Sunday, June 27, 2010

Wicked

So, one of my best friends is getting married in July. And yesterday was her wedding shower and her bachelorette party! Which, by the way, was really fun! And I'm likely to do a separate post about that all together, considering I have several pictures commemorating the occasion but am currently lacking the cable necessary to plug my camera into my laptop to download said pictures. :-)

But on to the subject of this post: Wicked!

For Christine's bachelorette party, a group of us headed to Dallas to see Wicked! I had never seen it before, and I'd never read the book it's based on, either, so I was going in blind. I was somewhat familiar with a couple of the songs, but not well enough to sing along. So the whole thing was completely brand new to me, and it was fabulous!

I'd been to the Music Hall at Fair Park before when I went with my parents to see Fiddler on the Roof, and I think it's a really great venue. We had balcony seats, so it was easy to see everything going on onstage. I only had complaints about the hoard of young ladies sitting in front of us—WHY would you pay for tickets to a musical and then proceed to text the entire time??—but that's nobody's fault but theirs, and perhaps their parents for not teaching them better manners.

 The stage was incredible, the sets superb! I thought the style was really cool, especially the bubble Glinda floats around in. Very creative stage design. And the costumes were great as well! Colorful, unique, and from what I can tell based on pictures from the Broadway production, spot on to the originals, or whatever you'd call them.

And the actors themselves were amazing! Elphaba and Glinda both had very very good voices. It really makes me wish I were a better singer! (and dancer!) But it wasn't just those two that were great performers—the whole cast was really good!

I also loved all of the little tie-ins, explanations, and comments that referred to or embellished on events in the classic, which of course is The Wizard of Oz. I'd list some of them, but like I was telling my Mom, I really think they're the most exciting when you discover them for yourself! Needless to say, I left the theater ready to re-watch The Wizard of Oz. You'll totally look at it in a whole new light! I also left the theater very thankful that I already own the original Broadway cast recording of the show. Yes, it really is that good!

I'd recommend that you see it while it's in Dallas (if you're in the area, of course) but we went the day before the last day it ran. But if it happens to come to where you are, and if you're interested in having a really fun time with a really cute musical, grab some tickets and enjoy a night at the theater!

10 comments:

MissWoodhouse said...

I'm so, so glad you enjoyed it! Honestly, I think that it's the best musical to come out in forever that isn't by Andrew Lloyd Webber! I hated the book, so I didn't have high expectations for the play; boy am I glad to have not judged the play by the book. :) Anyway, it sounds as though you had quite a lovely evening- such fun!

Kess said...

I've never seen Wicked before but it's often shown in London. Both my prospective sister-in-law and a colleague of mine have seen it several times and rave about it, so I think I'll have to go and see it sometime

♫FEN♫ said...

followed your blog:]

Sarah said...

@MissWoodhouse—Thank you! I think it’s fantastic! It doesn’t quite top my favorite musical of all time, which is Fiddler on the Roof, but it’s definitely in the #2 spot, and a close second at that!

Maybe I shouldn’t expect much from the book! I’m thinking about giving it a read. At least if I do, I already know the play is awesome!

@Kess—Yeah, a bunch of my friends had already seen it, and I’d only heard good things about it! They were right! I highly recommend checking it out. It’s a lot of fun!

@♫芬妮♫—Thank you! :-)

The Words Crafter said...

I would love to see this! My director read the book and she adored it. It's on my 'to read' list. Glad you had fun!

Anonymous said...

it is a great book. one of my faves. though i wish i could see it on play

Unknown said...

SUCH a great musical! I went to it in Chicago and was just mesmerized the entire time. The music is probably my favorite from any musical besides Les Mis...that will always rank number one in my book. So glad you got to go!!

Loryn said...

I live close to the NYC, so I've seen it on broadway, and it was amazing! I had like 4th row center seats (bought them off ebay) so that made it even better!

Sarah said...

@The Words Crafter—It’s so good! I haven’t even read the book, and I loved it!

@HannahZ—I think I’m going to read the book now that I’ve seen it on stage. If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend it!

@Ariel—Yes! The music was fabulous! I already want to go see it again. And you know, I’ve never seen Les Mis. That’s definitely going to be on my list. I’ve heard nothing but good things!

@Loryn—I’m so jealous! I bet it was incredible on Broadway! I have a friend that lives in NYC. Maybe if it’s playing when I visit him, I can talk him into going. ;-)
4th row seats are hard to beat!

Anonymous said...

I love Wicked! Such a great show.