That's not fair. I told you a really good one.
Hello. I have come back from the dead. How exciting!
I saw 'Wicked' in Detroit on Saturday. We ended up seeing the standby for Elphaba, Victoria Matlock, because Julia is apparently very sick. I hope she gets better soon! Also, my seat were second row center. Awesomeness. Review under the cut.
Act I:
No One Mourns the Wicked
So, the music starts and they shoot confetti out into the audience. A piece of it hit my face and I spent the first thirty seconds of the show trying to get it out of my hair. The ensemble looked good, and I picked out Annaleigh, Emily and Maria right away. Annaleigh was having some problems with the choreography during most of the songs. But besides that, it started well. Kendra came down and didn’t get any entrance applause. She did an amazing job with the high notes (much better than the first time I saw her). She almost fell forward off the bubble when she stopped after “For you and…”. I forget the name of the actor who played Elphaba’s father (my Playbill is in my suitcase), but he hit an amazing note for “Siiiiiigggghhhhhttt!” There were two women in front of me who laughed at everything. And I mean everything. They laughed when they pulled out baby Elphaba, and then kept laughing through the rest of the song, so it was a bit distracting. Kendra didn’t sing the “wicked”s at the end and I couldn’t remember if she’s never done it, or if she just didn’t that night.
Dear Old Shiz
Victoria also didn’t get any applause, so her entrance looked really ridiculous. She just kind of stood there. But, that’s not her fault. Anyway, the number was fine, and Kendra got a big laugh when she came out. I didn’t much care for Jennifer Waldman during the first act. She was just…I don’t even know how to describe it. But it bothered me. Maybe it’s because she was so happy and kept throwing her upper body around. I’m not sure. Alma was ahhh-mazing as Morrible. I know it’s been said before, but I’ll say it again: it’s great to have a Morrible who actually sings her line. Overall, she got a great audience reception. People seemed to love her more than anyone else on stage. Kendra did her cute jumps when she was trying to get Morrible’s attention.
The Wizard and I
Victoria owned this number. She held out the notes on “happen” and “understood”, which was a nice change. She also did the cutest thing when she was pretending to have the conversation with The Wizard. She had a Wizard voice! She made it all deep. I loved it. She did have one problem, though. During the line "Things I've never felt" she tried to riff, but she went way off key. But she recovered for the end and nailed the last note. She got huge applause. I was glad for her, since she didn't get any when she came in.
What Is This Feeling?
Kendra and Victoria sounded great together. Victoria's "blonde" was perfect and then she did a hilarious imitation of Kendra's hand waving. Kendra got this cute little "pout" on her face and she looked like she was going to throw a temper tantrum. I really don't like the choreography in the show, and again, Annaleigh had some problems with it. I still think she's precious, though.
Classroom Scene
I didn't like K Todd Freeman as Dillamond. Granted, it's a pretty thankless role. Still, he just wasn't.... well, I guess he just wasn't good enough to make me interested in the character. After Kendra said, "It's Galinda...with a GA!", Shen Shen (Annaleigh!) and Pfanee said, "With a GA!" It was sooo funny. They were also having this fake conversation where Kendra would look over at Victoria, scribble something in her notebook, and then show it to the girls, who would laugh. It was cute.
Something Bad
Sigh. Just cut this song already. It’s pointless.
Dancing Through Life
Sebastian!! His pants were awfully tight, not that I minded. KW Miller was a great Boq. I’m glad we got to see him. After Seb tossed his book, and he went off and got it, he came back kind of punched Seb on the arm. It was cute! Kendra was great when she was imitating Sebastian’s dance moves. She kept adding in shimmies and then started her own kick line. Also, when Sebastian jumped on the statue, it shook really badly and I thought it was going to fall, but he just kept going like he didn’t even notice. When Kendra gave Victoria the hat, Victoria did something different. Every other Elphaba I’ve seen looked like she thought that it might be a trick, but Victoria got a huge smile on her face and shoved the hat on her head, like she was so happy to finally have a friend. It made it even sadder when she came out later in the song. When Alma came to give Kendra her training wand, she grabbed a martini and downed it. That got a huge laugh. She did this wave thing with her arms when she said, “I doubt you will.” And then grabbed another drink and walked off. Again, I didn’t like Jennifer in this song. She is supposed to be disappointed when she asks Boq if he only brought her because of her wheelchair, but instead she was smiling away and I didn’t like it. When Victoria came in, and got to the bottom of the stairs, the woman playing Pfanee walked past and said, “Girl…you got some bad advice!” It was hilarious!! When Kendra was trying to dance with her, she did The Robot, which was awesome. She “introduced” Sebastian and Victoria, and they had a mime conversation and when Sebastian was mid-sentence, the song ended, so he had to hurry up and do his ending pose.
Popular
My favorite!!! When Kendra’s bed started coming in, she hopped on it and started kicking her legs like she was driving it in. Then, after she said, “Fiyero and I are going to be married.” She ran to her bed jumped on it, and then ran back to Victoria’s bed and landed on her side, with one leg in the air and yelled, “Cha!” Victoria had to stop for a minute before saying her next line, because she was trying not to laugh. And of course, Kendra did her “Poof!” and everyone cracked up and she got applause. During the song, She tried to pull up Victoria’s skirt a few times and Victoria kept pushing it down and laughing. During the “toss, toss” part, Kendra kept trying to do a handstand on the bed, but it didn’t work, so she started her kick line again. When Victoria was tossing her hair, it hit her microphone and made a loud pop and Kendra said, “Ok…not that hard!” Then, after “Is this thing on?” she hit her wand on the bed and it broke! She just kind of stared at Victoria and then threw it behind her and kept going. She did her sparkles and got more applause, and then, before she finished the song, she turned around and picked up the back of her dress and showed her panties. It was awesome!
Lion Cub Scene
Victoria hit herself in the face again during her hair toss, and Sebastian’s was hilarious. He did a perfect impression of her. Instead of saying, “You don’t have to do that you know”, he said, “You don’t even…(ten second pause)…you know.” Then he snorted. I wanted to hug him. Victoria wasn't so great during this scene. Instead of being angry about the cub, she just seemed kind of bored. She didn’t shout “Do something!” she just said it. Anyway, she and Sebastian had awesome chemistry. Unfortunately, it fizzled later on in the show.
I’m Not That Girl
Sigh. Victoria, Victoria, Victoria. She looked great. She is a gorgeous woman and the green makeup was extremely flattering. But during this song, she just fell apart vocally. She could not hit the lower notes. Her acting was amazing, but her voice just left her. And since most of the song is done in her lower register, it didn’t really work.
One Short Day
When Kendra changed her named to Glinda, she took a little bow and the whole audience applauded really loudly. She and Victoria come in late for their entrance, but the ensemble covered it nicely. Let me just take this moment to say that Maria has the best ensemble costumes ever. Anyway, the Ozian Official also missed his line, “The Wizard will see you now!”, so there was about 30 seconds of awkward silence. I never liked this song much, so we’ll just skip ahead to the next one.
A Sentimental Man
P.J. Benjamin was good as The Wizard. Not the best I’ve seen, but not the worst either. Victoria and Kendra held hands all through this scene, which I thought was a sweet touch. Alma came in and got entrance applause. The audience just loved her! Her and Kendra’s exchange (“Can I touch it?” “…No.”) was perfect. After they told Victoria to prove herself, Kendra went behind her and slapped her butt and said, “Go! Prove yourself!” Again, Victoria had some problems with the “angry” emotion after Chistery got his wings. She just said it very flatly. Also, P.J.’s “She’s seen too much!” wasn’t as emotional as it could have been. He didn’t sound all that nervous.
Defying Gravity
Oh gosh. Everything that Victoria was doing wrong earlier was magically fixed during this song. She was flawless. She had just the right amount of anger when she was yelling at Kendra and when she said, “It’s the Wizard who should be afraid…of me.” I was blown away. She was simply perfect. It’s probably the best DG I’ve ever heard. She looked angry and determined, without looking like a lunatic. Also, she didn’t wave her arm around too much (like Idina) or make hideous faces and riff like crazy (like Shoshana). I just left me speechless. I have seen this show an embarrassing amount of times, and I cried during this song. I was just overwhelmed by her talent. She and Kendra were in perfect harmony, not only vocally, but acting wise. They looked like they were actually best friends and had been doing this show together for years. Also, when the guards grabbed Kendra, she tried to beat them down with her purse, which was adorable. When Victoria started to rise and sang, “It’s meeeeee!”, Kendra got the cutest smile on her face. She actually looked like she was flying, mostly because she didn’t sway back and forth on the platform, like other Elphaba’s do. It was an amazing end to Act I.
Act II
Thank Goodness
My other favorite song in the show. It started out just okay. Sebastian was great in the first act, but when he had to play “grown-up” Fiyero, he had some problems. He kept getting this dumb grin on his face and was horribly overacting. Alma sang her lines again, which I still love. Kendra’s acting during her conversation with Sebastian was fantastic, but he sounded like a whiny five-year-old. I kept expecting him to stomp his foot and yell, “You can’t make me!” Kendra’s part of the song after he left, however, was perfect. I think she makes the transition from Galinda to Glinda better than any other actress. She belted “Thank goodness!” and “I couldn’t be happier” like nobody’s business. And, she nailed an awesome high note at the end. One thing: she wasn’t wearing the glittery arm cover on her right arm. I kind of liked it being gone, sine I thought it looked uncomfortable.
Wicked Witch of the East
Finally, Jennifer got her act together. She was bitter and angry toward Elphaba and she practically spat out “Scrounging for scraps of pity to pick up”, like she was disgusted with everyone, including herself. And when she got to the actual WWotE part, she was amazing. Instead of just feeling guilty, she chose to play it more like she was sorry, but she still thought that Boq deserved it. I’ve never seen anyone else play the part that way, so it was interesting. And it worked well. The guy playing the Tin Man managed to mess up his lip-synching. K.W. started screaming and the guy just stood there for about 30 seconds, and then he opened his mouth. Also, even though it only a minute long, I really like the engagement ball scene and Kendra looked lovely in her dress.
Wonderful
I always felt bad for The Wizard because he is stuck with two of the worst songs. The only person I’ve seen make this song really enjoyable is Joel Grey. The others aren’t bad, but Joel just had a certain something. Unfortunately for me, P.J. isn’t the next Joel Grey. He was good and he played the part well, but I found myself spacing out and trying to guess how big the woman to my left’s engagement ring was. I guessed about 4 carats. Also, Victoria can’t dance, but it was adorable because Elphaba is supposed to be kind of awkward. After the song, the scene was going great, but then came the pivotal moment when Fiyero decides to leave. Sebastian didn’t look all the convinced that he was doing the right thing, or that he even had any type of feeling for Elphaba. He just stared blankly at Victoria and said, “I’m going with her?” more as a question than a statement.
I’m Not That Girl (Reprise)
Kendra looked and sounded great and she hit the low note at the end much better than Victoria. Yay.
As Long As You’re Mine
All the chemistry that Victoria and Sebastian had in the first act died here. Victoria was trying really hard to get something going, but Sebastian just looked at her like a deer in the headlights. Not only did he not look interested, but also he didn’t touch her at all. He didn’t even hold her hand! After her first verse, he gave her a really fast kiss and then started singing right away, which threw off his timing with the music. He had to hold out “seeing” for longer so the orchestra could catch up with him. By the end of the song, the one of the giggly women in front of me leaned over to her friend and said, “Are they supposed to be having sex? Because if so, this has to be the most boring sex ever!” and then they all laughed. And, yes, I laughed too. I know it was a romantic scene or whatever, but the way she said it was hilarious. Unlike them, though, I covered my mouth and kept it very quiet, whereas they just laughed as loud as can be. They did share a decent kiss before Victoria exited the stage, but all in all, it was a disappointing number.
Cornfield Scene
Kendra got huge laughs during this scene. Especially “…a regime change!” and after she slapped Victoria. That actually got applause. I love her “Yes, I do” because she always sounds/looks like she enjoyed it. Her wand twirl also got applause and then when she tried to grab Victoria’s hat, she knocked it on the ground and had to run after it. She, Victoria and Sebastian did their piece of dialogue in warp speed. It was over before I even realized it had started. Again, though, Sebastian couldn’t get any emotion going. It was frustrating because I know that he is a much better actor than that. Also, Kendra didn’t yell “Fiyero!” long enough to intertwine with the next song.
No Good Deed
There was no rising platform in the theatre, so Victoria had to just run in. It didn’t look strange though. It actually looked more natural than rising out of the ground. She was great in this song. I think she does much better (and obviously feels more comfortable) when she can be loud, as opposed to when she has to be soft. She messed up the words of the chant a bit, but since they’re made up, it didn’t matter much. She was really, really into using the cape during the song, which made it so much more effective. She also got pretty physical and threw her whole body into the song. I’ve seen one other Elphaba do that and it looked horribly over-the-top, but somehow Victoria managed to pull it off. Also, she didn’t riff on the last note, which made me love her even more.
For Good
Ok, first of all, Chistery is not a vital role. Therefore, during this song, the actor should not be sitting there and making faces and arm movements. It was extremely obnoxious. Again, Kendra and Victoria’s chemistry was amazing. They held hands during most of the song and Victoria was actually crying. She kept trying to put on a brave smile and it was heartbreaking. Kendra wiped her face near the end and then touched the hat and smiled, which made the woman next to me cry. After the song, when Victoria was pulling the curtain across, she stopped and looked right at Kendra and tried to put on her brave smile again. Kendra took a step toward her and held out her hand, but Victoria just shook her head sadly and stepped behind the curtain.
Finale
After the melting, Kendra picked up the hat and hugged it for a long time. When she showed the bottle to P.J., he actually did a very nice job when he realized what he had done. After Kendra said, “I doubt you will!” she did a perfect imitation of Alma’s arm movements. There was trapdoor, so Victoria got to come out instead of walking in from the wings again. Everyone applauded when she came out, but Sebastian didn’t wait until the applause had stopped before saying his next line. At the end of the song, Kendra hit a great note on the last “wicked”. The second the lights went down, everyone started cheering and screaming.
The Performers
Kendra - A+
Victoria - A
Sebastian - B
P.J. - B
Alma - A+
Jennifer - B+
K.W. - A
Overall, I’d give the performance an “A”. I had a great time and I can’t wait to see it again!
I saw 'Wicked' in Detroit on Saturday. We ended up seeing the standby for Elphaba, Victoria Matlock, because Julia is apparently very sick. I hope she gets better soon! Also, my seat were second row center. Awesomeness. Review under the cut.
Act I:
No One Mourns the Wicked
So, the music starts and they shoot confetti out into the audience. A piece of it hit my face and I spent the first thirty seconds of the show trying to get it out of my hair. The ensemble looked good, and I picked out Annaleigh, Emily and Maria right away. Annaleigh was having some problems with the choreography during most of the songs. But besides that, it started well. Kendra came down and didn’t get any entrance applause. She did an amazing job with the high notes (much better than the first time I saw her). She almost fell forward off the bubble when she stopped after “For you and…”. I forget the name of the actor who played Elphaba’s father (my Playbill is in my suitcase), but he hit an amazing note for “Siiiiiigggghhhhhttt!” There were two women in front of me who laughed at everything. And I mean everything. They laughed when they pulled out baby Elphaba, and then kept laughing through the rest of the song, so it was a bit distracting. Kendra didn’t sing the “wicked”s at the end and I couldn’t remember if she’s never done it, or if she just didn’t that night.
Dear Old Shiz
Victoria also didn’t get any applause, so her entrance looked really ridiculous. She just kind of stood there. But, that’s not her fault. Anyway, the number was fine, and Kendra got a big laugh when she came out. I didn’t much care for Jennifer Waldman during the first act. She was just…I don’t even know how to describe it. But it bothered me. Maybe it’s because she was so happy and kept throwing her upper body around. I’m not sure. Alma was ahhh-mazing as Morrible. I know it’s been said before, but I’ll say it again: it’s great to have a Morrible who actually sings her line. Overall, she got a great audience reception. People seemed to love her more than anyone else on stage. Kendra did her cute jumps when she was trying to get Morrible’s attention.
The Wizard and I
Victoria owned this number. She held out the notes on “happen” and “understood”, which was a nice change. She also did the cutest thing when she was pretending to have the conversation with The Wizard. She had a Wizard voice! She made it all deep. I loved it. She did have one problem, though. During the line "Things I've never felt" she tried to riff, but she went way off key. But she recovered for the end and nailed the last note. She got huge applause. I was glad for her, since she didn't get any when she came in.
What Is This Feeling?
Kendra and Victoria sounded great together. Victoria's "blonde" was perfect and then she did a hilarious imitation of Kendra's hand waving. Kendra got this cute little "pout" on her face and she looked like she was going to throw a temper tantrum. I really don't like the choreography in the show, and again, Annaleigh had some problems with it. I still think she's precious, though.
Classroom Scene
I didn't like K Todd Freeman as Dillamond. Granted, it's a pretty thankless role. Still, he just wasn't.... well, I guess he just wasn't good enough to make me interested in the character. After Kendra said, "It's Galinda...with a GA!", Shen Shen (Annaleigh!) and Pfanee said, "With a GA!" It was sooo funny. They were also having this fake conversation where Kendra would look over at Victoria, scribble something in her notebook, and then show it to the girls, who would laugh. It was cute.
Something Bad
Sigh. Just cut this song already. It’s pointless.
Dancing Through Life
Sebastian!! His pants were awfully tight, not that I minded. KW Miller was a great Boq. I’m glad we got to see him. After Seb tossed his book, and he went off and got it, he came back kind of punched Seb on the arm. It was cute! Kendra was great when she was imitating Sebastian’s dance moves. She kept adding in shimmies and then started her own kick line. Also, when Sebastian jumped on the statue, it shook really badly and I thought it was going to fall, but he just kept going like he didn’t even notice. When Kendra gave Victoria the hat, Victoria did something different. Every other Elphaba I’ve seen looked like she thought that it might be a trick, but Victoria got a huge smile on her face and shoved the hat on her head, like she was so happy to finally have a friend. It made it even sadder when she came out later in the song. When Alma came to give Kendra her training wand, she grabbed a martini and downed it. That got a huge laugh. She did this wave thing with her arms when she said, “I doubt you will.” And then grabbed another drink and walked off. Again, I didn’t like Jennifer in this song. She is supposed to be disappointed when she asks Boq if he only brought her because of her wheelchair, but instead she was smiling away and I didn’t like it. When Victoria came in, and got to the bottom of the stairs, the woman playing Pfanee walked past and said, “Girl…you got some bad advice!” It was hilarious!! When Kendra was trying to dance with her, she did The Robot, which was awesome. She “introduced” Sebastian and Victoria, and they had a mime conversation and when Sebastian was mid-sentence, the song ended, so he had to hurry up and do his ending pose.
Popular
My favorite!!! When Kendra’s bed started coming in, she hopped on it and started kicking her legs like she was driving it in. Then, after she said, “Fiyero and I are going to be married.” She ran to her bed jumped on it, and then ran back to Victoria’s bed and landed on her side, with one leg in the air and yelled, “Cha!” Victoria had to stop for a minute before saying her next line, because she was trying not to laugh. And of course, Kendra did her “Poof!” and everyone cracked up and she got applause. During the song, She tried to pull up Victoria’s skirt a few times and Victoria kept pushing it down and laughing. During the “toss, toss” part, Kendra kept trying to do a handstand on the bed, but it didn’t work, so she started her kick line again. When Victoria was tossing her hair, it hit her microphone and made a loud pop and Kendra said, “Ok…not that hard!” Then, after “Is this thing on?” she hit her wand on the bed and it broke! She just kind of stared at Victoria and then threw it behind her and kept going. She did her sparkles and got more applause, and then, before she finished the song, she turned around and picked up the back of her dress and showed her panties. It was awesome!
Lion Cub Scene
Victoria hit herself in the face again during her hair toss, and Sebastian’s was hilarious. He did a perfect impression of her. Instead of saying, “You don’t have to do that you know”, he said, “You don’t even…(ten second pause)…you know.” Then he snorted. I wanted to hug him. Victoria wasn't so great during this scene. Instead of being angry about the cub, she just seemed kind of bored. She didn’t shout “Do something!” she just said it. Anyway, she and Sebastian had awesome chemistry. Unfortunately, it fizzled later on in the show.
I’m Not That Girl
Sigh. Victoria, Victoria, Victoria. She looked great. She is a gorgeous woman and the green makeup was extremely flattering. But during this song, she just fell apart vocally. She could not hit the lower notes. Her acting was amazing, but her voice just left her. And since most of the song is done in her lower register, it didn’t really work.
One Short Day
When Kendra changed her named to Glinda, she took a little bow and the whole audience applauded really loudly. She and Victoria come in late for their entrance, but the ensemble covered it nicely. Let me just take this moment to say that Maria has the best ensemble costumes ever. Anyway, the Ozian Official also missed his line, “The Wizard will see you now!”, so there was about 30 seconds of awkward silence. I never liked this song much, so we’ll just skip ahead to the next one.
A Sentimental Man
P.J. Benjamin was good as The Wizard. Not the best I’ve seen, but not the worst either. Victoria and Kendra held hands all through this scene, which I thought was a sweet touch. Alma came in and got entrance applause. The audience just loved her! Her and Kendra’s exchange (“Can I touch it?” “…No.”) was perfect. After they told Victoria to prove herself, Kendra went behind her and slapped her butt and said, “Go! Prove yourself!” Again, Victoria had some problems with the “angry” emotion after Chistery got his wings. She just said it very flatly. Also, P.J.’s “She’s seen too much!” wasn’t as emotional as it could have been. He didn’t sound all that nervous.
Defying Gravity
Oh gosh. Everything that Victoria was doing wrong earlier was magically fixed during this song. She was flawless. She had just the right amount of anger when she was yelling at Kendra and when she said, “It’s the Wizard who should be afraid…of me.” I was blown away. She was simply perfect. It’s probably the best DG I’ve ever heard. She looked angry and determined, without looking like a lunatic. Also, she didn’t wave her arm around too much (like Idina) or make hideous faces and riff like crazy (like Shoshana). I just left me speechless. I have seen this show an embarrassing amount of times, and I cried during this song. I was just overwhelmed by her talent. She and Kendra were in perfect harmony, not only vocally, but acting wise. They looked like they were actually best friends and had been doing this show together for years. Also, when the guards grabbed Kendra, she tried to beat them down with her purse, which was adorable. When Victoria started to rise and sang, “It’s meeeeee!”, Kendra got the cutest smile on her face. She actually looked like she was flying, mostly because she didn’t sway back and forth on the platform, like other Elphaba’s do. It was an amazing end to Act I.
Act II
Thank Goodness
My other favorite song in the show. It started out just okay. Sebastian was great in the first act, but when he had to play “grown-up” Fiyero, he had some problems. He kept getting this dumb grin on his face and was horribly overacting. Alma sang her lines again, which I still love. Kendra’s acting during her conversation with Sebastian was fantastic, but he sounded like a whiny five-year-old. I kept expecting him to stomp his foot and yell, “You can’t make me!” Kendra’s part of the song after he left, however, was perfect. I think she makes the transition from Galinda to Glinda better than any other actress. She belted “Thank goodness!” and “I couldn’t be happier” like nobody’s business. And, she nailed an awesome high note at the end. One thing: she wasn’t wearing the glittery arm cover on her right arm. I kind of liked it being gone, sine I thought it looked uncomfortable.
Wicked Witch of the East
Finally, Jennifer got her act together. She was bitter and angry toward Elphaba and she practically spat out “Scrounging for scraps of pity to pick up”, like she was disgusted with everyone, including herself. And when she got to the actual WWotE part, she was amazing. Instead of just feeling guilty, she chose to play it more like she was sorry, but she still thought that Boq deserved it. I’ve never seen anyone else play the part that way, so it was interesting. And it worked well. The guy playing the Tin Man managed to mess up his lip-synching. K.W. started screaming and the guy just stood there for about 30 seconds, and then he opened his mouth. Also, even though it only a minute long, I really like the engagement ball scene and Kendra looked lovely in her dress.
Wonderful
I always felt bad for The Wizard because he is stuck with two of the worst songs. The only person I’ve seen make this song really enjoyable is Joel Grey. The others aren’t bad, but Joel just had a certain something. Unfortunately for me, P.J. isn’t the next Joel Grey. He was good and he played the part well, but I found myself spacing out and trying to guess how big the woman to my left’s engagement ring was. I guessed about 4 carats. Also, Victoria can’t dance, but it was adorable because Elphaba is supposed to be kind of awkward. After the song, the scene was going great, but then came the pivotal moment when Fiyero decides to leave. Sebastian didn’t look all the convinced that he was doing the right thing, or that he even had any type of feeling for Elphaba. He just stared blankly at Victoria and said, “I’m going with her?” more as a question than a statement.
I’m Not That Girl (Reprise)
Kendra looked and sounded great and she hit the low note at the end much better than Victoria. Yay.
As Long As You’re Mine
All the chemistry that Victoria and Sebastian had in the first act died here. Victoria was trying really hard to get something going, but Sebastian just looked at her like a deer in the headlights. Not only did he not look interested, but also he didn’t touch her at all. He didn’t even hold her hand! After her first verse, he gave her a really fast kiss and then started singing right away, which threw off his timing with the music. He had to hold out “seeing” for longer so the orchestra could catch up with him. By the end of the song, the one of the giggly women in front of me leaned over to her friend and said, “Are they supposed to be having sex? Because if so, this has to be the most boring sex ever!” and then they all laughed. And, yes, I laughed too. I know it was a romantic scene or whatever, but the way she said it was hilarious. Unlike them, though, I covered my mouth and kept it very quiet, whereas they just laughed as loud as can be. They did share a decent kiss before Victoria exited the stage, but all in all, it was a disappointing number.
Cornfield Scene
Kendra got huge laughs during this scene. Especially “…a regime change!” and after she slapped Victoria. That actually got applause. I love her “Yes, I do” because she always sounds/looks like she enjoyed it. Her wand twirl also got applause and then when she tried to grab Victoria’s hat, she knocked it on the ground and had to run after it. She, Victoria and Sebastian did their piece of dialogue in warp speed. It was over before I even realized it had started. Again, though, Sebastian couldn’t get any emotion going. It was frustrating because I know that he is a much better actor than that. Also, Kendra didn’t yell “Fiyero!” long enough to intertwine with the next song.
No Good Deed
There was no rising platform in the theatre, so Victoria had to just run in. It didn’t look strange though. It actually looked more natural than rising out of the ground. She was great in this song. I think she does much better (and obviously feels more comfortable) when she can be loud, as opposed to when she has to be soft. She messed up the words of the chant a bit, but since they’re made up, it didn’t matter much. She was really, really into using the cape during the song, which made it so much more effective. She also got pretty physical and threw her whole body into the song. I’ve seen one other Elphaba do that and it looked horribly over-the-top, but somehow Victoria managed to pull it off. Also, she didn’t riff on the last note, which made me love her even more.
For Good
Ok, first of all, Chistery is not a vital role. Therefore, during this song, the actor should not be sitting there and making faces and arm movements. It was extremely obnoxious. Again, Kendra and Victoria’s chemistry was amazing. They held hands during most of the song and Victoria was actually crying. She kept trying to put on a brave smile and it was heartbreaking. Kendra wiped her face near the end and then touched the hat and smiled, which made the woman next to me cry. After the song, when Victoria was pulling the curtain across, she stopped and looked right at Kendra and tried to put on her brave smile again. Kendra took a step toward her and held out her hand, but Victoria just shook her head sadly and stepped behind the curtain.
Finale
After the melting, Kendra picked up the hat and hugged it for a long time. When she showed the bottle to P.J., he actually did a very nice job when he realized what he had done. After Kendra said, “I doubt you will!” she did a perfect imitation of Alma’s arm movements. There was trapdoor, so Victoria got to come out instead of walking in from the wings again. Everyone applauded when she came out, but Sebastian didn’t wait until the applause had stopped before saying his next line. At the end of the song, Kendra hit a great note on the last “wicked”. The second the lights went down, everyone started cheering and screaming.
The Performers
Kendra - A+
Victoria - A
Sebastian - B
P.J. - B
Alma - A+
Jennifer - B+
K.W. - A
Overall, I’d give the performance an “A”. I had a great time and I can’t wait to see it again!