Simply Wicked Awesome!!

I promised I would write a review of Wicked, so here's me fulfilling my promise. I don't know that I'm so great at writing reviews, but bear with me. I promise I will do my best.

I went into Wicked with only the highest expectations, and I wasn't disappointed! I found a review on the ABC News Web site where the reviewer said he went to the play hoping to find something bad he could say about it and concluded that pretty much there wasn't anything bad to say. I have to agree!

First of all, when you come in, a map of Oz makes up the front curtain and it has this big 3D dragon head above it. I was thinking, "Cool!" It whetted my appetite for the fabulous show I knew I was about to see. Incidentally there is a part in the play where that dragon head starts moving, which was fascinating.

The play opens just after the death of the Wicked Witch of the West (Elphaba) and all the people are excited about it. Shortly thereafter Glinda makes an appearance, flying in on a bubble, which was great, and they start asking her about Elphaba because they knew the two were friends at one point. That leads into the story which shows how Elphaba was conceived because of an affair her mother had with a man in green, who kept encouraging her to drink something in a green vial. It shows her birth and how her parents were horrified about their green daughter.

I loved watching the transformation that came over Elphie as Glinda eventually started rubbing off on her, and she discovered what a powerful thing is can be to have a friend--and to fall in love. I enjoyed seeing her go for what she believed in, and I couldn't stop laughing as I watched Glinda's antics on stage!! She was hilarious!! The actresses who played Elphaba and Glinda were amazing and such talented singers!! Glinda was over the top and as Speak told me, the more over the top the actress playing Glinda is, the better it makes the play.

I also loved the intricate and amazing costumes! We were only three rows from the top of the balcony, so it was a long way down to the stage, but we still had a good view of the play. One of the friends who went to the play with me (sorry I don't have a nickname for him so I'm going to refer to him in general terms) borrowed binoculars from a friend, so most of us in the group spent the play passing them around, which helped me get some close ups of the action on stage. I loved the singing, the clever dialogue, the funny lines, (some of which were references to The Wizard of Oz) the scenery and sets, which were adjusted with such ease and most of all the play's central message. I thought it was so well done, and I'd love to see it again already. I encourage any of you, my faithful readers, who haven't experienced Wicked for yourself to find some way to see the play, even if that means travelling to another city.