Just a place-holder but it'll be up by tomorrow afternoon!

I feel like I'm committing a sin here but I think Julie is officially my favorite Elphie.

Elphaba: Julie Reiber
Full cast otherwise

I barely made it to theater on time. I had like less than 2 and ½ minutes to spare.

NOMTW- Ah one of the monkeys shrieked right in front of me it was kind of funny—a monkey never did that before Sunday at least when I was there. I finally got confetti!! It was thrillifying! Two strands of it came down in my general direction and the woman behind me also got a piece. It was sooooo nice seeing Kyle Dean Massey in the ensemble---he is so hot!! He wasn't wearing the wig Brad did but I think it was his really hair but they made it really messy. It was also good seeing Lindsay on stage again since she was out the last time I saw the show. I noticed Cristy on the steps on the opposite side of the stage which I had never noticed before since I usually sit on that side. Kendra sounded great—no vocal problems at all. Almost every other time I've seen the show when she gets out of the bubble she does this little wand twirling thing but she didn't do it last night ☹ . The ensemble was also on fire tonight.

DOS- I love Julie. She got a lot of entrance applause. Definitely a lot angrier last night than I've seen her. I couldn't see Cristy and Julie from my seat so during this scene I was watching Rhea Patterson and the male ensemble member she was talking to. She mouthed something to the effect of "Can you believe that girl? she's crazy" and she also showed her map to the guy and pretended to show him things on it. I really liked the whole interaction between them. Last time I saw her I thought she was laughing when Jayne was going through the courses that they could study but she was really shaking her head for the first two and then nodding for the last. Jayne added a couple more "awws” before the "you must be the governor's daughter" line which I found really adorable.

Wizard and I--Julie was flawless here. I love the little riffs she mixes in with her belt during the "And I'll stand there with the wizard.." line I'm also a big fan of the way she says "melt" I love her giddiness there.

WITF- I love Kendra's little finger-head shake thing she does after "respond"—I have no idea how to describe that better. She and Julie are great here. I found my self watching the ensemble a lot and I thought it was kind of funny that Lori Ann was twirling her hair when Kendra says "well these things are sent to try us". Kendra's reaction to the "boo" is always funny.

Something Bad- Julie's glare after Kathy says "Shut it" was intense. Julie took the tiniest bit out of whatever it is that she eats. Steven and Julie were fine here. I was too busy getting excited about seeing Aaron again that I wasn't really paying attention 100%.

DTL- Oh Aaron Tveit—How I love thee. His reaction to getting woken up is really done well. His dancing has gotten so much better and he sings the part so well. I love his riff on "If only dust is what we've come to". Cristy and Julie were great together. I, again, found myself looking at the ensemble when Kendra was getting the wand and I loved their dance. They were particulary vocal last night when they saw Elphie. Kendra added another set of the arm motions at beginning of her, well Elphie's, dance that I had never seen her do before. Julie's facial expressions from when she and Kendra do the dance together to the end of the song are great. She goes from shock to happiness very well. When she and Kendra ran back to Aaron, he mouthed "What was that?" to something that happened with someone's mic.

Popular- Oh Kendra, Kendra, Kendra. One of the funniest versions I've seen her do. She was crazy. Julie's " This is never going to work" got a lot of laughs. She does this thing after "All because of me" where she sticks one of her legs up in the air which I find hysterical. I was so busy watching her I didn't even think to look at Julie's reactions.

Lion Cub/INTG- I wish I remembered the classroom scene but I don't. Julie & Aaron have great chemistry during the lion cub scene. They are adorably awkward. Julie, as usual, sounded great here. She does this gorgeous riff on the “girl” right before she hides from Fiyero and Glinda.

Train Station scene/ One Short Day—My heart always breaks when Boq runs off—I feel so bad for him. I love Julie’s “Yes- I heard” I don’t know why but I do and as always Kendra’s “This must be what other people feel like. how do they bear it” got a lot of laughs. At one point during the song, one of the ensemble member’s ribbons got stuck in one of the platforms and the Wiz-o-mania guy had to eventually untangle it. I still don’t understand how Sonshine moves in that dress (but more on that later).

Wizard’s Chamber/ Defying Gravity—I love Lenny! His reaction to Kendra’s “The ‘gah’ is silent is always great. Jayne’s ‘no’ is also funny and Lenny just shrugs his shoulders to Kendra after she says it. Julie’s chanting is gorgeous. After Chistery’s transformation, I was watching him and climbed up on top of the Wizard’s head and was playing with his wing. When Julie said, “You have no real power” he opened them up completely—I had never noticed that before.

Ah Defying Gravity, Kendra does thing where after Julie says “I hope you’re happy” where she says “me?” which I find really effective but her mic isn’t on so unless you’re sitting really close you can’t hear it. Her facial expressions while Julie was singing are great—you can really see her frustration. Julie, again, is flawless here. She sounded absoulutely amazing. Her “ahhh” is the best I’ve heard from her. I was watching for Kendra’s laughing but I don’t think that she was necessarily laughing at the guards as much as she was excited for her friend.

Thank Goodness- Once again, Kendra knocked this song out of the ballpark. Her transformation from Act 1 to Act 2 is definitely noticeable. Her first night back her "Thank Goodness" after the "We love you Glinda" line was stunning and in the other times I'd seen her she never quite reached that gorgeousness ( I know its not a word) but she did that night. I was really happy. I also noticed the change in the sun in the background as she is singing which i never really payed attention to before.

WWOTE- Cristy is always fierce and sounds great here. It was funny listening to the laughter after "Well there's no place like home" gradually increase as more people get it. Julie & Cristy have really great chemistry in this scene. You could really see in Julie's face how much she cares for her sister. I was looking at Ben during this number and all I could think of was how bad I feel for him. Julie & Cristy sounded great together.

Wizard's Chamber/Wonderful-- Not too much to say here. Lenny was amazing as always and I'm always too busy watching the monkeys out in the audience to notice Julie's reactions. They work well together.

I'm that that Girl ®. Gorgeous. Kendra was fiddling with her engagement ring during the entire song and she can hit that last note like no one's business.

ALAYM- I can officially say without reservation that Aaron & Julie are my favorite couple when it comes to this song. Their chemistry was off the chart. Lot of touching--my favorite moment is when they are both on their knees sitting on their feet and then when they sing " I'll wake up my body" they both rise into a kneel at the same time--all kinds of hot. They sound so, so great together.

Catfight- I love watching Kendra's Julie's "We can't all come and go by BUBBLE" was fierce. Julie's cackle is different from all of the other Elphies that I've seen in that it didn't really sounded like a cackle--I wish I could describe it. The whole scene was great though I missed David's Tarzan yell. Aaron just kind of yells at the same pitch the entire time he enters. His "Let the green girl" is hysterical go and got a lot of applause.

No Good Deed- Holy Riff Batman! Julie riffs are perfection. Especially her second Fiyero when she sings up the scale, it gave me serious chills. She was really scary especially during " I'm Wicked through and through" line. This really was her song. Her fan work is great.

MOTWH- One of the things I love about sitting so close is that you are able to here the ensemble's reactions to Boq--they really add to the scene. The woman next to us and I got spit on and wasn't a happy camper. The ensemble was really fierce all night. I love the way Jayne says "Aren't I good routine" totally mocking Kendra's voice--also quite effective.

For Good- I don't really remember too much but I do remember that Kendra's "Elphie" when Julie asks her to promise not to clear her name was fierce--there was a lot of desperation in her voice. I don't think either of them were crying but I'm not 100% sure.

Finale- This was the last time I'd be seeing the show in a while so this was sad. Julie is the only Elphie I've seen that leans to her side when she melts--I like it.

So excited to read! Julie is just fabulous.

SO exciting, Julie is AMAHZING. She's defo up next to Shoshana in my favorite Elphabas.

Can't wait for your review and I know what you mean about committing a sin...LOL.

Wow, you even think she's better than Stephanie. Stephanie is pretty tough to beat.

Can't wait to read your review. I saw Julie on the 9th and her "Defying Gravity" pretty much blew me away. As it was my first time seeing the show live, she set a really high standard for Elphaba. As did Kendra for Galinda and Aaron for Fiyero...and so on and so on. haha.

I've never heard one of Stephanie's Blockhead's who didn't think she was their favorite Elphaba.

This is a monumental moment. But I have to admit, Julie pretty much owns.
Again, can't wait to read the review.

act 1 up..sorry guys this is going to be posted in chunks

Great review so far. I feel like I was there. Oh yeah It's Val. I can't log onto my other account for some reason.

That's one of my favorite parts of her WAI!



And I love that too! Kendra is amazing.



Great review so far