I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Wicked for the first time at the beautiful Orpheum theater last night. I went in with mixed expectations given Clement's rave reviews and a more modulated response from several other friends. The show began in SF, but went through re-writes and recastings before it became a huge hit in NYC. And, as one friend keeps harping, lost the big Tony award to another favorite Avenue Q. The leads were fantastic. Kristin Chenoweth originated Glinda, but Kendra Kassebaum rocked the role last night. Her rendition of "Popular" was the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. Teal Wicks was scheduled to play Alphaba, but her understudy stepped in last night and impressed the crowd with her vocal range. I didn't even realize it wasn't Ms. Wicks until the intermission.
Oscar winner Patty Duke was having fun playing Madame Morrible, and former Married with Children cast member David Garrison played the Wizard. The standout songs for me were Popular, What is this Feeling? (how can you not like a song with "unadultered loathing" as a catch phrase), Defying Gravity and I'm not that Girl. The mixing of the "Wizard of Oz" story from Gregory Macquire's novel was fairly inventive, though the third act felt a bit rushed. I heard the original script was tediously overlong so I can understand the cuts that must have been made. The allegory to minority rights was certainly topical given our recent Prop 8 debacle.
Now how can I get "Pop-u-lar" out of my head??
2 comments:
Ooh, I want to see it, but I want to read the book first. Have you read it?
I didn't read it, but the story is simple enough. You should definitely check it out if it goes to Portland!
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