Post Gazette: The "Wicked" showstopper "Defying Gravity" is one of those transcendent moments when a composition, a character and special effects come together to deliver musical theater magic, even after multiple viewings. I've seen "Wicked" a couple of times on Broadway and a couple in Pittsburgh, so I'm somewhere between the woman who wrote to say she'd experienced the Tony-nominated show 38 times and the couple of "Wicked" newbies who accompanied me to the Benedum Center Thursday night.
Monday, September 12, 2011
'Wicked' casts its spell anew
Post Gazette: The "Wicked" showstopper "Defying Gravity" is one of those transcendent moments when a composition, a character and special effects come together to deliver musical theater magic, even after multiple viewings. I've seen "Wicked" a couple of times on Broadway and a couple in Pittsburgh, so I'm somewhere between the woman who wrote to say she'd experienced the Tony-nominated show 38 times and the couple of "Wicked" newbies who accompanied me to the Benedum Center Thursday night.
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I can relate to this article, Wicked is the only musical I have ever seen. I went into the production expecting to be minimally impressed. In reality, as soon as "Defying Gravity" ended and the house lights were raised for intermission I was tweeting about my desire to light for broadway while dodging the crowds to get a closer view of the rig. I can't put my finger on exactly what it is about the show that sucks you straight into the story. I found myself flashing back to watching "The Wizard of Oz" with my Grandma and singing to her "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" at the top of my lungs. "Wicked" has the perfect balance of story, spectacle, and imagination to capture the hearts of America, illustrating the magic of theatre.
One thing that I disliked about the article in general is how the writer, who must be a theater critic herself, shamelessly compared this touring cast to the original cast recording that she owns. No production of a show is going to be the same as the original, much less when the "original" to which she's referring is a studio recorded album as opposed to a live performance. It's unrealistic to go to any performance and expect to hear vocals of the same perfection and polish of a cast recording, regardless of whether it's the original cast themselves or not. People get sick, tempos drag or speed up, the humidity may be ridiculously out of whack, and I feel that, as someone who is getting paid from a large newspaper to write a critique of THIS particular performance, the writer should have known and expected all these things beforehand.
Memphis was the first musical that I've even seen live in the US and I completely loved it. I've only been able to watch them on television but haven't gotten the opportunity to see many live. Everyone seems to love Wicked and and have apparently seen it numerous times. I think it's time I see it!
While I totally understand the author's comments about expectations of vocals based on the Original Broadway Cast recording, I am of the school where it is okay and perhaps even encouraged for a show to grow over time. One of the appeals of Phantom, for example, is you will see the same exact show now as you saw 30 years ago when you were a small child seeing your first show on Broadway. I find this consistency for consistency's sake boring. Bringing in new casts is an opportunity for the show to grow and explore new facets. Often new musicals are written with the principal vocalist's specific ranges in mind, so it should be no surprise that another actor doesn't sound the same.
I've seen Wicked twice in New York, once with the original cast, and once in Chicago. Thus, I decided to sit this tour out as Wicked rolls through Pittsburgh. One bad thing about see the original production is that, inevitably, I always compare back to the original. While I still love the show, I find myself more nitpicky in subsequent viewings. I thought Shoshana Bean used too much vibrato as Elphaba and another Glinda went down a third instead of up a third in a part during "Could Be Happier". I don't like noticing these things because it takes me out of what is truly a wonderful show. That being said, I can see how this critic would have the original soundtrack in mind, but I don't think that comparison has a place in a professional review. People are and places are different and have different conditions and atmospheres that affect each performance. So while these comparisons are present in our minds its important to be honest and fair when reviewing a show.
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