One Wicked Weekend

So here it is, folks: the promised review.

I started writing when I sat down inside the theatre but before the play started (since I couldn't take pictures), and I finished up with the last scene while I was driving home in the car today.

It's long.

So for people who don't want my opinion on every little detail, here's the short version:

It was amazing!

The cast we saw was as follows:

Elphaba........................Jenna Leigh Green (the understudy for the role; she's usually Nessa)
G(a)linda......................Kendra Kassebaum
Fiyero..........................Derrick Williams
Boq.............................Logan Lipton
Nessarose....................
Madame Morrible........Carol Kane
The Wizard..................David Garrison
Dr. Dillamond..............Timothy Britten Parker

They all performed really well; I couldn't tell that Jenna Leigh Green was the understudy. (Though I did get a kick out of her last name: Green plays Broadway's most famous green girl!) We saw the matinee, and didn't have time to stay after for cast autographs, but I do have a sad picture of the closed stage door...

Needless to say I enjoyed myself very much. However, if you want to know more than that, you can always read...

( ...THE LONG REVIEW. )

Okay, because I did this for POTO and G&D...

Well, I found this little chart-thingy I made after seeing POTO and G&D in London, and I thought I'd fill in the blanks for Wicked.

Best Actor: This is a toughie because I think they all did well, but I'd have to give this to Jenna Leigh Green, for portraying Elphaba.

Best Singer: Another hard one...but I think this is Jenna Leigh Green's as well (and she's only the understudy!)

Best Person: Hm. This doesn't quite make as much sense because I don't know of the actors as people the way I did with POTO and G&D...but I think I'd say Derrick Williams (Fiyero), because he left the Broadway production to go on tour.

Best Character: Elphaba

Best Song: Defying Gravity

Best Dancing: during "Dancing Through Life" (kinda obvious)

Best Effect: I think I liked Glinda's bubble the best, and the lighting in general was superb

Better than I thought it'd be: The whole thing. And I thought it'd be pretty good to begin with!

Not as good as it should have been: the chemistry between Glinda (Kassebaum) and Fiyero (Williams)

Most emotionally stirring scene: "For Good." It made me cry.

Best Scene: "Defying Gravity"

Coolest unnoticed character: Boq if he counts as unnoticed; Chistery if Boq doesn't count

Best (most ornate) Costume: Glinda's dress from "No One Mourns the Wicked"

Costume I'd most like to steal/wear: Elphaba's second act costume of amazing-ness

Best prop: Elphaba's broom, though the Grimmerie ranks pretty high up there

What they left out: Well, obviously the book and the musical are different entities. Basically they left out everything that made the book into a tragedy. But it still turned out beautifully, so I'm not complaining.

Best Duet: On the soundtrack I'm rather partial to "As Long As You're Mine," but in person "For Good" took the cake. It made me cry -- enough said.