Have any of you see Aida, and picked up on any similarities between it and Wicked? I think it's uncanny. Compare:

Opening Number:
Sung by Amneris/Glinda, the vapid blonde who returns wiser to tell the story she learned.

Aida/Elphaba is introduced as a passionate, free-spirited activist.

Radames/Fiyero is the playboy hunk who takes an interest in the fascinating, different Aida/Elphaba.

Also, he is already romantically attached to Amneris/Galinda.

Amneris/Galinda takes a liking to Aida/Elphaba and sings a song about her own shallow interests (My Strongest Suit/Popular).

Radames/Fiyero feels trapped by an engagement to Amneris/Glinda.

Amneris/Galinda creates an unlikely sister-like bond with Aida/Elphaba.

Act 1 ends with a decision song on the part of Aida/Elphaba to carry out her mission of activism, despite the trouble it will cause.

Act 2 shows the love triangle between the three becoming more complicated.

Aida/Elphaba must descend into darkness to carry out her mission further, and her life is at a crossroads in a passionate, distraught belting number (Easy as Life/No Good Deed)

Radames/Fiyero becomes disenchanted with political power plays and joins forces with the rebel, Aida/Elphaba.

Amneris/Glinda overhears that her fiance loves another and sings a sad song (I Know the Truth/I'm Not That Girl).

Both plots feature escalating political entanglement with a corrupt ruler.

Both endings feature a death for the romantic leads that proves to be not such a death after all-- they are still together in a dark, secret place.

Both musicals end with the same song they began with, sung by the narrator-- Amneris/Glinda-- who learned how to sacrifice herself and love her friend.

MAN! Any others? Agree, disagree?

And they're both crap

I totally agree! I thought all this as soon as I saw "Aida" for the first time (I had already seen "Wicked" a year or two earlier).

I wonder if it's all just a coincidence or if Stephen Schwartz, Winnie Holzman and/or Gregory Maguire ripped off of "Aida" at all? I still haven't read the book of "Wicked", so I don't know how many of the similarities are there or not.

Now now... If you don't like a show, no need to be rude... =)

And McGuire wasn't ripping off Aida... His novel and Aida have VERY little in common, except the fact Elphaba is still strong-willed and Glinda still looks out for herself.

I don't think I was being rude It's just my opinion.

And I didn't say I didn't like the shows. I actually quite like Wicked (not Aida though).

BlondeBelter, I would agree that the book story bears hardly any similarity to Aida. But, placed side by side, both musicals bear similarities to one another in structure and character.

The novel is completely different. But since they changed it around so much for the musical and it -does- look very similar... it's possible, I guess. I've never seen or heard Aida so I didn't know the story at all but it does look pretty close based on this thread.

Well maybe Wicked stole from Aida....?

That's what I suggested, though obviously it was just the musical that may have stolen, not the book.

(Rant time)

Though to tell the truth, when I saw them both, I liked "Wicked" better. I've never been a real fan of the "Aida" story in the first place, not even in Verdi's opera (for some reason her dilemma of being torn between her homeland/family and her lover strikes a raw nerve with me - maybe in a past life I was in a similar situation ). Secondly, the college production I saw was horrible; everyone agreed it was. The Aida had no stage presence, the Radames was much more convincing as a jerk in the beginning than as a romantic hero later on, the two of them had no chemistry, the whole production took itself so seriously that the humor felt out of place, and so on. I'm sure that most professional productions of "Aida" are better, but so far, my experiences with "Wicked" have been much nicer.

I think you can't really say they're alike, as much as you can say they fit into some of the stereotypes of musical theatre writing: two characters finding unlikely love, one character making a drastic decision that ends the first act, etc.

Yeah, I can't be bothered to read the original post (sorry, I'm just lazy and I don't know much about AIDA anyway), but I'd imagine that many features are just stereotypes/clichés.

I've always been struck by how similar the male romantic leads are, but the love stories in both shows are similar. I find it kind of funny that Idina Menzel originate Elphaba but has also played the other side of the coin with Amneris.