NOMTW-Haha, I love this show from the front row. We were pretty far to the left, and my little brother just about jumped out of his seat when one of the monkeys got within a foot or two of us, lol. But it was really fun seeing some of the cast up-close. This was my 4th time seeing Kendra, and I thought her performance in this song was good without being particularly memorable. But the ensemble was great, I always get excited during this number.
DOS-This was my first time seeing Kerry (I saw the show back in August and Julie was on for Kerry at the time), so I was really curious about Kerry. She was the only one to get entrance applause, and I thought it was really sweet how she sang along for DOS. And I’ll probably say this a few times, but I really appreciated how Kerry showed emotions in a way that seemed true to Elphaba as a character, while still being very different from the other actresses I’ve seen. And Kendra was really funny/bouncy here, seemed to be having a great time. Finally, Jayne was great, she has great line delivery.
TWAI-This is usually my favorite song and defines my opinion of an Elphaba actress...and coming into this, I really thought I was going to LOVE or HATE Kerry. And to be honest, I wasn’t incredibly impressed here. It wasn’t terrible, but I love it when Elphaba starts out quiet and builds throughout where she’s finally very loud at the end of the song. And I didn’t feel the build here, and thought her voice was a little…what’s the word? Heady? Nasally? But it was a little heady/nasally at times. So at this point I’m like “oh great, I’m gonna hate Kerry….”
WITF-…So my opinion of Kerry was quickly refuted in the very next song. She and Kendra have fantastic chemistry, and both have great comedic timing and presence IMO. Also, when Elphaba says the line “your voice”, I hate it when the Elphaba tries to go high against Kendra b/c her voice is naturally fairly low. Therefore, I was glad Kerry went with a tone that was low and just sounded very annoyed. But the two were absolutely hilarious together, loved it!
SB: I think this was my first time seeing Timothy Britten Parker, and I really enjoyed him, I thought he seemed to completely understand the role. However, this is one part of the show where I tend to tune out, so I apologize that I don’t have much to say here
DTL: So I had seen Aaron once before (back in August) and I essentially tore him apart in my review for being very generic and boring…clearly I caught him on an off-day last time, because he was incredible! The acting, singing, dancing, the guy is the real deal! I thought it would bother me that he’s so young (and IMO looks even younger than he is), but he TRULY impressed me. Wow.
Popular: Kerry has one of the funniest Toss-Tosses ever, it’s so funny. Kendra got loads and loads of laughs here, she definitely had the audience in the palm of her hand
And she threw in a couple extra phrases under her breath that were cute. Like during the 2nd toss-toss, she went “Toss-toss! -Giggle- Now do it like that!” and actually looked upset when Kerry did such a bad job of it the 2nd time around. Further, one area where I usually zone out here is when Elphaba talks about the green bottle. Usually I find it a little dull, but Kerry’s delivery was rather original and incredible. It was the first time in a LONG while where I paid attention during that entire scene.Classroom/INTG: Kerry and Aaron had good chemistry, the scene was very well done. INTG was, truthfully, I think the best I’ve ever heard. It was an emotional performance which nearly had me in tears. I really expected Kerry to be, at least somewhat, “phoning in” as she’s been doing this show for so long, but I was beyond impressed with the emotions she brought to the role.
Train Station/OSD: Not much to say about the train station scene, except that Ben was showing a lot of spastic emotions at this performance. I’ve seen him before and always liked his portrayal of Boq, but thought he brought something extra to the table at this performance. OSD was great as always, a great time to appreciate the ensemble. By the way, in the last couple months, have they introduced some new costumes to the ensemble? For both the Ozdust and Emerald City scenes, I noticed outfits I’d never recognized before, and noticed at least one outfit missing.
SM: PJ is my favorite Wizard, he’s really got the role down. He’s got this great mix of being super-sweet one minute, then totally evil the next. Very well done, not much to say otherwise…
DG: Aside from Stephanie’s last performance, this was the best Defying Gravity I’ve ever seen. INCREDIBLE. The emotions as well as Kerry’s voice were just amazing.
Intermission: I asked my little brother if he noticed Kerry’s British accent at all….he said he noticed it a little bit during No One Mourns the Wicked…I said “Ummm, Kerry’s not even in that song…” turns out he thought Kendra was the one with an undertone of a British accent. So either my brother can’t pick out a British accent, or Kerry’s doing a great job of hiding it.
Thank Goodness: Aaron really did a great acting job here, and I always think Kendra owns this song. Well done
WWOTE: I’ve seen Cristy a billion times now, and lately I’ve been giving her a hard time for not bringing variety to her performances…but I really liked her Act 2 performance today. Her sweet Act 1 persona didn’t do much for me, but she was really emotional in Act 2, while somehow seeming to vary it from the other performances I’ve seen.
Wonderful: Again, PJ rocks at life. Enough said.
ALAYM: Probably the best I’ve ever seen. Hot, well done by both performers, two thumbs up.
Catfight Scene: My only complaint here is that Kerry sometimes talks too quickly when she’s mad. But again, the pair have great chemistry, so I loved the scene. And, as much as I love Aaron…I missed David’s Tarzan yell
NGD: Not my favorite, but VERY good and powerful.
MOTWH: I must have been zoning out, because I have nothing to say about this…sorry about that…
FG: Again, Kerry and Kendra have incredible chemistry, and it definitely shows here. Very emotional, these two sound great together. As aware as I am of the actresses, I definitely got to a point here where I was watching Elphaba and Glinda rather than Kerry and Kendra. They were really in character and that showed.
Finale/Curtain Call: Again, not a heck of a lot to say here. I was sad the show ended, the cast got a standing ovation (when do they not), and the young girls in the audience went nuts for Aaron.
I did not stage-door as my brother was pretty tired, but just a cute story about what happened 2 days later. So my brother had seen 5 different shows (not just this weekend, but ever: Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Hairspray, Wicked, and The Little Mermaid), and we had plans to see Young Frankenstein today. We were in the TKTS line and he says “can we try the Wicked lottery again?” I asked what he meant, and he said “Wicked’s my favorite show, and I’d rather see it again than any other show for the first time.” I swear, I was so proud! Of course we lost the lottery (can’t push our luck, I figure you can only win once per weekend) and ended up seeing Young Frankenstein, but I thought it was so cute that Wicked was the first musical that he enjoyed enough to REALLY want to see again.
Anyway, that’s my review, sorry it’s so long. I’m happy to answer any questions if I missed something! But this was, after Stephanie’s last performance, probably my favorite performance of Wicked I’ve seen. I really loved Kerry (probably my 2nd favorite of the 6 Elphabas I’ve seen), and the entire cast gave great performances!
Well maybe sometime.... But still.