ask-mark.com

Wicked review

by Mark on May.19, 2005, under general

As promised, here is a short review of Wicked, now showing on Broadway in Chicago. I found the show to be technically magnificent, as well as quite entertaining. As Carrie said, the first act was paced slowly, and to me, a little "bleh," but the second act more than made up for that with a great link to the story of Dorothy and her dog "Dodo," as Galinda (the Ga is silent) put it.

The set carried a clock theme, including a giant pendulum on which Galinda rides into the first scene. The dynamics of set were spectacular, from the remote controlled pieces that moved on and off stage to the many backdrops that descended from high above the stage. I especially loved the lighting effects, which made otherwise stationary sets come alive. Our limited-view seats in the dress circle only masked a gigantic moving dragon above the stage and a little bit of stage right. Even with that, we saw just about everything. I believe the only thing we "missed" was the house that fell on Elphaba’s sister – no big deal.

The cast Tuesday evening was an understudy cast, but if I hadn’t seen the insert in my PLAYBILL, I wouldn’t have known. Both Elphaba and Galinda had strong voices, and I got the feeling that both were genuinely enjoying performing that night. It was amazing to hear Elphaba as she was suspended high above Galinda as they sang Defying Gravity, one of my favorite songs in the show. Chris would like to point out that Popular is my favorite, but after that performance, I’m having a tough choice between the two.

Like Les Miserables, this is one of those shows I wouldn’t mind seeing a second, a third or even a fourth time.

Related posts:

  1. Wicked
  2. Iraqtile Dysfunction
  3. I’m such a dork
  4. “Unathorized” access
  5. Big Fish review
:

1 Comment for this entry

Get Adobe Flash playerPlugin by wpburn.com wordpress themes