Welcome back, friends. I hope you all had an excellent Memorial Day. For those of you outside the United States who don't celebrate, I hope you had a great...Monday. Anyway, here is my delayed post, as I promised, and I have been waiting so long to finally get this out here. Exciting things. Let's jump in, shall we?
So, Saturday morning I rose (reluctantly) at 7am to get in the car and drive the four hours to New York
City where I had the distinct privelege of seeing my all-time favorite musical, Wicked.
 |
| source: milwaukee.broadway.com |
Now let me just say, the first few times I went to the city, I was distinctly unimpressed. It always just sort of came off as crowded, and dirty, and smelly. But every time I go, I find I like it a little more, and this past time I thought maybe, just maybe I could even live there someday.
 |
| source: my iPhone |
We got into the city around 11:30. The show wasn't until two, so after getting lost briefly, we found the theatre, parked and found a restaurant (Applebees). We finished eating around 1:00, and my sister wanted to go to the Hershey store that was a few blocks down. It's a cute little store, but I didn't find anything particularly exciting about it. By the time we got out of there, it was 1:30 so we headed back to Gershwin Theater, got in and found our seats. I did manage to get a few crappy pictures of the set before the show started. It was really quite awe-inspiring to see. Everything was very steampunk, and the way the dragon at the top moved (yes it moves) was just so smooth you would never think it was attached to ropes.
The show itself was absolutely stunning. Christine Dwyer as Elphaba was absolutely incredible, and she just meshed so well with Glinda. We sat up at towards the top of the theatre. The seats weren't great, but there really didn't seem to be any bad seats. If I had to make one complaint, it's that the audio wasn't quite up to par with Phantom. Now that may be a little much to ask, because no one had a mic in this show, and everyone can't be expected to project the way that the Phantom did in that show (he just filled the entire theatre with sound. You could practically feel him singing. Oh, to have that kind of voice).
Despite the sound being a little less than ideal, it was an incredible show. I expected to tear up during Defying Gravity, but there were just so many other little moments that really, really moved me. Moments where the audience laughed, I saw something completely different. I feel like people thought that the show was funnier than it was meant to be. To me, it's a tragedy. To most other people, they seem to think it's a cute little show that gives a new spin on an old story (trying to remain spoiler-free. It's an old show/book, but still).
All in all, it certainly lived up to everything I hoped it would be, and honestly, may have been even better than I even could have thought. If you ever have the chance to go see a Broadway show, this is an absolute must-see.
Looking ahead, Friday you can all expect an announcement regarding my new major project. I am currently getting together plans, and people, and the like. We're looking to launch in mid-June, but the official unveiling is scheduled for Friday, so stay tuned!
I'll talk to you all tomorrow!
Tacos,
Gladdstone
