On Wednesday, Nov. 25 at 12:00 p.m., the musical cast list was supposed to be posted online to over 90 eager students who had auditioned for the musical, “Aida”. However, even more suspense was created when the post was delayed to be posted until 2:30 p.m. Aida’s cast is as follows:

Aida Jaymie Inouye      (Understudied by Julia Inouye)

Radames Andy King      (Understudied by Noah Heie)

Amneris Ellie Plass      (Understudied Julie Hedrick)

Mereb Noelle Warne       (Understudy TBD)

Zoser Ben Hollenbeck    (Understudy TBD)

Nehebka Laura Ruple

Pharoah Corin Vogel

Amonasro Andrew Ansah

Belly Dancers TBD

Handmaidens/ Ministers/Nubians/Etc.   Eleanor Alger, Marley Adamek, Genevieve Cowardin, Mary-Hallet Culbreth, Michelle Eckstein, Maria Garcia-Martinez, Ana Hart, Julie Hedrick, Julia Inouye, Alice Perrine, Nicole Raab, Kaelah Ringle, Sophia Thomas, Gabby Wilson, Kennedy Wolter

Ministers/Soldiers/Nubians/Etc.  Zach Benevento-Zahner, Seth Bontrager, Gregorio Castillo, Weston Hatfield, Noah Heie, Samuel Heie, Parker Rising, Sam Schaeffer

Nubian Slaves  Jenna Altaii, Nina Andrews, Maria Benton, Bo Boisen, Marjorie Bonga, Briana Cheng, Madisyn Coburn, Chris Estes, Sabrina Gerald, Randee Joven, Helen Joya, Aerious Kubin, Samantha Little, Irene Liu, Christy Lovos, Allison McGranahan, Noah McIntire, Joel McNett, Lizet Muniz, Noah Pope, Angelee Rios, Ethan Scribano, Kyle Showalter, Hollyn Slykhuis, Robin Vogel, Kiyosia Wallace, Heather Whetzel

Egyptian Courtiers/Merchants/Palace Slaves/Palace Guards/Etc. Hashaam Ahmed, Maddie Blackwell, Abigail Botticelli, Katherine Botticelli, Joshua Byrd, Precious Carper, Olivia Comer, Rose Copeland, Alina Dovganetskiy, Olivia Kasidiaris, Bradley Kirkdorffer, Ross Kirkdorffer, Audrey Knupp, Josh Lucas, Jennifer Marquez, Jericho Zornes

Aida, the lead female role in the musical, will be played by senior Jaymie Inouye, who has consistently held important roles in the past musicals.

“I was ecstatic [when I found out]. I’ve wanted to do this musical for the longest time, partially because the female roles are such strong characters, and I am super excited,” Inouye said.

Senior Andy King was cast as Ramades, the male lead. He looks forward to the opportunity to have such a big role, especially after all of his hard work that he felt led him to this.

“When I first saw it I was eating lunch with my family. I was kind of shocked when I first saw it, but then my family immediately asked me what I got and when I told them they all gave me high fives and cheered. I’m excited that I’ll finally get to be a main lead in this musical because I’ve been working my way up for the past 3 years,” King said.

Junior Noelle Warne took the role of The Cat in the Hat in last year’s musical, “Seussical”. Being cast as Mereb this year, Warne is going to be playing a male character as a female.

“I was really excited [when I found out]. It’s going to be a completely new and challenging experience playing a different gender,” Warne said. “Also, the character has tons of dynamic acting opportunities – for example, he gets stabbed and dies on stage… I guess I’m just ready for all the new experiences I’ll have with this role.”

As the cast performed “Seussical” last year, and “Oklahoma” the previous year, the show hasn’t been relatively dramatic for some years.

“This musical is going to be very powerful. There’s a lot of death and sacrifice. Aida is kind of all about two lovers who can never be together. Also, I think people will be intrigued this year,” Warne said. “It’s going to be sort of abstract. I know that we’re going to do a lot with fabric and possibly ropes.”

The musical will show to students and members of the community in February.