Brace yourselves, this may be a long one!

I bought tickets to the show (along with most other people) not knowing the cast or the format of the benefit, but I'm glad I did it! The travelling started at around 3pm - I drove to Trenton and took the NJ Transit train to Penn Station and met my friends at the Gershwin. My friend had won lotto (there was basically no one there) so she went from sitting in the last row of the theatre to the first row.

We hung out by the Stage Door but everyone had gone in for the most part, so we all went to our respective seats. I don't want to start any rumors/get anyone's hopes up, but there was a sign which was basically saying the performance was being audio and video recorded and that by entering we were giving the right for our faces to be seen. The last time I saw that was at the final performance of RENT, so...


The show started about fifteen minutes late, and Buck Henry came out and introduced the show and its format, which was a VERY early draft of Act I performed by a rotating cast of:

Ashanti, Shoshana Bean, Stephanie J. Block (Elphaba); Mario Cantone, Kate Reinders, Jennifer Laura Thompson (Glinda); Daniel Reichard, Matthew Settle (Fiyero); Joy Behar (Madame Morrible); Michelle Federer (Nessarose); Mark Indelicato (Boq); George Wendt (The Wizard); Timothy Britten Parker (Dr. Dillamond); P.J. Benjamin (Frex); Ben Liebert (Narrator)

The show itself was very entertaining, and I was surprised at the voices of Matthew Settle, Mark Indelicato, and mostly Michelle Federer. I've seen Michelle as Nessa five times, and I didn't realize until she BELTED the song "Step By Step," which was a cut song by Nessarose after she became Governor of Munchkinland.

The stage was very plain - the clock backdrop from NOMTW and the Curtain Call was there the whole time. There was no curtain and no costumes. Just six chairs and a few music stands. It started out with a VERY long version of NOMTW, which began with a press conference being held by Madame Morrible about the Witch's death.

I wasn't expecting much from Joy Behar, and I was write - she was a terrible actress and didn't sing, but she was probably the highlight of the evening. Because of her comedic timing and her very potent New York accent, everything she said was funny. She added some adlibs about Sarah Palin and John McCain (which had a place since the first draft was VERY political), but the funniest was about how the Grimmerie was "very old...older than Larry King." I had just watched her on Larry King a few nights before, and watch The View almost every day, so I think I was probably laughing ridiculously hard.

When I heard Jennifer singing WICKED songs for the first time since 2005, I got chills. My first Elphaba and Glinda were sharing the stage once again, and it was very surreal. There were times that, if I closed my eyes, I could see her there in full costume, along with everyone else who had been in WICKED at some point. For the first half, Jennifer Laura Thompson played Glinda and Stephanie J. Block played Elphaba. One pair I'd been DYING to see, and was ecstatic to see together. They sang a bunch of cut songs, including Stephanie bringing the house down VERY early with "Making Good" (I'll post the entire song list later).

POPULAR WAS AMAZING. JLT called MARIO CANTONE out and Mario sang Popular to Stephanie. He kept remarking on how Steph played Liza in THE BOY FROM OZ. It was grand!

There were a few interesting points in the first draft. First, Fiyero was never particularly interested in Galinda. He tried to get his good friend Boq set up with her, but she wanted Fiyero. Mark Indelicato was WAY too young to be playing Boq. It looked very weird for him to be in love with JLT. But for the benefit's sake, it was cool to see slightly famous people stepping into these roles.

After a certain point, the cast switched to Shoshana Bean, Kate Reinders and Matthew Settle. All three were terrific. Keeping in mind, I saw Kate as Glinda twice and really disliked her immensely. I was completely floored last night. She let go of the over-spastic traits she put on for her Broadway run and was extremely funny in parts where it was appropriate, but sincere in the others.

I just have to say - Kate and Shoshana's voice blended SO well together. Shoshana's voice sounded a little hoarse, but when she was talking she didn't sound sick, so maybe she had been screaming somewhere? Hearing Sho sing I'm Not that Girl (albeit brief) again after two years (almost exactly) was such an amazing feeling.

I'll go straight for the kill and talk about "Defying Gravity." It was the only song that Stephen hadn't rewritten since the original draft, and Ashanti came out and began. She was a little wobbly at first, but once she gained confidence (poor girl was a fish out of water) she really rocked the house. The "so if you care to find me" up to "from me" was done by Stephanie and the "tell them how I" to "in renown" was sung by Shoshana. Then Ashanti finished it off really well.

Curtain call was really great - Stephen and Winnie Holzman came out and spoke, thanking the fans for coming for the past five years. All in all, a great way to end a terrific evening.

Sorry, had to double post this to fit pics in.

Stage Door:

Not the largest crowd ever, which was slightly surprising. All of the major WICKED people came out. I talked to my girl Shoshana for a while, she said it was VERY weird to be back on that stage. In her words "It was like the Twilight Zone." We agreed that it was a very weird mix of a crowd, and it wasn't as loud as anyone in the cast expected. It was really great to see her again since I hadn't seen her since January.

Then we talked to JLT since my friend Danni (DOLLYPOPS) and her friend Heather know her from back when she was doing WICKED. (P.S. - Danni also got waves from Shoshana and JLT from ONSTAGE and I was really jealous because she was in the front row). She kept talking about how big they got and it was really cute. We talked for a while and Jen sadly has no plans to return to Broadway. She said her son's four now, and she just doesn't think she'll be able to commit to eight shows a week again. She also said that she was asked to return to WICKED, but turned it down. She WILL be doing more benefits and Encores! productions, though.

Talked to Steph really quick, she's REALLY REALLY excited about 9 TO 5 and can't wait to bring it to New York. Kate came out as well, but she sort of snuck by us at the end and I didn't get to talk to her.

Pics:

How was George Wendt as the wizard? That would be VERY interesting to see!

Thanks for a great review, by the way. Quick question, during "Sentimental Man", did George Wendt sing, while Elphaba was chanting, "If you had the power... to help someone soar...", etc. as Rob Morse did in SF? It's one of my favorite cuts from the show.

Thanks again, sounds like it was excellent!

George was...interesting. He DID sing, not very well...I'm pretty sure that verse WAS there though.

wow! awesome review!!!! i'm glad you had fun!! i really wish i could have gone!

Conor, your face in the Shoshana picture makes my life.

Thanks for sharing the pics, looks like fun!

Thanks for the awesome review of a night to remember and all the great photos. Seeing you with Stephanie brings back the times I talked with her at "9 to 5" stage door in L.A. her! Can't wait for you to experience her magical performance when "9 to 5" hits Broadway.

Great review! I love Joy Behar.

It's a shame about Michelle's great song not making it to the show.

Thank you SO SO SO much for posting the review and pics! I almost cried when I read that Jen has no plans to return to Broadway in full but at least she plans to do benefits and Encore! productions.

Nice review Conor.

Thanks for the pics and review!

Oh, my Steph. You is so cute.

i saw ur pics on facebook haha well the shoshana ones!!

i really enjoyed reading ur review it was really good!!! and lush piks ( i know theres anouther one of u and shoshana;) )

Thanks for the comments, guys!



Here's the other one with Shoshana.


<333

WIN.

I want to meet Stephanie SO bad. she's my favorite out of all the Elphie's and I've never even seen her live. Her voice is just...ahhh. Been listening to Making Good ALL DAY!!!!! Great review btw. Wish I didnt live so far away from NYC.

What a great review and overview of the show! Was a real treat to read about the night! Thanks so much for posting your review of the show. I thoroughly appreciate it!

conor, do you mind me asking what type of camera you have? cuz those pics are great quality! sorry it's kind of off-topic..

^I was wondering the same thing! The pics look professional, especially the ones of the stage.

Great review. I miss Jennifer and Kate.

Amazing review! Glad you had a great time, awwwh look at how grown up Jennifer has gotten

I was actually standing there watching you take the pics with Sho...LOL.

Thanks! The one I using that night was my mom's pink Canon point-and-shoot SD1100 because my camera was abducted by my sister. I just resized them and sharpened them in Photoshop!

ETA: Val I saw you chatting with Lindsay. I was going to say Hi but I didn't want to interrupt.

Stephanie absolutely nailed it in every way. She was phenomenal. Wish I could have been there.

When is Steph not amazing? come on, is STEPH. Listening to her Making Good. I LOVE THIS SONG. I've listened to it about fifty times. Gosh I wanted to be at that concert SO BAD. STEPH RULES!!!!!

steph was PHENOMENAL. I agree about Making Good, I love that song! Although I can't choose between TWI and MG. :/