At long last, here it is... the conclusion to my trip to New York!! Pictures are coming as soon as I get them posted... its very boring and takes a while to load, but they'll be here soon. Anyways... here it is:
DAY 4: Saturday, June 12
Today was one of the greatest days of the trip. All we had to do was pack and go see WICKED!!!!! So, after packing, we walked around the city one last time, and headed to the amazing Gershwin theater.
The theater was really cool the way it was all "wicked-ized". I especially liked the big map of oz behind the lobby wall. We weaved our way through the theater and finally found our seats, which weren't near as good as Little Shop, but were still awesome, mainly because we were finally at Wicked. The stage was really cool, and, once again, I loved the map of Oz on stage.
WARNING: DO NOT READ THE FOLLOWING REVIEW IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN WICKED!! IT WILL SPOIL THE SHOW FOR YOU AND MAKE IT NOT ENJOYABLE!!
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Finally, the show started!! The opening song "No One Mourns the Wicked" was an awesome way to start out the show. Everyone cheered of course when Kristen Chenoweth appeared on her bubble and started singing. When Idina Menzel ran out on stage during "Dear Old Shiz" the crowd went crazy. She really has awesome stage presence, and the makeup was great. Carole Shelly was a great Madame Morrible, even though I always hated Morrible in the book. Then it was Idina's first diva performance - "The Wizard and I".
This song blew me away. Idina is even more awesome in person. The ending was incredible, and everyone was astounded at how amazingly talented she is. I loved the way it jumped right into "What is this Feeling", which is one of my favorite songs. The choreography was great during it.
The story picked up from here. We started learning about Animals, as opposed to animals, we meet Dr. Dillamond, a goat teacher who fears he is about to be prosecuted for his teachings ("Something Bad"), and we meet another character who will come to play a very integral role in the story - Fiyero. Fiyero is one of my favorite characters from Wicked, not because he gets all the girls but because he eventually sees through to Elphaba's heart. Fiyero makes his presence known by "Dancing Through Life", another one of my favorite songs in the show. The choreogrpahy was awesome, and one of the most powerful moments in the show occurred - Galinda presented Elphaba with a black pointed hat, that would soon become one of the most famous hats in all of Oz. It was awesome how Galinda realized who Elphaba really is during this song, and it was our first glimpse at their on-stage chemistry.
Galinda then takes it upon herself to help make Elphie "Popular". This was one of the funniest songs in the show. Kristen Chenoweth is really talented and perfect for her role. If I remember correctly, Dr. Dillamond was then captured for being an Animal. This made Elphie furious to begin with. Then a baby lion cub was revealed in a cage, which infuriated Elphaba even more. This was all kind of boring to me, until she and Fiyero tried to rescue the lion. It was cool, though, how she used her magic on everyone but Fiyero.
When Elphie and Fiyero are beneath the bridge, and then, of course, Galinda comes and ruins everything, and Elphie sings "I'm Not That Girl"... its one of the saddest parts in the show. You really see how tortured Elphaba is inside, and Idina does an amazing job portraying that. But to lighten the mood, Madame Morrible shows up telling Elphaba that she's been allowed to go meet the wizard.
"One Short Day" confused me. It's a great song and all but it was too drawn out and I didnt get Wizomania at all. It was extremely pointless in my opinion. But I loved the chemistry Idina and Kristen shared during this scene, and how Fiyero saw them off. Then came Oz the Great and Terrible... well, for us, it was Oz the Boring and Understudied... Joel Gray wasn't at our performance!! The understudy was great, it just wasn't the same without Mr. Gray, especially "A Sentimental Man" - the understudy was way too young and didn't bring the charismatic wisdom to the role that Grey undoubtably would.
After some serious plot enhancers (Madame Morrible's teamed up with the wizard to make all the Animals their inferior predecessors again, to sum it up shortly), Elphaba uses her newly discovered magic to sing one of the most awesome show-stoppers ever - "Defying Gravity". The powerful message in this song and the portrayal of beauty, pity, and awe gave in to one of the most breathtaking moments in musical history. When Idina rose as Elphaba into the sky, Idina and Elphaba became one and stirred the hearts of the audience into awakening, until the last notes were sung and the fatal blackout left only the green glow of Elphaba's head impacted into the darkness.
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Intermission!! For those of you who have not seen the show and have been reading my in-depth review so far, STOP NOW!! The first act doesnt have too many big surprises, but the second act surprised even me - avid listener of the CD and twice-read the book. SO please don't read any more for your own benefit, trust me, you'll thank me once you see the show.
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Act two began; I loved the way it jumped right into it instead of having a two-hour entr'acte like most shows do. "Thank Goodness" was a good song to start it off with, it showed how everything in Oz had matured since the wicked witch (Elphie) had decided to raid the land for Animals. I still dont like Madame Morrible though...
Then "The Wicked Witch of the East," which is not on the soundtrack and thus a pleasant surprise for me, was a great song/dialogue opportunity. I loved how it showed how the Tin Man came to be about, although it was kinda discouraging; Boq was another one of my favorite characters. But I'm glad it left Nessa befuddled, I like her about as much as Madame Morrible.
I didnt really understand why Elphaba then went to visit the wizard, nor did I understand his out-of-place and incredibly lengthy song proclaiming why he was so "Wonderful", but I bet it would have been alot more enjoyable if Joel Grey had been there. The monkeys were cool though, and Dr. Dillamond (goat-boy, now) was really sad. It was a good plot-twist though, it infuriated Elphaba even more so that she hated the wizard again.
Then the love story came back into play, when Fiyero threatened to kill Glinda over Elphaba. Glinda realized how Fiyero had turned on her as she sang a reprise of "I'm Not That Girl." This was one of the only times Kristen appeared glum in the show, and she did an awesome job of holding up her superiority as Glinda while looking defeated all the same. This song went straight into one of my favorites - "As Long As Your Mine." Idina must have made straight A's in chemistry in school, because not only does she have awesome chemistry with Kristen, but she and Norbert Leo Butz (Fiyero) really lit up the stage.
Soon after, Fiyero was taken away to be hung as a scarecrow (dont understand why, but it made the plot complete) and Elphie proclaimed "No Good Deed" would ever be done by her again. This song reminded me of her first diva performance, the wizard and I, because she really kept the show moving with yet another solo act. This song was also really cool because she finally officially declared herself wicked. Idina is truly amazingly talented at being in love one minute and infuriated the next.
The "March of the Witch Hunters" was fun when Boq (Tin Man) sang and tried to get the cowardly lion out. Kind of a pointless song, though, I guess just another time-filler to showcase the show's awesome company. Then we were in Kiamo Ko, the castle Elphaba inherited from Fiyero, and after a conversation with Glinda about Dorothy and her companions, they sang my favorite song from the show - "For Good".
This song had such passion in it, and the chemistry between Idina and Kristen came to a climax as the two realized how they have become best friends, and almost sisters in a way. Then Elphaba was killed, and the most awesome ending began. (For those of you who have not seen the show and are STILL reading this, STOP NOW PLEASE!!!!)
To sum it all up shortly, Glinda banishes the wizard home, sends Madame Morrible to jail, and returns peace to Oz. But, before all this happens one of the most amazing moments in the show takes place - the wizard realizes that he was Elphabas father. And it was his fault that she died. So he basically killed his own daughter. Wow. Then the "Finale" began, and the most awesome twist ever - Fiyero runs on stage, now the scarecrow of course, and taps on the floor where Elphie's famous hat lay. A trap door in the floor opens... and Elphaba's alive!!! She and Fiyero leave Oz to start a new life together as Glinda and the people of Oz rejoice about the death of Elphaba, and as she and Fiyero walk off into the distance, the Ozians proclaim one last time - No one mourns the Wicked!!
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Well for those of you who havent seen the show and skipped the review, good job!! For those of you who didnt... your loss
The show was AWESOME and I cant wait to see it again some day. I didnt get to meet anyone after the show
because our flight was like an hour and a half after the show was over, and it took about "a half" to get to the airport, which left us about another "a half" before we started boarding the plane, which would only leave us one more "a half", which isnt much time for travelling, so we decided not to push it and be rushed and left the Gershwin theater.
The flight home was a sad one. I love New York and can't wait to go back some day (soon, I hope). The Broadway shows were awesome, Letterman was unforggetable, and the city was altogether one of the greatest cities I've ever visited. Thanks all for reading my incredibly long trip account, but I hope you've enjoyed it. If i ever go back again, ya'll will be the first to know how it went. So...until I go back again, I leave you with one piece of advice I learned in New York - DONT FEED THE PLANTS!!
- jess wesker, 2004
