Wicked!

[furtech]

This has been a week of culture: Taiko exhibit opening and then (partial-- oops!) concert, then Wicked! And ten million comics in between!



I can't recommend Wicked enough. The more I see it, the better it gets. Spectacular songs and acts, great sets and a novel story. The show hits on some pretty sensitive issues regarding friendship and who we are and how our actions define us. Wicked is adapted from the book of the same name and expands on the characters from Baum's Oz books and the MGM movie, "The Wizard of Oz". The characters are fleshed out and given histories, motivations, feeling and emotion. Suddenly the story's no longer black and white-- just shades of grey (tinted green!). Just imagine any story that can make both Glinda AND the WWotW into heroes by the end of the show-- it's just great!

This show is a HUGE hit with young girls, but anyone who's ever felt alienated or different or just confused in friendship and growing up will love the show. Elphaba/Wicked Witch of the West is a masterwork of characterization. Like "Daria" crossed with Judy Garland. The cast is terrific, though none can compare to Chenoweth (the original Galinda). And this is one of the few musicals that I've seen people dress up in-theme for (usually green and black). Just amazing stuff!

I think the show's next stop is Seattle: Steve, Tracy, Gene, Sarah: I HIGHLY recommend that you guys call for tickets ASAP: I think you'd love the show and it was the hottest ticket in town (L.A.)-- first time in ages that a show has sold out its entire run! Scalpers around here were getting upwards of $300/ticket, if that's any indication of how hard it was to find tickets. If you like musicals at all, you'll really enjoy this!

Comments

[cooner.livejournal.com]

I'm going to see Wicked in San Jose on August 31st .... looking forward to it very much!

Just out of curiousity, have you read the book it's based on? I read it recently, and actually disliked it and was very annoyed by it .... but I was talking to a friend of mine who'd both read and seen it, and he said it's one of those rare cases where the adaptation actually fixes all the things that were wrong with the novel. :)

[furtech.livejournal.com]

In many ways I think the musical is far superior to the book (much tighter storytelling and a more satisfying ending). I found many parts of the book frustrating as well-- like the writer was a little too intrusive or trying too hard to be clever.

I enjoyed the book-- but personally I think the show is better. The people behind the show did a wonderful job adapting the story.

[cooner.livejournal.com]

Yeah .... **POSSIBLE SPOILERS, but probably not really** I just felt there were too many vague loose ends throughout the book that the writer spent a lot of time focusing on, that just never got wrapped up by the end, or explained ... Also, I felt like the writer was merrily chugging along for the first 5/6ths of the book, then suddenly realized, "Oh, crap, I need to work Dorothy Gale into this somehow ..."

And ... the ending. Hoo, boy. Yeah, my friend told me how they fixed that. :) (And it wasn't a 'Oh you spoiled it!' thing, but more of a 'Oh, wow, now that I wanna see' thing. :) )

[crocuta.livejournal.com]

Next stop is the Orpheum in SF. They are advertising it heavily to boot. Wes and I were going to get tickets. I've heard nothing but good things about it so we're looking forward to it :)

[furtech.livejournal.com]

Get tickets NOW! Seriously, the show totally sold out in L.A. and surprised the promoters completely (or they would have scheduled a longer run here!). You two will *love* the show!

[crocuta.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Since you said that, yes we'll snag tickets this weekend! :>
From what I've read I think we'll like it. I've wanted to go to quite a few other shows that passed through but never sat down and bought the tickets/set a date. I wanted to see Le Mis but it was a one or two night run and I believe that about equals no tickets for anyone who isn't wealthy or willing to stand in a line for a day :P

[frysco.livejournal.com]

This was playing in Chicago at the same time The Lion King was there this past weekend. Quite likely a different company though. I was intrigued by the posters and am curious to see it myself.

I'd not mind heading down to Seattle to see it, if it's going to be there.

[furtech.livejournal.com]

Definitely worth a trip across the border!

[mognetcentral.livejournal.com]

I saw it at the Orpheum on the pre-Broadway tour. They were still working out some of the kinks, but it was a great show. I went as a fan of both Stephen Schwartz and Idina Menzel... Kristen Chenoweth, who I hadn't seen or heard before was also fantastic. "Popular" was stuck in my head for weeks afterwards.

[furtech.livejournal.com]

You saw it pre-Broadway?! Lucky you! By the time I'd heard about it, the show had closed (just before it headed to B'way). You need to see it again and tell me how they polished or what they changed. I'd heard about the mediocre reviews it had gotten and was just blown away when I first saw it in NY! Then again, Scarlet Pimpernel also got terrible reviews and it's one of my favorite shows (and very pop-U-lahr as well!). Chenoweth was just amazing!

[mognetcentral.livejournal.com]

I would see it again, but theatre tickets are so pricey now. I'm hoping they do some sort of live taping that airs on PBS or something ;)

[purplecat.livejournal.com]

You saw Wicked? I'm 28 shades of jealous. :P

Okay, you BArea folks!

[furtech.livejournal.com]

So anyone in the San Francisco Bay Area: go see Wicked also! Definitely worth a trip up to The City. So this includes Kim, Mich, Gil, and the rest of you guys!

Lydia already knows it's wonderful, and Cro&Wes: You'll love it!

It's really expensive

[toraneko.livejournal.com]

I've been watching the tickets at the Orpheum for months.

I'd like to go but 1/2 a months rent is out of the question. Hopefully there will be a DVD of the stage performance.

I'm so glad you got to go and loved it!

I've got my sights on The Vampire Lestat musical in December.

Re: It's really expensive

[crocuta.livejournal.com]

The Orpheum is way expensive, else we might go more. It is very hard to drop down that much unless you -know- it's going to rock.

Waaaait.. Vampire Lestat musical? O.O

It's premiering here then moving to N.Y.

[toraneko.livejournal.com]

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/79407.html

Re: It's premiering here then moving to N.Y.

[crocuta.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[tcreynolds]

Guh, have been wanting to see it forEVer, but had resigned myself to waiting until our next Vegas trip, who knows when that will be.

But yeah! Will look into it for sure.

[furtech.livejournal.com]

You'll love it-- and if it's the theater I think it is, the venue if great. Splurge for good orchestra seats ($85)-- it's worth it! Toraneko (below) found one on Craig's List-- that might be a good place to check if the show's sold out (but I doubt it will be: the L.A. show sold out just before it opened, because there was a ton of great press in the L.A. papers; before then there were plenty of tix).

[n2kenai.livejournal.com]

I see it on the 29th. I can't wait!

[toraneko.livejournal.com]

August 10th at 2 pm. The seat is in Orchestra, Row G, Seat 10

I just picked up a ticket off of craigslist for 85.00

SQUEEEEEEEE! Thanks for reminding me about the show and giving me the incentive to search out a ticket.

If it turns out I absolutly can't afford to go I can always resell it for at least what I paid.

[furtech.livejournal.com]

Congrats! I think you'll love the show! And I'm glad you did some checking-- as I mention below, the three-hundred dollars was from scalpers on Ebay...normal ticket prices are like what you got on Craig's List (and HUGE kudos to the person selling it for cover! That's a *true* theater fan!).

[redstorm.livejournal.com]

Bah, I love musicals, I used to go in London all the time, but $300 is too rich for my blood ;)

[furtech.livejournal.com]

Nonono! The *scalpers* were asking for as much as three-hundred! After it sold out. Regular Ticketmaster prices range from around $45 to $85 (orchestra). That's why I'm telling folks to get tickets -now- if the show's coming to their area! And the Pantages (where it's playing in L.A. has drawings for 25 tickets every day (for $26), but a huge number of people line up for that. If you get to the cancellation line before 3-ish, you are likely to get a couple of tickets if you're willing to wait.

[redstorm.livejournal.com]

Aha, I read it wrong. Excellent. How do you go about getting tickets out here? Where is this theatre and cancellation line? :)

[typographer.livejournal.com]

I'm very torn.

I liked the book a lot (though was irritated at a few things).

I've had the soundtrack for quite some time now and have memorized every song--including figuring out all the harmony parts. That just means I'm really listening.

However...

It's playing at the Paramount here in Seattle, and I absolutely HATE the Paramount's seating, the sound system, et cetera. If I can't get aisle seats Michael will NOT go with me, because even with aisle seats so he can stretch his legs out, he's limping and sore by the end of the show. (Why, oh why can't it be coming to the Fifth Avenue, where we have season tickets and nice seats?!)

On the gripping hand, it's Wicked...

And I've got a long time to decide because it doesn't open here until Sept 20 -- 2006. That's right, it ain't comin' here "next" by any means.

:P

Nevermind...

[furtech.livejournal.com]

D'oh! (again!)

I just saw "September" and didn't realize they meant -2006-! I thought Seattle was the next stop (wrong again-- SF is!). Oh well...

Here's a link to the tour:

http://www.musicalschwartz.com/wicked-tour.htm

Geeze...it's going over the entire United States before it gets to Seattle! And it'll even be back in SoCal twice before then: San Diego (heads up, Shoka!) and Orange County (Redstorm!). But...this would still be a great time to get tickets-- probably still get great orchestra seats-- even an -aisle- orchestra!

[sk-1.livejournal.com]

It plays in DC at the Kennedy Center Dec 21 thru Jan 15. If my finances have settled down by then, I may look at a ticket as a birthday/X-mas treat for myself.

I'm curious about how good the show is. I finally had the opportunity to see more than a couple snippets of "Avenue Q", and while it's cute and smartly done, I certainly wouldn't call it a "great" production. You and others certainly have my hopes set high.

Should I go in blind with just my knowledge of original WoOZ story, or would you recommend I pick up the tome version of "Wicked" first?

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

*jots advice and adds to list!*

[spunkywulf.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for taking me last year! :) I had a wonderful, wonderful time :)

[dustmeat.livejournal.com]

I keep meaning to read the book.

[millencolinf0x.livejournal.com]

Already planning on going :)