Lady Iapetus (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ladyiapetus) wrote2006-06-24 06:27 pm
ladyiapetus) wrote2006-06-24 06:27 pm
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Wicked in Chicago - 6/23/06
Oh, what a day I had yesterday. Mom and I took the Rockford Charter bus tour into Chicago to see Wicked at the Oriental Theatre. There were about thirty or forty of us going, fifteen of them from our church.
The drive into Chicago wasn't too bad before we stopped for supper. We ate at the Sweet Tomatos Restaurant in Woodfield Plaza. Now that is a restaurant I'd like to see come to Rockford: everything's buffet-style, and you start out with salads. They've got nearly every type of salad topping you could want. And after the salad you can get soup, or pizza bread or a muffin...oh, it was so good.
Won't say much about the drive into downtown Chicago after supper, except that its put me off helping my brother move into his room/apartment at Columbia at the end of the August. Plus, as I recall, he never really helped move me in and out down at Monmouth while I was going to school there.
Now for the important part - the show. We had GOOD seats for this; front row, center of the upper tier. I was pretty much eye-to-eye with the Dragon Clock, that's how good these seats were (sorry, no pictures; the ushers kept reminding us we weren't allowed to take photographs in the theatre and even if I could have gotten away with it, I'd forgotten my camera anyway).
The show was aMAZing. The cast was just terrific We didn't get to see Kristy Cates perform as Elphaba; instead it was her standby Dee Roscioli. And man, does that girl have some pipes! She made a fantastic Elphaba. Stacie Morgain Lewis was pretty good as Glinda, and my mom said that she reminded her of Reese Witherspoon (from Legally Blonde, I'm assuming, and not Walk the Line). And oh, man was I thrilled to get to see Carole Shelley as Madame Morrible. Gene Weygandt pulled a pretty decent Wizard out of his hat. In the Broadway production the Wizard is portrayed as an older man with gray hair, but Mr. Weygandt had this big shock of dark hair. I thought it was an interesting and nice change of pace.
Heidi Kettenring was terrific as Nessarose; reminded me a lot of Michelle Federer. And now like many others who have seen the show, I have no idea why they left the song "Wicked Witch of the East" off of the soundtrack. It's a great piece! It should be on there! And Kristoffer Cusick as Fiyero...oh, my. Oh my.
The only complaint I have is with the theatre itself. I'm not sure if its standard or not, but fifteen minutes is not enough time for an intermission. Especially when there are lines for both the women's AND men's restrooms. And if you're not back in the theatre by the time the music for the second act starts, the ushers make you wait outside for ten minutes before they let you back in. You can watch the show on a television set near the bar (yes, the Oriental Theatre has a bar), but for as much money as the theatre has you'd think they could get a TV with a bigger screen. The picture size was, well, crap. You could barely make out any of the action.
So other than that minor inconvenience, a good time was had by all. I'm glad that I finally got to see the show, and I wouldn't mind going and seeing it a second time. And a third time. Or a fourth.
The drive into Chicago wasn't too bad before we stopped for supper. We ate at the Sweet Tomatos Restaurant in Woodfield Plaza. Now that is a restaurant I'd like to see come to Rockford: everything's buffet-style, and you start out with salads. They've got nearly every type of salad topping you could want. And after the salad you can get soup, or pizza bread or a muffin...oh, it was so good.
Won't say much about the drive into downtown Chicago after supper, except that its put me off helping my brother move into his room/apartment at Columbia at the end of the August. Plus, as I recall, he never really helped move me in and out down at Monmouth while I was going to school there.
Now for the important part - the show. We had GOOD seats for this; front row, center of the upper tier. I was pretty much eye-to-eye with the Dragon Clock, that's how good these seats were (sorry, no pictures; the ushers kept reminding us we weren't allowed to take photographs in the theatre and even if I could have gotten away with it, I'd forgotten my camera anyway).
The show was aMAZing. The cast was just terrific We didn't get to see Kristy Cates perform as Elphaba; instead it was her standby Dee Roscioli. And man, does that girl have some pipes! She made a fantastic Elphaba. Stacie Morgain Lewis was pretty good as Glinda, and my mom said that she reminded her of Reese Witherspoon (from Legally Blonde, I'm assuming, and not Walk the Line). And oh, man was I thrilled to get to see Carole Shelley as Madame Morrible. Gene Weygandt pulled a pretty decent Wizard out of his hat. In the Broadway production the Wizard is portrayed as an older man with gray hair, but Mr. Weygandt had this big shock of dark hair. I thought it was an interesting and nice change of pace.
Heidi Kettenring was terrific as Nessarose; reminded me a lot of Michelle Federer. And now like many others who have seen the show, I have no idea why they left the song "Wicked Witch of the East" off of the soundtrack. It's a great piece! It should be on there! And Kristoffer Cusick as Fiyero...oh, my. Oh my.
The only complaint I have is with the theatre itself. I'm not sure if its standard or not, but fifteen minutes is not enough time for an intermission. Especially when there are lines for both the women's AND men's restrooms. And if you're not back in the theatre by the time the music for the second act starts, the ushers make you wait outside for ten minutes before they let you back in. You can watch the show on a television set near the bar (yes, the Oriental Theatre has a bar), but for as much money as the theatre has you'd think they could get a TV with a bigger screen. The picture size was, well, crap. You could barely make out any of the action.
So other than that minor inconvenience, a good time was had by all. I'm glad that I finally got to see the show, and I wouldn't mind going and seeing it a second time. And a third time. Or a fourth.
no subject
Glad you had a good time. Methinks a Muppet cast of "Wicked" is in the works? How about Grundgetta as Elphaba, Mokey as Glinda, and Gonzo as the Wizard (playing him like Gonzo could only play a Joel Grey character?).
no subject
no subject
Hmmm, someone other than Elphaba...we could dress Wembley in drag...
no subject
Piggy will most definately have to be cast as Madame Morrible. And maybe we can tempt Gonzo away from the role of the Wizard by casting him as Chistery, and cast someone else as the Wizard.