Wicked: Broadway Musical Review
Posted in Plays on June 17th, 2008Tags: Broadway, Musical, Play, Wicked, Wizard of Oz
My wife and I both read the book Wicked by Gregory MaGuire. We loved the book and when we had the chance to see the Broadway play based off of the book in Rochester, New York we jumped at the opportunity. This is a review of the play.
Before the show even began, you knew it was going to have some neat effects. There was a very large dragon overhead that set the tone of anticipation in the theater. The show both began and ended with Glinda arriving on stage via a large bubble which in and of itself very cool to witness. If you are into special effects, this is a show to see and remember. I will leave the remainder of the effects to your imagination until you get to see the show for yourself.
The show itself is based upon the life of what we all know from the Wizard of Oz to be the Wicked Witch of the West. However in Wicked, you find yourself feeling pretty bad for “Elphaba” and the life she endured. No wonder she became so mean and cruel, you would too if you had lived her childhood. Yes, this show sets out to make you believe that all you have ever known about the Wicked Witch was wrong and misconstrued and by the end if you don’t believe that, you have not watched the same show that I did. The show draws you in and holds you for the entire 2 hours and 45 minutes that you are in the theater.
To say the show was spectacular is an understatement. The combination of wonderful acting and awesome effects created a show that left the audience enthralled into the plot. There was a mix of drama, fantasy, and comedy to make this one of the best plays I have ever seen.
If you are still unsure if this show is for you, the only way you will ever know is to go and see for yourself. I did not hear one person at the show have anything, but positive comments about it as well as others that have seen the show in other venues. From the music to the effects to the storyline, Wicked will change the way you think about these long loved fantasy characters. The show Wicked was truly wicked in every sense of the word.