like his fathers did -- "Another Pyramid"
* Put 5,000 slaves on standby, build another Pyramid -- "Another Pyramid"

## Mereb

* He's in love, but he's not the only one to be changed... --"Not Me"
* Princess Amneris - first in beauty, wisdom...and accessories
* For years I've been stealing from the palace. I thought, one day, I could get back to Nubia, but if I can send my king home...

## Amonasro

* I would not have thought it possible that these Egyptians could give me one more reason to hate them!
* I knew you would survive, that I had trained my daughter well. At least I would not let myself believe anything else (after being reunited with Aida)
* We will all be going home, Mereb
* Aida! Do not shame yourself, and me, with such witless sentiment! Do not tell me this Egyptian grieves for the Nubian men executed, the women ravaged, and the children taken into slavery. Any soft word you have given this Captain, any soft word, betrays the innocents who suffered at his hands and at the hands of every soldier he commands. You will cut this man from your heart!

## Dialogue

    Aida: [holding a sword to a soldier's neck] You took us from Etiopia, and now you say we belong to you, yes?
    Radames: Yes.
    Aida: Well, I took this soldier from your ranks. So by your own logic, he belongs to me.
    Radames: Your much better with a sword than you are with a sponge.
    Aida: I wish I had a sword now
    Radames: There's mine, help yourself
    Amneris: Another handmaiden? I don't need another handmaiden. Does this gift even have a name?
    Aida: Aida.
    Amneris: Did you just speak?
    Aida: My name is Aida, Princess. And I think you might wish to know...
    Amneris: How dare you! You do not lower your eyes. You do not tremble - Are you not afraid of me?
    Aida: Would it please you if I were?
    Amneris: ...Not so much.
    Aida: Then I am doing as you please.
    Radames: You look lovely!
    Amneris: Thank you.
    Radames: Is this the latest fashion?
    Amneris: It is now.
    Radames: It doesn't matter, because I know now that you were right. [Aida gives him a look]...What?
    Aida: I'm shocked. Even in enlightened Ethiopia, one never hears a man admit he's wrong.
    Amneris: Radames! You barge into my bedchamber, waging a full-frontal attack, so to speak... and now you're stalling. Why?
    Radames: I'm sorry, I didn't realize...
    Amneris: There's a buck-naked princess lounging in her bed, calling your name. What exactly didn't you realize? Before our wedding night, pack up some of that dried monkey meat and have the royal cartographer draw you a map of the female body, Captain. Maybe then you'll be more inclined to come explore. [Radames leaves.] ...Was it something I said?
    Aida: You want my "affection", Captain?
    Radames: I can have your "affection" right here, if I command it.
    Amonasro: Can you use a sword, boy?
    Mereb: Me? Actually, I'm better at providing encouragement from the sidelines.
    Amneris: But why did we invade Babylon?
    Zozer: Because once we have control of the waterways, the rest of the world opens up to us.
    Amneris: Yes, but our Egyptian armies just stormed in and seized power? How oppressive of us.
    Zozer: Perhaps, Princess. But where do you think that beautiful necklace came from? [points to necklace]
    Amneris: [taking necklace off] ...Suddenly it's not so beautiful.
    Radames: So you lied to me
    Aida: Not when I said I loved you, say you believe me