Naperville North doing Elton John's "Aida"

In 2000, the Elton John-Tim Rice contemporary version of Verdi's opera, "Aida," hit Broadway, where it stayed for four years and more than 1,800 performances.

This weekend, the students of Naperville North High School bring the tragic love story alive once again, under the direction of Jim Yarbrough, the school's choral director.

Though Elton John became an established pop icon in the 1970s, around the same time lyricist Tim Rice's career was taking off with "Jesus Christ Superstar," Michelle Beggs, who plays Aida, said this generation of high school students are fans.

"Great music is timeless," she said. "The music itself is very catchy and very appealing to our generation."

Robbie Holden, who plays Radames, the male lead, said he remembers enjoying an Elton John and Billy Joel concert when he was 10 years old.

"It's classified as a rock opera. Most of the songs are Elton John-style ballads. There's not any hard rock 'n' roll, but (the songs) could all be classified under rock or rock ballads," Holden said.

The story begins in modern times, when a man and woman meet at a museum exhibit that includes an Egyptian burial chamber. There's an instant flicker of recognition between the two before the play takes the audience back in time, to ancient Egypt.

There, Aida is a Nubian princess, captured by her country's enemies, the Egyptians, who force her to become a slave. She meets Radames, who is engaged to the Pharaoh's daughter, Amneris, a character Beggs describes as "a Dead Sea fashion bug."

Radames, an Egyptian soldier, falls for Aida.

Beggs, a junior, began her theater career at North when she landed a small role in "South Pacific" as a freshman. The following year, she appeared in the school's production of "Once Upon a Mattress."

"That was a very fun musical, very whimsical," she said.

Getting the role of Aida represented something of a quantum leap for her.

"I was very excited when I got the role this year, to be Aida," Beggs said. "The majority of the time, I'm on stage. It's a very personal show. When you watch it, you can take a lot of life lessons from it."

"Aida" marks Holden's seventh theatrical production and fourth musical show at North. He's also been in several student one-act plays.

"This is a much more dynamic role than ones I've played before. There's a larger emotional range," he said.

There's also a chance to express emotion through vocals.

"I love singing. That's what I'm going to college for," he said, adding that he plans to major in music education.

The show's dance was choreographed by Kathleen Skleba; the pit orchestra, which includes electric guitars and drums, is directed by music teacher Dana Green.

The eight lead roles were double cast to give more students a chance at them, Yarbrough said. Holden and Beggs appear in the performances today and Saturday, Feb. 26 and 28. Michael Notardonato plays Radames and Alaina Wis plays Aida in the shows on Friday, Feb. 27, and Sunday, March 1.

What: Elton John and Tim Rice's "Aida"

Who: Presented by Naperville North High School students

When: 7 p.m. Feb. 26-28, 3 p.m. March 1

Where: Main auditorium at Naperville North, 899 N. Mill St., Naperville

Tickets: $7 for adults, $5 for students and seniors

Info: (630) 420-6480

Cast

Thursday, Feb. 26, and Saturday, Feb. 28

Amneris: Nina Ganet

Radames: Robbie Holden

Aida: Michelle Beggs

Amonasro: Peter Sargent

Mereb: Duncan Slade

Nehebka: Melanie Burbules

Pharaoh: Jason TerMaat

Zoser: Dan Brennan

Friday, Feb. 27, and Sunday, March 1

Amneris: Carly Ziff

Radames: Michael Notardonato

Aida: Alaina Wis

Amonasro: Lee Sargent

Mereb: Devontae Weaver

Nehebka: Joanna Brodecki

Pharaoh: Harry Gollakota

Zoser: Alex Burton

All shows

Soldiers: Mark Andreoni, Charlie Benoit, Dean Diaz, Pablo Gaurcia-Quesada, Harry Gollakota, Alex Marshall, Lee Sargent, Peter Sargent, Thomas Stancey, Jason TerMaat

Servants: Andrew Carter, Jack Roberts, Danny Sagen, Kevin Sheehan

Ladies of the Palace: Lisa Beggs, Molly Durava, Anna Goodman, Elizabeth Gormley, Rose Grizzell, Jenna Heinrich, Lindsey Lively, Melissa Melloy, Rachel Miller, Emily Novak, Emily Pettinger, Betsy Pilon, Loryn Smith, Stephanie Svarz

Slaves: Nika Agrawal, Mollie Allison, Olivia Began, Betsy Casey, Julia Celentano, Lauren Cervantes, Phoebe Chuang, Molly Cisneros, Rhae Cisneros, Samantha D'Alberti, Ishani Doshi, Karla Doyle, Erica Duda, Delaney Erickson, Cassie Fenwick, Alexandra Friedman, Seema Ghelani, Uma Ghelani, Haley Hildenbrand, Abby Kravis, Nora Laidman, Rabeya Mallick, Deanna Moore, Breanna Mueller, Vivian Perez, Samantha Piekos, Claire Pitstick, Vee Shahab, Emma Shannon, Katie Smith, Julieanne Sthay, Kristy Stolic, Meaghan Van Alstyne, Enya Wenk, Etienne Wenk, Ali Wojcikiewicz, Caitlyn Woods, Emily Woodward

Ministers: Dan Brennan, Alex Burton, Ryan Cap, Dan Jameson, Peter Ohaver, T.J. Peterson, Matt Schirk, Jon Stricker, Conor Taft

Orchestra

Flute: Nikki Blythe, Rachel Von Arb

Oboe: Marisa Miko

Percussion: Brett Sherred, Aalekh Priolkar

Horn: Kristin Deppe

Violin: Ben Lewis, Martina Lee, Alexa Cussick, Nicoletta De Rege

Viola: Sankari Rajaram, Therese Craven

Cello: Kevin Sullivan, Melissa Greene, Ashley Miller

Bass: John Vizintos

Guitar: Michael Quevillon

Keyboards: Conor Strejcek, Laura Moore, Lindsay Guinand

Crew

Stage manager: David Kravis

Assistant stage managers: Nathan Chamot, Katie Khau

Lighting operators: Jessica Chu, Stephanie Yung

Sound mixers: Will Markus, Brittany Olisar

Followspot: Melissa Bebel

Microphone technicians: Kyle Maginot, Sara Padgett

Shift crew chief: Sean Padgett

Prop crew chief: Jake Scheirer

Lead rail crew: Chris Taylor

Stage crew: Natalie Carrera, Molly Cisneros, Ryan Hughes-Fenchel, Nick Iurcovich, Abby Kravis, Charlie Mitchell, Kim Zickovich

Costume captain: Krystal Dean

Costume crew: Ryan Cap, Lisa Beggs, Brittany Broaders, Julia Celentano, Molly Cisneros, Rhae Cisneros, Molly Durava, Robbie Holden, Rabeya Mallick, Katie McHugh, Claire Mildrum, Samantha Piekos, Emily Stone, Jon Stricker, Stephanie Svarz, Nicole Wilson, Ali Wojcikiewicz

Construction, painting and lighting: Lizzie Bebel, Melissa Bebel, Sam Bivens, Casi Blume, Nikki Blythe, Ryan Cap, Natalie Carrera, Nathan Chamot, Jessica Chu, Molly Cisneros, Samantha D'Alberti, Greg Denuccio, Kristen Deppe, Mike Ellman, Ryan Hughes-Fenchel, Nick Iurcovich, Nicole Joseph, Katie Khau, Abby Kravis, David Kravis, Will Markus, Sara Padgett, Sean Padgett, Jake Scheirer, Valerie Scheirer, Chris Taylor, Rachel Von Arb, Stephanie Yung, Kim Zickovich

Production staff

Orchestra director: Dana Green

Stage director: Jim Yarbrough

Set design/auditorium manager: Ron Leaneagh

Choreographer: Kathleen Skleba

Student choreographer: Jenna Heinrich

Costume designer: Katie Hubbell

Student producers: Krystal Dean, Stephanie Yung

Cover artwork: Nikki Blythe

Program design: Sherry Sargent