wicked

so much to catch up on! let's start with the night we kissed our babe goodbye and headed out to see Wicked at the Hobby Center. we'd gotten tickets as an anniversary gift to one another. M had downloaded the soundtrack to his ipod at Christmas, and we listened to the first act for the first time on the way back to Houston from my folks'. afterward, it became one of our favorite things to sing to, renovate to, etc... M joked that he'd be shocked if our baby didn't come out singing that first act. :) I say first act, because we listened to that half the most and I still believe it's the musically strongest of the show, with more numbers that stick with you (though now that I've actually seen the show the second act doesn't seem quite as disjointed/cheesy as I previously thought based on the music alone).

the show was so much fun! now I'm going to play critic: I understand the technical/fundamental problems critics have had with it, but I think the story is just strong enough that it attracts people and it's easy to forgive places where the music seems overwrought. the two leads did EXCELLENT jobs... Jackie Burns as Elphaba was flipping brilliant, easily out-singing Idina Menzel, her Broadway soundtrack counterpart. I thought Chandra Lee Schwartz's Glinda was also fabulous - my friend C.M. was annoyed by a nasality in her vocal quality, but I thought she was hilarious and a wonderful singer - let's face it, it's tough to compete with Kristin Chenoweth's otherworldly chords and C.L.S. owned it so much that, after a short period of scrutiny, I forgot to compare the two. I also really appreciated how each played their character arcs... it was all very clean and clear. I remember thinking that Glinda's song at the beginning of Act 2 was done so well both vocally and dramatically, as she wavered between her cheery 'everything's fine, I couldn't be happier!' exterior and the confusion and vulnerability of things really not working out with Fiyero as she'd planned, to finally ending on a determined 'I'm going to make it work no matter the cost!' note. everyone in the cast was good, really, which is to be expected for a tour like this - if I was nitpicking, I'd say Fiyero's first scene was a little flat just because he wasn't projecting/enunciating well enough, and Larry from Three's Company, while a fine and genial wizard, didn't have the energy or chops that I imagine Joel Grey did when the role was originated. but all in all, what a fun night of theatre!

our view of the stage... we were so close! these were awesome seats!

Uncle Jeff & Grammy saw the show the next night and brought Magz a souvenir:

it's fun to think about taking this little one to her first play someday. :)

-m.y.