Just got back from seeing Wicked
Sep. 6th, 2009 11:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
icepixieHOLY CRAP THAT WAS AWESOME.
So, yeah, five years after having![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
softstepshoes told me I should see it, I finally got to see Wicked. The travelling production is in Nashville for three weeks right now, and since it is a long weekend, I could make the trip home. Totally worth the wait.
Our Elphaba was amazing. She was just so earnest and sincere--very, very believable in the role. Apparently she had been playing Elphaba on Broadway before joining the touring cast. (Her name's Marcia Dodd if that means anything to anyone.) And her voice is fantastic.
"Defying Gravity" sent chills down my spine all the way through it. HOLY CRAP. I knew from the soundtrack it was incredible, but this was just...I...wow. (I kind of want to have the lighting designer's babies.)
Something else amazing: I apparently made it through five years and several friends being obsessed with this musical without learning the ending. No, really. I totally thought Fiyero kicked the bucket when the guards dragged him off, and that Elphaba died at the end. Really. I had no idea they lived and ran away together! I'm not sure if that changes my opinion of it for better or worse--I mean, Elphaba lives, hooray!, but at the same time, I was totally into Galinda's sadness. Hmm. I think I'm still just mostly shocked that I made it this far without being spoiled, or rather without realizing I hadn't been spoiled.
I loved the costumes and the sets. So, so cool. I love clockwork anything, so I was in heaven with all the cogs and gears that made up the backgrounds. (I did wonder what the clocks had to do with things, though. Is that a reference to the movie? I still haven't seen it all the way through. I seem to recall being traumatized by the flying monkies when I was very small.) I didn't really get what the animatronic dragon at the top of things was all about, either, aside from being another place to send out fog, which unfortunately made my eyes all watery several times. Boo.
Oh, and another question: So was Boq supposed to be Dorothy's tin man, and the lion cub her lion? I thought they were, but then Boq showed back up after Galinda sent Dorothy & co. on their way. And of course Fiyero seemed to be turning into the Scarecrow, but he couldn't have been Dorothy's scarecrow. Did Elphaba just go around turing lots of people into lions and scarecrows and tin men?
Galinda's rack of shoes cracked me up. So did all the sarcastic dialogue--"Well, we can't all travel by bubble!" is one I particularly remember. Elphaba was freaking hilarious. I see why people love her.
There were only two things I would've changed:
1. Okay, this is almost certainly a function of the fact that my tolerance for Valley Girl humor is somewhere in the negative double digits. But our Galinda had dialed the ditz up to eleven. My mom found her hilarious all the way through, and I did find her quite funny most of the time (Elphaba's sarcasm was better, but Galinda had her moments--"Pink goes with green! Who knew?" is one that stands out in my memory)...but. She had this high-pitched squealy thing she did, complete with hand-flapping and flailing arms, that made me want to stab her in the face repeatedly. She calmed down a bit in the second act, for which I was supremely grateful. But I definitely got the impression that she'd memorized Kristen Chenoweth's interpretation of the role, and then asked herself, "How different can I make this while still being perky?" The Cheno had an underlying sincerity that seemed to be missing in this one. She had a great voice, though; she sounded particularly fantastic in her duets with Elphaba.
2. It felt like there should've been some choreography to go along with "As Long as Your Mine." It was a little weird, with Elphaba and Fiyero kneeling on the floor a couple feet away from each other and singing at one another, occasionally holding hands or something, for a rather long time. Maybe that's just me and my interest in dance, though.
But in the grand scheme of things, those are very minor. I know there are more fabulous bits, both of the show itself and our production of it, that I'm forgetting. If I get the chance, I will totally see this again, because THAT WAS AWESOME.
So, yeah, five years after having
softstepshoes told me I should see it, I finally got to see Wicked. The travelling production is in Nashville for three weeks right now, and since it is a long weekend, I could make the trip home. Totally worth the wait.Our Elphaba was amazing. She was just so earnest and sincere--very, very believable in the role. Apparently she had been playing Elphaba on Broadway before joining the touring cast. (Her name's Marcia Dodd if that means anything to anyone.) And her voice is fantastic.
"Defying Gravity" sent chills down my spine all the way through it. HOLY CRAP. I knew from the soundtrack it was incredible, but this was just...I...wow. (I kind of want to have the lighting designer's babies.)
Something else amazing: I apparently made it through five years and several friends being obsessed with this musical without learning the ending. No, really. I totally thought Fiyero kicked the bucket when the guards dragged him off, and that Elphaba died at the end. Really. I had no idea they lived and ran away together! I'm not sure if that changes my opinion of it for better or worse--I mean, Elphaba lives, hooray!, but at the same time, I was totally into Galinda's sadness. Hmm. I think I'm still just mostly shocked that I made it this far without being spoiled, or rather without realizing I hadn't been spoiled.
I loved the costumes and the sets. So, so cool. I love clockwork anything, so I was in heaven with all the cogs and gears that made up the backgrounds. (I did wonder what the clocks had to do with things, though. Is that a reference to the movie? I still haven't seen it all the way through. I seem to recall being traumatized by the flying monkies when I was very small.) I didn't really get what the animatronic dragon at the top of things was all about, either, aside from being another place to send out fog, which unfortunately made my eyes all watery several times. Boo.
Oh, and another question: So was Boq supposed to be Dorothy's tin man, and the lion cub her lion? I thought they were, but then Boq showed back up after Galinda sent Dorothy & co. on their way. And of course Fiyero seemed to be turning into the Scarecrow, but he couldn't have been Dorothy's scarecrow. Did Elphaba just go around turing lots of people into lions and scarecrows and tin men?
Galinda's rack of shoes cracked me up. So did all the sarcastic dialogue--"Well, we can't all travel by bubble!" is one I particularly remember. Elphaba was freaking hilarious. I see why people love her.
There were only two things I would've changed:
1. Okay, this is almost certainly a function of the fact that my tolerance for Valley Girl humor is somewhere in the negative double digits. But our Galinda had dialed the ditz up to eleven. My mom found her hilarious all the way through, and I did find her quite funny most of the time (Elphaba's sarcasm was better, but Galinda had her moments--"Pink goes with green! Who knew?" is one that stands out in my memory)...but. She had this high-pitched squealy thing she did, complete with hand-flapping and flailing arms, that made me want to stab her in the face repeatedly. She calmed down a bit in the second act, for which I was supremely grateful. But I definitely got the impression that she'd memorized Kristen Chenoweth's interpretation of the role, and then asked herself, "How different can I make this while still being perky?" The Cheno had an underlying sincerity that seemed to be missing in this one. She had a great voice, though; she sounded particularly fantastic in her duets with Elphaba.
2. It felt like there should've been some choreography to go along with "As Long as Your Mine." It was a little weird, with Elphaba and Fiyero kneeling on the floor a couple feet away from each other and singing at one another, occasionally holding hands or something, for a rather long time. Maybe that's just me and my interest in dance, though.
But in the grand scheme of things, those are very minor. I know there are more fabulous bits, both of the show itself and our production of it, that I'm forgetting. If I get the chance, I will totally see this again, because THAT WAS AWESOME.
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no subject
Date: 2009-09-07 04:23 am (UTC)Crap! I completely forgot about that.
no subject
Date: 2009-09-07 04:33 am (UTC)That said, I'm glad to hear that the performance was awesome. I'm definitely going to have to try to get my hands on some tickets. I haven't seen a live performance since I was in London, and that was eighteen months ago.
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Date: 2009-09-07 04:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-07 04:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-07 05:02 am (UTC)*sigh* Becca, whatever will we do with you? Although I'll cut you some slack because you're too young to have been part of the generation where the one-time-per-year showing of WoO was basically an unofficial national holiday.
I seem to recall being traumatized by the flying monkies when I was very small.
Everyone is traumatized by the flying monkeys. No matter how old they are. It's like a universal truth.
no subject
Date: 2009-09-07 02:49 pm (UTC)Haha. I think the one time I tried watching it, it was on cable or something. Actually, I sort of remember flying monkeys on roller skates in a statue garden. Is that from WoO, or did I see a sequel or something else entirely?
Hmmm. Perhaps I'll add it to my Netflix queue. I've been trying to catch up on some of the pop culture things I missed--Footloose, Bladerunner the other week, etc.
Everyone is traumatized by the flying monkeys. No matter how old they are. It's like a universal truth.
:D
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Date: 2009-09-08 12:16 am (UTC)Actually, yes, that is from the sequel, "Return to Oz", and they're not monkey's they're "Wheelers" but serve the same functions as evil-witch-woman's-lackeys. I liked Return to Oz. Not a musical. Dorothy's actually a litte girl. And it has Ozma in it.
PS: The newspaper just ran a Baum tribute article, apparently we're 110 years away from when the books came out. And apparently he lived in Chicago near where my sister lives. And the article mentioned there's talk in Hollywood about doing a remake of WoO. Starring Dakota Fanning? Hopefully this is a rumor at best.
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Date: 2009-09-08 03:13 am (UTC)I think I may read the book(s) someday. Perhaps after graduation.
And the article mentioned there's talk in Hollywood about doing a remake of WoO. Starring Dakota Fanning? Hopefully this is a rumor at best.
Oh. Dear.
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Date: 2009-09-10 03:31 am (UTC)And 110-year anniversary? Hey, good timing - that unit cycled up in my plans for this year. Woo-hoo!
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Date: 2009-09-10 03:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-10 04:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-07 06:02 am (UTC)Okay. Whew.
The clock thing is actually a carryover from the book, which has several references to the Clock of the Time Dragon, suggesting somewhat that the events of Oz are pre-ordained and whatnot. It's a theme. Mostly I think they put it in the play to look cool. (I've never seen the whole movie either. The monkeys aren't that bad, but Judy Garland is like nails on a chalkboard to me.)
Yes and yes on Tin Man and Lion. The books get deeper into this; John hates that the translations between the musical, the Wicked books, and the original books make Dorothy and co. into bloodthirsty headhunters. I think it's perfectly valid to expect two (or three, counting the musical) viewpoints to be somewhat contradictory. The book also goes farther into detail about Elphaba's allergy to water, which I love.
I've seen the show twice with two casts, and Galinda is ALWAYS dialed up to 11 in the first act. I think it's so the audience finds her as annoying as Elphaba does at first, and so we get a contrast after "Defying Gravity" when she's Glinda and realizes that actions have consequences. The squealing and fluttering are just part of the character.
I think the kneeling and singing with Elphaba and Fiyero is meant to be both a mood thing and an energy thing - they're being furtive and daring, so dancing isn't appropriate, and also they're really belting it out, so it's nice for the actors to focus on the music and take a break from moving around for a song. I had the album before I saw the show, and there's a performance photo of Idina Menzel and Norbert Leo Butz kneeling, so I expected the lack of movement. In performance, it's a bit long to go with nothing visual, but the singers are so amazing that it doesn't matter much.
I highly and strongly recommend Wicked the book, but be warned that it has different political overtones and overall themes than the musical. I heart both versions and can easily love them for their differences, but some people (John) have trouble. I know lots of people say "BEST BOOK EVAR" - I'm not one of those people - so trust me to say it's worth a read. John thinks it's overrated, YMMV.
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Date: 2009-09-07 02:58 pm (UTC):D
I was thinking last night that the clock and dragon things might have been from the book. Or as you say, just to look cool--which they so, so did.
I'm not a big Judy Garland fan either. She's the other reason I've avoided the movie so far.
I've heard from many people that the book is nigh-unreadably bad. But I still might give it a shot someday. Perhaps after I see the movie.
Galinda is ALWAYS dialed up to 11 in the first act.
It seemed much, much worse in this one than in the dialogue you can hear on the soundtrack. I don't want to strangle Kristin Chenoweth when she's speaking as Galinda; I did want to strangle this one most of the time.
I get the reasoning behind the kneeling, but...I dunno. I'm of the school where visual interest trumps story relevance, I guess. ;) I didn't want much; I think if they had just been standing and occasionally hugging each other or walking slowly across the stage I would've considered it visually interesting.
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Date: 2009-09-10 03:39 am (UTC)Transported to a surreal landscape, a young girl kills the first woman she meets and then teams up with three complete strangers to kill again.
- Rick Polito, Marin Independent Journal's TV listing for "The Wizard of Oz"
I use that when the kids ask me what we're going to be reading. For some reason, it sounds more exciting to them that way... ;)
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Date: 2009-09-07 07:39 am (UTC)YES.
No, really. I totally thought Fiyero kicked the bucket when the guards dragged him off, and that Elphaba died at the end. Really.
WE FAILED YOU. But um, yes, when I first saw the show I remember going, "ohhhhhhh that explains so much!" several times...
The Cheno had an underlying sincerity that seemed to be missing in this one.
I seem to remember the one I saw being a bit underwhelming as well. But there is only one Kristen Chenoweth in the world, alas.
If I get the chance, I will totally see this again, because THAT WAS AWESOME.
Muahahahhaha!
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Date: 2009-09-07 02:59 pm (UTC)Yeeeeeah. Many things got explained last night.
I seem to remember the one I saw being a bit underwhelming as well. But there is only one Kristen Chenoweth in the world, alas.
Siiiiiiigh.
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Date: 2009-09-07 07:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-07 02:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-07 03:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-07 06:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-08 05:51 am (UTC)Defying Gravity is just YES!!!! The live version FILLS you up with this intense energy that makes the recording look like a pale imitation!!! If there weren't an intermission right after it I would most likely have imploded in my seat from awesome both times I saw it *G*
I am in fact SHOCKED you weren't spoiled for that! Personally I appreciated it as Glinda doesn't know so you get your angst with your glee!
The costumes are GORGEOUS! I am particularly in love with the outfits from One Short Day.
Galinda is insanely annoying in act 1 but she's supposed to be. My fav little Galinda bit is when she waves the wand and keeps yelling "Ballgown!" louder and louder until she just huffs and gives up. It never fails to make me cackle!
Don't feel bad about never making it through the movie I hate it, and haven't watched in years! I don't even really like the books both Frank L Baum's originals and the new Wicked set. But the musical! Ohhhh, the musical makes me gleeful!
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Date: 2009-09-09 12:39 am (UTC)My fav little Galinda bit is when she waves the wand and keeps yelling "Ballgown!" louder and louder until she just huffs and gives up. It never fails to make me cackle!
That was pretty entertaining.