"Surging brilliantly beyond the confines of the stage - its glorious arias sung by the great operatic voices of our age - its powerful drama portrayed by a brilliant cast... Aida is THE film event of the decade!" Five decades later, we still applaud the over- the-top-descriptive-hype of the film's 1954 press release. This is, by any reckoning, an amazing production. The singing of the young Sophia Loren (playing the role of an Egyptian slave in make-up dark enough to be called black-face) is dubbed with the legendary voice of Renata Tebaldi; the pretty Luciano Della Marra is voiced by opera great Giuseppe Campora; Lois Maxwell's singing voice is Ebe Stignani. Seen through other eyes and heard through other ears, this jaw-dropping Technicolor extravaganza is one eye-popping spectacle of stage design and stunning Cold War era missile bosoms, as well as being open closet day in '50s gay design & subtext--one could imagine the Mystery Science Theater 3000 translation of the Italian in one of the scenes as, "Is that a pyramid under your cloak or are you glad to see me?" Costumes encouraged for the full MIFF big screen, big scene experience!

Sponsored by Stephanie & Smoky Payson

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