The Elton John and Tim Rice soft rock reinterpretation of Verdi's "Aida" followed their successful collaboration on Disney's "The Lion King." They worried about repeating that success.

Their revamping of the Aida story 120 years after the original gave it a contemporary beat and some hip lyrics, but the show — at least in the production by Army Community Theatre directed by Vanita Rae Smith — shares many of the qualities and pitfalls of classic opera.

Its theatrical value and punch comes from its musical numbers. The dramatic through line is hackneyed and unconvincing; characters develop individually but form no tangible relationships to one another; and the special effects are as cardboardy as a one-horse "Ben Hur."

But the cast has good voices and the cross-over gospel number that closes Act 1 is the best moment in the show. "The Gods Love Nubia" is the fervent anthem to the motherland sung by dispossessed slaves now in Egypt.

But the number picks up steam and goose bumps when the orchestra lays down its instruments and musical director Peter Rucci lets the chorus rip away a cappella. That's when Shanan Colvin as Aida, a newcomer to Hawai'i stages, backed up by Saquawia Funderberk and a stage filled with Nubian slaves cut loose with thrilling vocal power that shakes the distant back rows of the theater.

Colvin also has good moments standing immobile at center stage for her solo, "Easy As Life" and sharing vocally intertwined duets with Jimi Wheeler as Radames. "Elaborate Lives" and "Enchantment Passing Through" aren't hummable tunes but are musically and dramatically satisfying in their stage moments.

Shawna Masuda is also vocally powerful as Egyptian princess Amneris, whose "Every Story is a Love Story" opens and closes a show told in ancient flashback. But Masuda's best moments are comic ones, when Amneris accepts Aida as her handmaiden because she "knows fabrics." What follows is a Valley Girl set-piece send-up in which Amneris demonstrates her fashion sense.

There are also a few of numbers when choreographer Grace Bell Humerickhouse hints at what might be some powerful dance sequences. Nubian slaves begin to whip up physical moves near the end of Act 1, and a chorus of henchmen in black clerical cassocks develop angular fervor in a sequence that leads to a ritualistic throat-slashing.

The orchestra is competent, the costumes are colorful and the sets are minimalist. But the real punch in this "Aida" comes from its music.

Joseph T. Rozmiarek has reviewed theater performances in Hawai'i since 1973.