I ♥ Wicked
So, I saw Wicked last night.
It's hard for me to even know where to start talking about this show. I loved it so much. I was kind of surprised, because I've had the CD for awhile, and based off of that, I wasn't expecting it to be so amazing.
It was definitely one of those theater experiences that was pure magic. The show was sold out, and the audience was so excited. There was applause when the show started, and when the main characters came on stage for the first time. A majority of people had dressed for the occasion -- the lobby of the theater was a sea of black and green, and there was at least one person decked out in full costume and makeup to see the show. Everyone was on their feet as soon as the show ended, and even though I'm not generally a fan of the standing ovation, here it was well-deserved.
The cast was amazing. Both Shoshana Bean as Elphaba and Megan Hilty as Galinda brought so much depth to their roles. Great voices. And funny. I wasn't expecting the show to be so funny! We had the understudy Fiyero, and while I'm sure the regular guy is terrific, I liked the understudy so much. He was long-haired and smokin' hot, with a very nice voice, but at the same time just the tiniest bit tentative, as though as the understudy he doesn't get to play the role very often. The guy playing Dr. Dillamond (the goat guy) was the guy who played Mr. Trick on Buffy in season three, and he had a wonderful stage presence.
I liked the set a lot, too. The kind of old-fashioned industrial feel to it, as well as the things they did with the bold lighting colors against the backdrop. I'm still not quite sure why they attached so much stuff to the proscenium that never got used (like the dragon). It was nice to look at, but it does obstruct views of the stage, although they worked around the obstruction pretty well. The giant mechanical Wizard of Oz head was creepy.
The story held a lot of surprises for me. I have the CD, but have never been quite able to figure out what the heck is going on. The way that act 2 echoes the events of "The Wizard of Oz" was a really pleasant surprise for me, and I thought it worked really, really well. And the ending..."It worked!" Because of course it's silly that water would melt a witch, how could anyone have ever beleived that?
I loved how much they made me love Galinda. As a character, she's so shallow and perky and that's not something I can relate to at all, but at the same time she has so much unexpected depth, and in a lot of ways, I think she makes the bigger journey. She loses the man she loves, and her best friend. And while she clings to her old ways almost to the end, still so desperate for popularity and status, by the end she's not only changed but found a way to integrate that change with who she is at the essence. She'll always be perky, but now she's also strong.
Which isn't to say I didn't also love Elphaba, and could completely relate to her, but that's kind of the standard response, so there's less to say about it.
The big thing about the show, though, is that not only is it such a beautiful, moving story about friendship, it captures the qualities of female friendships so accurately, the way things like competition and popularity and status factor in to even the best of friendships. It made me think about the really good friends I've had in my life, and how easy it is to take that for granted. I'm the kind of person who believes that most friendships have a lifespan, but I also believe what's put forth in the show -- that people come into your life for a reason, and leave you changed for the better if you let them. And those two ideas seem diametrically opposed, but at the same time it almost makes sense. If people come into your life for a reason, then it almost stands to reason that those relationships will end, because circumstances change or people change. The trick is to value and honor relationships while you have them.
But it made me think specifically about the handful of very good friends I've had. What they brought to my life, what I learned and how I am different for having known them. I still don't have an answer, and maybe I never will, but it's worth thinking about, rather than focusing on the good times I miss or the bad times and how things ended.
I want to see this show again.
It's hard for me to even know where to start talking about this show. I loved it so much. I was kind of surprised, because I've had the CD for awhile, and based off of that, I wasn't expecting it to be so amazing.
It was definitely one of those theater experiences that was pure magic. The show was sold out, and the audience was so excited. There was applause when the show started, and when the main characters came on stage for the first time. A majority of people had dressed for the occasion -- the lobby of the theater was a sea of black and green, and there was at least one person decked out in full costume and makeup to see the show. Everyone was on their feet as soon as the show ended, and even though I'm not generally a fan of the standing ovation, here it was well-deserved.
The cast was amazing. Both Shoshana Bean as Elphaba and Megan Hilty as Galinda brought so much depth to their roles. Great voices. And funny. I wasn't expecting the show to be so funny! We had the understudy Fiyero, and while I'm sure the regular guy is terrific, I liked the understudy so much. He was long-haired and smokin' hot, with a very nice voice, but at the same time just the tiniest bit tentative, as though as the understudy he doesn't get to play the role very often. The guy playing Dr. Dillamond (the goat guy) was the guy who played Mr. Trick on Buffy in season three, and he had a wonderful stage presence.
I liked the set a lot, too. The kind of old-fashioned industrial feel to it, as well as the things they did with the bold lighting colors against the backdrop. I'm still not quite sure why they attached so much stuff to the proscenium that never got used (like the dragon). It was nice to look at, but it does obstruct views of the stage, although they worked around the obstruction pretty well. The giant mechanical Wizard of Oz head was creepy.
The story held a lot of surprises for me. I have the CD, but have never been quite able to figure out what the heck is going on. The way that act 2 echoes the events of "The Wizard of Oz" was a really pleasant surprise for me, and I thought it worked really, really well. And the ending..."It worked!" Because of course it's silly that water would melt a witch, how could anyone have ever beleived that?
I loved how much they made me love Galinda. As a character, she's so shallow and perky and that's not something I can relate to at all, but at the same time she has so much unexpected depth, and in a lot of ways, I think she makes the bigger journey. She loses the man she loves, and her best friend. And while she clings to her old ways almost to the end, still so desperate for popularity and status, by the end she's not only changed but found a way to integrate that change with who she is at the essence. She'll always be perky, but now she's also strong.
Which isn't to say I didn't also love Elphaba, and could completely relate to her, but that's kind of the standard response, so there's less to say about it.
The big thing about the show, though, is that not only is it such a beautiful, moving story about friendship, it captures the qualities of female friendships so accurately, the way things like competition and popularity and status factor in to even the best of friendships. It made me think about the really good friends I've had in my life, and how easy it is to take that for granted. I'm the kind of person who believes that most friendships have a lifespan, but I also believe what's put forth in the show -- that people come into your life for a reason, and leave you changed for the better if you let them. And those two ideas seem diametrically opposed, but at the same time it almost makes sense. If people come into your life for a reason, then it almost stands to reason that those relationships will end, because circumstances change or people change. The trick is to value and honor relationships while you have them.
But it made me think specifically about the handful of very good friends I've had. What they brought to my life, what I learned and how I am different for having known them. I still don't have an answer, and maybe I never will, but it's worth thinking about, rather than focusing on the good times I miss or the bad times and how things ended.
I want to see this show again.