Wicked @ The Orpheum

Like many folks my age, my first contact with the land of Oz was in the Judy Garland, Margaret Hamilton, Billie Burke movie. I had never read the L. Frank Baum books as a child, but read most of them 10 or so years ago. My first exposure to Wicked was waking up one morning to my TV set showing one of my favorite musicals actresses of all time, Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel on a bed in the middle of a street in NYC performing the song Popular for a morning show. I was impressed. Both women sang beautifully and showed great comic timing, and the song became a major earworm. I bought the OBC CD, and was taken with how powerful the solos and duets are, the ensemble pieces not so much.

Someone suggested I read the book. I did. It sucked. Happily, the musical shreds the book, balls up the confetti, throws it into a blender, and squeezes the results out the other end of the Broadway Tony Award-Winning Musicals grinder and a hit is born.

Last night I went to see the touring company in SF, and in a nutshell:
Wins:( Read more... )