the first thing i think of when i think of green is the show wicked, as i saw it last night with my cousin carron. (you know, green like the wicked witch, natch!) we saw it at the beautiful ohio theater in columbus. i tried to read the novel that the show is based on a few years back but was not able to get through it. i have also been hearing rave reviews of the show for years. i am a total wizard of oz girl, and just as much a theater girl, and had i expectations for the show. i walked in with a fairly strong familiarity with much of the show's music and enough of an idea of the show to be prepared, but not so familiar where i knew exactly what to expect. i will admit my expectations were high. i know people who have seen it multiple times and who count it among their favorite shows ever. i was confident i would quickly enter these same ranks.
and, sadly, i did not. and, confusingly, i'm not sure why.
*SPOILER ALERT*
i really enjoyed the concept and found it very clever. i'm a big fan of second chances and truly getting to know someone to better understand why they might behave the way that they do. i think it was great to give the wicked witch a story, to make her seem more, well, human. i enjoyed seeing how the cowardly lion came to be, and was proud of myself to "call" the evolution of the tin man. i found it very cute that the witch and her man made of straw were able to come up with a scheme to save her life and share their lives together. i loved GAlinda. i thought she was cute and funny and fabulous. i guess it was the stuff in the middle that got me down. and, to be honest, the stuff in the middle was the stuff i wasn't familiar with.
i know defying gravity, popular, and for good. and for the most part i enjoyed how they were performed. there were some stumbled lines, a few breathy lyrics, some notes cut short...but overall the singing was fine. maybe my problem was being too familiar with these show stoppers and not familiar enough with the others. after all, not all the songs can be winners...
i think a big struggle that i had was how the original oz was integrated in. i wasn't able to accept some of the changes or connections that were made because they simply were not feasible. (fantastic that in a story of fantasy i can't take a leap of faith, right!?) the ideas were clever and well integrated, however they simply did not follow the timeline or the back stories integrated into the original oz, particularly the stories of the tin man and the scarecrow.
i did enjoy the way that the silver/ruby slippers were brought into the story, as well as the ironic relationship between the wizard and elphaba. but it's too bad that elphaba had to fake her own death and run away. i mean, the girl had good ideas. she wasn't afraid to rage against the machine and speak out. but instead of continuing to fight for what is right, she ran away with her man to hide out for the rest of her life. i guess i'm bummed that this show of fantasy had a truly honest and realistic ending. if you're different, give up trying to change the world or make a difference. instead, find someone you love who loves you back, and go hide out. cause people are mean and judgmental and once someone has an agenda against you, it is unlikely that it will be put to rest unless it is because he or she was successful at said agenda. i wish that elphaba could have made them realize that she was a good person, just misunderstood, and use her uniqueness to promote tolerance and understanding.
overall, though, the show was good. i was definitely in the unimpressed minority. i really do think that a good portion of this is due to the fact that it was so unbelievably hyped up to me and i was told up and down how much i would love Love LOVE it. also, once i found out that joey mcintyre and rue mcclanahan have appeared in wicked, and of course idina menzel originated the role of elphaba, i would like to see it again down the road and see how it is the second time around. i would encourage anyone to see it who has the opportunity to do so. and hopefully it will be more popular with you than it was with me!
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