I happen to be an opera (and ballet) lover, so this is important to me.
[NATIONALREVIEW] The University of Bristol, in England, has a musical-theater society. Students in the society voted to put on Aida — not the opera by Verdi but a musical by Elton John and Tim Rice, which is based on the opera.
So it was a toy Aida...
More specifically, it is based on a children’s book, telling the story of Aida. That book was written by Leontyne Price, the great American soprano, who is one of the outstanding Aidas of all time. Aida is about an Ethiopian princess — the title character — who is a slave in Egypt. She is in love with an Egyptian officer, who loves her back. Much trouble ensues.
But melodiously. Very melodiously. I've got two recordings, both of them videos. One's the San Francisco opera company with Pavarotti as Radames. The other's the Royal Albert Hall.
Bristol’s Aida never got off the ground, because of student protests. The protesters figured that white students would be cast in the musical. And that would be an injustice to Egyptians and Ethiopians. It would be “whitewashing.” So, the musical-theater society canceled the show. “We would not want to cause offense in any way,” they said.
But naturellement. It must be painful to be skinless in a sandpaper world, as tw would point out.
Not having any grounding in history or geography or anthropology, the students (what do they study, that doesn't include history, geography, or anthropology?) demanded that the parts go to blacks.
Most Egyptians, as are most North Africans, are of what used to be called Mediterranean type, which is black-hair and olive complexioned, but (dare we say it?) perfectly white. There are also Nilotics in the south, to be found from there south along the coast through Somalia. Their skin color shades from light brown to black and their features are often quite handsome by Western tastes.
Ancient Egyptians really weren't black, regardless of how much American blacks would like to lay claim to the pyramids. They didn't represent themselves in art as black. There's a rather delightful story inscribed in the tomb of the last king of the IV dynasty, with illustrations, about an expedition to Punt that returned with slaves, dancing girls, and a dwarf to entertain the youthful Pharoah. The slaves and the dancing girls and the dwarf are all black, the king and his court aren't. Argue with them all you like, but remember, we have the bodies.
That particular Pharoah, by the way, lived to the ripe old age of ninety six, outliving the people who would have been his heirs and leading to the fall of his dynasty. The V Dynasty was a period of near anarchy. The most notable of its kings was Antef the Great (his own apellation), who was described as "The Most Ferocious Man of his Age." Somebody oughta write an opera about him. 
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