February 10, 2008
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Defying Gravity
I went to see Wicked last night. My best friends boyfriend got her tickets for her birthday, and decided that she and I would have much more fun (as he finds musicals slightly . . well . . . not interesting). So I got to go.
And he was right. We had a *blast*. I didn’t get sucked into the “Wicked” thing . . up until yesterday. *lol*
Out in “music land” . . Wicked is kind of looked down upon . . . classical musicians find musicals trying . . . and whole-ly un-musical. The singers ‘belt’ . . . the actors .. well act. . . . and all in all its an enjoyable time. I think classical musicians find reasons to be disdainful about having a good time. I don’t know why. It’s funny to me.
I’m a classical musician . . . and I had a BLAST. The music is fun and inventive (sure it’s not Mahler . . but aren’t we allowed to let our hair down every once and awhile?), and the vocals are just full of fun.
I have, seemingly, made a small career out of musicals . . so I know good ones and bad ones when I hear them. I LOVED this show. Loved it. The staging was great. . . the chorus (though small) sounded great. (They had some balance issues here and there, but I think that was because they were so small.) And the COSTUMES!! amazing. absolutely amazing.
I would have loved to see the original Broadway cast . . Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth as Elphaba and Glinda. Though I must say . . . the two I saw last night . . were STUPENDOUS. Elphaba was spot on . . and had a FANTASTIC voice. Glinda had a few moments of ‘breathlessness” . . . due to her ‘silly girl’ antics on stage (which were HILARIOUS) . . . we laughed through the show . . she was such a stitch. Unfortunately it hurt the song “Popular” . . as she was so out of breath she couldn’t handle the phrasing.
Ok so I think everyone should see this. . . though I know some won’t enjoy it because of what happens through the show. It explains a lot of things . . and not the way you would expect. So if you like your “Wizard of OZ” the way it is . . . and woulnd’t want it to change in any way in your mind . . then don’t go see (or read!) Wicked.
one funny little tidbit I learned last night . . the original Wicked Witch (from the original movie) actually went to school where I teach. Class of 1921.
how cool?!!
Comments (3)
Welcome back by the way!
A friend back in high school told me about the book and she loved it. I have yet to read it, but it sounds interesting. Glad you had a fun time!
oh sounds like so much fun!! i haven’t read the book yet, but it’s on the top of my ‘need to read’ list.
and thanks for the comment. yes, M is full of MUCH drama! lol