My first musical
Apologies in advance. I felt this momentous event had to be recorded.
All right, it is neither a momentous event nor my first musical. Some backstory: my aversion of musicals dates back to the 9th grade, where I was one of 3 violin players in the entire high school and thereby drafted to play in the band (they really called it the band) for the HS production of Oklahoma. For reasons which escape me, after lots of rehearsals the strings did not make into the production and instead we got to erase pencil marks from all the rental music before the scores were returned. Also, I think we saw Miss Saigon, but we were seated (I kid you not) behind the big pillar behind which HS groups are apparently seated, and to this day I still do not know what people are talking about when they ask me about the helicopter which (I hear) lands on the stage, or such trivial things as what the show was about.
At any rate, I have never really understood (sorry) the allure of the show tune, and phenomena such as Rent and the Lion King (that is a musical right?) pretty much passed me by. However, my mom wanted to go see Wicked, so of course I ended up going to see the local version with ... well, a friend who was not my mom. On the plus side, we got discount tickets for about $20 which of course ended up being about $35 when you added on the Ticketmaster fees. However, despite my whining, I quite enjoyed it. My totally unqualified observations:
- While the complexity of the plot was somewhere between the WB and your average non-cancelled TV show on Fox, I can see why this particular musical is so popular. There were those clearly enthralled with the ugly duckling story of the green girl everyone picks on who got her revenge with the spellbook o' doom. There were those who seemed to love the friendship between the two witches and the entwined stories of growth, redemption and tragedy. And at times the musical even touched on the lurking questions of political manipulation and perceptions of good and evil, and how the ways we are viewed have the power, unfortunate and not, of shaping our choices. Plus, it was pretty funny, with a few nods to the original film.
- I think I also finally get why people bother making a musical rather than, say, plays, because instead of spoken language, we got music and lyrics as the emotional undercurrent to fill out the themes. Well duh, you say, that's the point of the show tunes. All right, I get it now. Facial expressions and subtleties of costume really don't make it to the cheap seats, but the musical aspects helped take their place in conveying the emotional journey. Because, when you only ahve three hours and several dance numbers to cram in, you really don't have all that much time for depth of characterization. (Sideline: there was a 7-ish boy behind who sang - quietly, but out loud - every single word of the "Popular" number. I did glare at him, though perhaps that was harsh. But I suspect that particular song is a huge hit with the younger [than me!] audience, because the applause was huge.
- Have spent the past few days trying to decide who is really the main character. The textually wicked Elpheba, who becomes the Wicked Witch of the West, is born with a green skin which belies an enduring idealism, and she's not so much wicked as the tragic victim of prejudice and then a vicious smear campaign. She gets more of the big musical numbers, including the one just before the intermission, and more stage time. The textually good Glinda/Galinda ("the 'guh' is silent' heh) actually has the more complex storyline, transformed by friendship from the dumb blonde with a sense of entitlement, into a flawed but sympathetic survivor who loses the capacity for shallow self-interest. Not that I get out much, but I don't see too many stories of any medium centered on two credible female protagonists. I really enjoyed having their complex relationship at the heart of the show. Mind you, though, if *I* am picking up homoerotic vibes between the two main characters, there has got to be a certain amount of subtext written into that relationship.
- I think the Elpheba role calls for a fantastic singer, and the Glinda role for a fantastic actor. This production had both. Around here, Elpheba is being played by Dee Roscioli and Galinda by Erin Mackey. Now, I wouldn't know a famous Broadway artist from, erm, pretty much anyone else wearing green makeup or tiaras, but I thought they were both quite impressive in their own ways. Elpheba's songs are long, strong, and numerous and seems to require an incredible amount of vocal talent and fortitude. Roscioli had both. She also has one of the most amazing voices I have ever heard, a bit lower pitched than most of the pop singers or American Idol crowd, full of intensity and emotion and pitch perfect on every single note. There's a depth and fullness to her singing that I can't really describe, except to say it reminds me of Karen Carpenter. That is the highest compliment I pay to singers, so there. The other lead role calls for really good acting chops to make Galinda's journey credible. Mackey does a great job and if I had to pick a breakout performer (as opposed to singer) it would be her. Even when seen from the balcony, she had a big stage presence (often upstaging Elpheba, which is probably part of the point) and alternated between verve and nuance. The male love interested has beautiful movement but not enough stage time or presence to match the intensity of the Elpheba/Glinda interactions (hence my overwhelming impression of E-G subtext -- romantic or not, theirs is the interesting pairing). Everyone else either didn't get enough stage time or didn't really catch my attention. Though apparently Dr. Dillamond is played by K. Todd Freeman aka Mr. Trick from Buffy. I didn't recognize him until he took off the goat head.
- I really am quite enchanted with this whole musical concept. I can't say I'll start listening to cast albums or seeing Sweeney Todd anytime soon, but I may try this thing again if there's another sale.
All right, it is neither a momentous event nor my first musical. Some backstory: my aversion of musicals dates back to the 9th grade, where I was one of 3 violin players in the entire high school and thereby drafted to play in the band (they really called it the band) for the HS production of Oklahoma. For reasons which escape me, after lots of rehearsals the strings did not make into the production and instead we got to erase pencil marks from all the rental music before the scores were returned. Also, I think we saw Miss Saigon, but we were seated (I kid you not) behind the big pillar behind which HS groups are apparently seated, and to this day I still do not know what people are talking about when they ask me about the helicopter which (I hear) lands on the stage, or such trivial things as what the show was about.
At any rate, I have never really understood (sorry) the allure of the show tune, and phenomena such as Rent and the Lion King (that is a musical right?) pretty much passed me by. However, my mom wanted to go see Wicked, so of course I ended up going to see the local version with ... well, a friend who was not my mom. On the plus side, we got discount tickets for about $20 which of course ended up being about $35 when you added on the Ticketmaster fees. However, despite my whining, I quite enjoyed it. My totally unqualified observations:
- While the complexity of the plot was somewhere between the WB and your average non-cancelled TV show on Fox, I can see why this particular musical is so popular. There were those clearly enthralled with the ugly duckling story of the green girl everyone picks on who got her revenge with the spellbook o' doom. There were those who seemed to love the friendship between the two witches and the entwined stories of growth, redemption and tragedy. And at times the musical even touched on the lurking questions of political manipulation and perceptions of good and evil, and how the ways we are viewed have the power, unfortunate and not, of shaping our choices. Plus, it was pretty funny, with a few nods to the original film.
- I think I also finally get why people bother making a musical rather than, say, plays, because instead of spoken language, we got music and lyrics as the emotional undercurrent to fill out the themes. Well duh, you say, that's the point of the show tunes. All right, I get it now. Facial expressions and subtleties of costume really don't make it to the cheap seats, but the musical aspects helped take their place in conveying the emotional journey. Because, when you only ahve three hours and several dance numbers to cram in, you really don't have all that much time for depth of characterization. (Sideline: there was a 7-ish boy behind who sang - quietly, but out loud - every single word of the "Popular" number. I did glare at him, though perhaps that was harsh. But I suspect that particular song is a huge hit with the younger [than me!] audience, because the applause was huge.
- Have spent the past few days trying to decide who is really the main character. The textually wicked Elpheba, who becomes the Wicked Witch of the West, is born with a green skin which belies an enduring idealism, and she's not so much wicked as the tragic victim of prejudice and then a vicious smear campaign. She gets more of the big musical numbers, including the one just before the intermission, and more stage time. The textually good Glinda/Galinda ("the 'guh' is silent' heh) actually has the more complex storyline, transformed by friendship from the dumb blonde with a sense of entitlement, into a flawed but sympathetic survivor who loses the capacity for shallow self-interest. Not that I get out much, but I don't see too many stories of any medium centered on two credible female protagonists. I really enjoyed having their complex relationship at the heart of the show. Mind you, though, if *I* am picking up homoerotic vibes between the two main characters, there has got to be a certain amount of subtext written into that relationship.
- I think the Elpheba role calls for a fantastic singer, and the Glinda role for a fantastic actor. This production had both. Around here, Elpheba is being played by Dee Roscioli and Galinda by Erin Mackey. Now, I wouldn't know a famous Broadway artist from, erm, pretty much anyone else wearing green makeup or tiaras, but I thought they were both quite impressive in their own ways. Elpheba's songs are long, strong, and numerous and seems to require an incredible amount of vocal talent and fortitude. Roscioli had both. She also has one of the most amazing voices I have ever heard, a bit lower pitched than most of the pop singers or American Idol crowd, full of intensity and emotion and pitch perfect on every single note. There's a depth and fullness to her singing that I can't really describe, except to say it reminds me of Karen Carpenter. That is the highest compliment I pay to singers, so there. The other lead role calls for really good acting chops to make Galinda's journey credible. Mackey does a great job and if I had to pick a breakout performer (as opposed to singer) it would be her. Even when seen from the balcony, she had a big stage presence (often upstaging Elpheba, which is probably part of the point) and alternated between verve and nuance. The male love interested has beautiful movement but not enough stage time or presence to match the intensity of the Elpheba/Glinda interactions (hence my overwhelming impression of E-G subtext -- romantic or not, theirs is the interesting pairing). Everyone else either didn't get enough stage time or didn't really catch my attention. Though apparently Dr. Dillamond is played by K. Todd Freeman aka Mr. Trick from Buffy. I didn't recognize him until he took off the goat head.
- I really am quite enchanted with this whole musical concept. I can't say I'll start listening to cast albums or seeing Sweeney Todd anytime soon, but I may try this thing again if there's another sale.