Dear Bagpipe,

The article written Thursday, March 29, 2012 critiquing the play Aida was like dried monkey meat. Its words were so tainted I vomited for days. Instead of writing in the spirit of the so-called ghost of Austin Humbles, it seems the spirit of the indecisive Charlie Sheen melting down decided to grace the pages of the Bagpipe with a review of Aida. I am not saying that a puff piece should be written about the play. In no way does Mitch Prentis have the justifiable right to critique something he didn’t want to do anyway. Drawing straws and he got the shorter straw? Is this how the bagpipe works? The students worked very hard to perform this and so did the orchestra and the sound people. The students themselves are missing valuable study time to perform this play. They are also not up there because they shouldn’t be. They are up there because they want to be.

The singing is phenomenal, and the acting is getting better and better (not that it was less better in the beginning). Maybe if your writer were paying attention and trying to get into the story just a little bit he would have used his imagination. Yes, I agree the stage sets are kind of weird and confusing. The lighting however is awesome and sets the mood and the orchestra perfectly accents this. Perhaps Mitch Pretis hasn’t seen Romeo and Juliet? “Aida…has the gall to talk back to him (the captain). For some reason, this seems to be a major turn on for Radames, who then falls in love with her, despite her slave status.” If your critic were paying attention at the end before he fell asleep he would have noted that Radames explains to his betrothed (before being buried a-freakn live) that Aida was everything he wasn’t and saw the world differently because of her. Their fate together is sealed and he stands his ground, not based on being “turned on” by her defiance, but being stunned and changed through her character and nobleness. Did your critic pay attention to the songs? “The show gave little dialogue, creating a long string of songs and solos throughout the entire play.” What is singing but glorified dialogue. Pay attention. He goes on to say, “A majority of the songs lack meaning, little to no character development exists…” The characters, in a sense, are already developed and if he was paying attention the entire play takes place in a week! The songs lyrics are even part of how they feel and what they are trying to convey. Let’s see the Bagpipe develope some character in that amount of time! Your well chosen critic goes on to even scoff at the budget and time of Covenant college, “…it would have had to be produced on a less awkwardly shaped stage, and with jaw-dropping costumes.” Where’s the funding? We work with what God gave us and apparently He didn’t give enough to prove Aida’s worth as an entertaining musical.

The music was written by Elton John! The fact that Covenant college even considered allowing a play with Elton John’s hand in it amazes me. Do not compare Aida at Covenant to a Broadway musical, because those are two separate ball games. The fact of the matter is that soul should be recognized brotha! As Bob Marley said, “Anyting cyan be copied ya know? It about da feel.” Being cynical and writing an article about a play during its performance that is nonetheless trash does not do anything but insult the time people put into something they like to do. Plus, the article gave a bad taste of the play in the mouths and minds of those who haven’t even seen it.
Ask anyone who went and I’m sure there will only be one person who thinks it was great/good/terrible/boring/either way you’ll be entertained/ poor direction/the cast appeared to at least be enjoying themselves/ clueless, lost looks/needs more flash. If I read that I would not give the time or day to go see Aida, so how many people has this affected?

I believe that the Bagpipe owes the cast, director, and orchestra an apology for this bias article. No doubt the cast is feeling down about such a review. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. My opinion: Get it together. There should be an unbiased article written about this play after it is over by someone who might just pay attention and see it for what it is worth.So that when a good article comes out people wish they would have went to see it. Or maybe you can print my biased opinion?

I am not attacking the character of the writer, or their tastes. I am criticizing the bagpipe for allowing someone who does not care about Aida to publish such an article. The writer does not owe an apology in anyway because he has put his opinion out there per the Bagpipe’s request. He represents the Bagpipe, and I will misquote the movie Dodgeball as an example by saying, “You work for the (Bagpipe). The (Bagpipe) works for Covenant. Ipso facto, (the Bagpipe it’s your fault).” “Are there shackles/editing in the back? But seriously, there is.”I don’t buy it, or pick it up. Either it is a lack of leadership, editing, or caring that leads to things like this.

In Christ,

Keagan Bakelaar