Wicked

YAY! The show I was DYING to see: Wicked! I saw the touring cast in 2010 when they stopped in Pittsburgh, but I was dying to see it on Broadway in its home. I was trying and trying  to win the lottery to no avail and then one frigid day, I got lucky! I won a front row ticket to Wicked!

So, first things first: front row is terrible. It was a phenomenal show and I loved it, but it kind of sucked sitting that close because it was like sitting in the front row at a movie and having to turn your head from side to side to see the action and it was harder to take it all in. I would rather have a partial view further back (like for How to Succeed or Billy Elliot), but I got to see it for $26, I cannot complain.

I was also excited because Richard H. Blake was Fiyero. I love him as Warner in Legally Blonde, so I was really excited to see him. He was good! He was not the best Fiyero (how can someone compete with Norbert Leo Butz or Aaron Tveit?), but he was really good and he had some lovely runs. I really enjoyed his vocals in "Dancing Through Life," although he seemed a little lackluster and not as energetic as one would think Fiyero would be during his big number and that was a little bummer. But he was charming and I really believed the switch to loving Elphaba. 

Speaking of Elphie, Jackie Burns is an AMAZING Elphaba. She has a beautiful voice and her "Defying Gravity" brought me to tears. She's outstanding and I really loved being so close because she was never out of the moment. She was so enthusiastic to go to Shiz and she was so overprotective of her sister and caring. She was truly spectacular.  I adored her. When she came out at the end I lost it and I was bawling when she left with Fiyero. She had a really spectacular chemistry with Chandra Lee Schwartz.

Chandra Lee Schwartz might be one of my favorite Glindas of all time, based on what I've seen on YouTube (though I saw Katie Rose Clark in Pittsburgh and she was absolutely HILARIOUS). She has an OUTSTANDING voice. She is an absolute powerhouse and she's so beautiful and so great. I loved her a lot. I would love to see the show again to see her again. She was bubbly and energetic and I really truly felt for her revelations with Elphaba and Fiyero and her "Thank Goodness" really broke my heart. She was phenomenal and I'm so lucky to have seen her.

The set is outstanding and the ensemble was fantastic and it was  clear that they felt blessed to be part of such a significant show. I really enjoyed watching them and it was great to be able to look at them so close, none of them (that I saw) broke character and stayed in the action at all times. I love Wicked's set and I really enjoy how they use the entire stage. It isn't much different from the tour set, it's just more intricate and solid. I also really enjoyed the lighting and the special effects used throughout the show and the flying monkeys were great. 

I would give Wicked an A. The show was great, the cast was amazing, but I'd maybe rethink the lottery, just because you are so close it's a little hard to take in the entire scene, especially when Elphaba flies for "Defying Gravity." Wicked is still playing at the Gershwin Theater and you can get tickets and find out more at www.wickedthemusical.com!