Lyric Opera of Kansas City: Aida

Lyric Opera of Kansas City: Aida at Muriel Kauffman Theatre - Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts

A woman in chains has to choose between the man she loves and the father who raised her—and Giuseppe Verdi's Aida gives that impossible choice the full force of Italian opera. Lyric Opera of Kansas City brings the composer's monumental work to the Muriel Kauffman Theatre, sung in Italian with English projected translations and conducted by Gerard Schwarz.

Enslaved Ethiopian princess Aida loves Radames, the Egyptian general leading armies against her own people. Every private moment between them carries the weight of war, because her heart pulls one direction while her loyalty to her father and homeland demands another. That tension doesn't resolve neatly, and Verdi's score honors the cost.

The triangle tightens when Egyptian princess Amneris enters the picture. She loves Radames too, and her claim comes with the power of a throne behind it. Three people want incompatible futures, and the conflict between Egypt and Ethiopia ensures someone will lose far more than a wedding.

Verdi composed arias and choral passages that match the scale of empires at war, and Keturah Stickann directs a production designed to deliver the drama through sets and costumes as vivid as the music. Antonio Ghislanzoni's libretto keeps the human stakes sharp even when the chorus swells.

Secure your seat for Aida in Kansas City and hear what happens when love collides with loyalty.