My mother and I arrived at around 5, and were the first people there. While we were waiting, Stephen Schwartz walked out of the theater and towards the stagedoor, although I don't know if he stuck around or not. He was obviously busy, so nobody bothered him, but I had a steady stream of 'Ohmygod's coming out of my mouth. Then, NBC? CNN? some news truck (who I believe had interviewed Stephen) set up and started filming the people in line, and people putting their names in.
I met up with Mary, and we waited for names to be called. My name was called fifth, but somebody didn't want their tickets, so I got the fourth pair of tickets for my mother and I. Row C, seats 7 and 9.
I'm thankful for the tickets, but let me say so right now: Those seats sucked. Seriously, don't take first few rows on the very far sides. The windey stairs were blocking practically all of my mom's view, and about half of mine. I'm thankful for seeing the show, but I wouldn't pick them if I already had good tickets. MARY had much more luck with the lotto
But they didn't auction off the front row. Any known reason for this? I think they basically gave away leftovers. I'm hoping after opening night they'll go back to front row, instead of leftovers, because the stage is lower than the Pantages and front row would be alot better. There's a sign that they'll search your bags, but we had three total and they didn't even glance into them. So I dunno.
So we took our evilbutamazing seats, and because I could only see about half of the show, I don't have one of those long detailed reviews for everybody. I write things down as I remember them, and I'll be editing it with more details as time goes on. FEEL FREE TO ASK ME QUESTIONS. I can remember if asked about a certain thing
So ask away! And Mary and everybody else, feel more than welcome to post your own reviews here Mini Review and Notes:
For the first night with a cast that's spent only a little time together, in a new theater, they handled it marvelously. Carol, Kendra, and Vicki all got entrance applause, and I can't remember if David did. Anybody remember if David got applause?
Kendra Kassebaum: WOW. She is GORGEOUS. If I hadn't been spoiled with seeing Megan twice she would have become my favorite Glinda. Every little thing she does, even when she isn't in view of the audience or the focused-on character, is the living embodiment of Galindaness. She perfected the snob and hyper looks while still managing to be beautiful. And her voice. WOW. I know it was the first night EVER, but OH MY GAAAAAAAWD. Even if an ensemble member did that one note, everything else was SPOT. ON. And in a way, operatic. I know her range isn't as high as some, inluding Megan, but with everything she did vocally, it seemed as though... I don't know. It was effortless and perfect. Her acting was perfection, as well. When she confirms that she was Elphaba's friend in the first scene, it did seem as though she was doing a monotone, just staring straight ahead, but other than that, her acting was 100%. She's a very close second to Megan, in my opinion.
Vicki Noon: When she first ran onstage, I was opinionless, only noting that she was a bit on the bluer side of emerald, but by the time TWaI was over, she had risen to my third favorite Elphaba
During TWAI, she was spitting a bit, but every note was pure, and she didn't go nasal at all. I think in the whole show she hit one nasal note. It was weird having an Elphaba whose voice was higher than the Glinda, but she was exactly how I pictured Elphaba when reading the book (SORRY WILLEMIJN!). Not angry, not emotional, just stony. She is amazing at showing emotion in her eyes, and when even a stony person would show emotion, she did. And she looks so NATURAL being green, as well. Some Elphabas look fake, but Vicki looked born green. During Popular we/I could see the seams in her bodysuit, but that's okay. It was obvious that her chemistry with Kendra wasn't all the way there, but as it was the first night, and she's a standby, I'm not holding that against her. Her comedic timing also wasn't all the way there. She got the audience to laugh a few times, but didn't make it her goal to be funny, as I think Eden did at times. I think the fact that she didn't emphasise things that would be funny made it funnier. (as in 'No, not really stupid' as opposed to 'No, not REALLY stupid!') Her voice was so clear, and pure, and AMAAAAZING. Everybody go see her scheduled shows. That's an order. The Wizard And I, Defying Gravity, and No Good Deed were COMPLETELY AMAZING. WE HAVE A NEW RIFF FOR NO GOOD DEED! Well, was completely new to me. I loves it, too She was fabulous in defying gravity, and I really don't have anything else to say Nicolas Dromard: He was REALLY athletic, and in DTL he didn't hold out the several long riffable notes, instead saying them really quickly and jumping/dancing around all over the place
All he really needs to work on is his pronunciation.DeeDee: All around good, the classic acting-better-than-singing thing I really noticed. One thing that bugged me was that in WWOTE once she had gained mobility and was upset, DeeDee became kind of shouty and throaty. Like a whine sob growl thing. I didn't like it. Everything else was amazing
For now, tidbits, but I'll try and edit in detail later when I'm not starving and sleepy.
It seemed as though the mics were turned down for Kendra and Vicki throughout the whole show. They were awfully quiet, Vicki moreso than Kendra, but I think that that's a result of more physical vocal power in Kendra than in Vicki. I have every confidence that she'll gain more power though
In WITF, three really funny things happened and stuck with me. During the dance, when Elphaba and Galinda are at the front of the stage, and the ensemble is in the back, Vicki somehow insulted or bothered Kendra, and KendraGlinda motioned to the ensemble to attack her. Almost immediately after, when Elphaba mocks Galinda's little dance motion thing, Vicki was HYSTERICAL. She basically flopped around with her Galinda arms and posture, and added a kick to it. That was one place where she got the audience into hysterics. At the end when Elphie 'boo's Galinda, after Vicki did so, Kendra shrieked and ran away, turned around, and mouthed 'STOP IT!'. I thought that was cute. Vicki also didn't mock Kendra in the 'you're voice', just said it calmly.
In Popular, the wand bounced off of a support, which I could see from my far sided seat. Kendra didn't notice, and it was barely onstage, so it remained there the whole scene.
Between Popular and I'm Not That Girl, with Vicki was doing her toss-toss, the flower was slowly inching its way out of her hair. By the time she prematurely jumped away from Nicolas, it had fallen out. She noticed, and snatched it from the ground almost protectively
Closest thing to a blooper in this show, and I thought it was pretty cool. I do think that Vicki needs to work on her toss-toss though.All throughout the show I noticed, thanks to the awesome lighting, that props and costumes were DUSTY. In TWAI Vicki's costume, when she patted it, released dust into the air, and when she later had books and used them, dust floated off. I don't know… There are several possible reasons for it, and I have noooo idea.
During the catfight when there's silence as Fiyero is about to shoot Glinda, (KendraGlinda really believed him, and that was really amazing, how upset and scared she got. Megan did so too, but not as well as Kendra.) we heard Vicki running to her lift, and the girl behind me and I kind of looked at each other with grins on our face, because she had told me that sometimes you could hear them running.
When Elphaba opens the trapdoor to yell at Dorothy, she was almost directly in front of us, and I was in awe. She's so amazing. But she actually picks up her skirt to avoid getting it caught in the trapdoor, haha, and she was watching to make sure she didn't tear her costume.
Stage Door:
There was apparently a party going on in the VIP room, in which all, if not most, of the cast was attending, so not many people came out. Kendra was the first one out, and she signed a little girl's playbill and then walked away, which prompted a 'HMPH!' from me, but one she couldn't hear. Then David came out, and he went down the whole line, making sure everybody got his autograph and whatnot. Then, the amazingly quick degreenifier, aka Vicki, came out, completely degreenified and with dry hair. And it took her like twenty, twenty five minutes tops. She signed every single person's everything, slowly making her way down the line. She was so slow, making sure that everybody was chatted with (not talk, CHAT), that Eddy Rioseco (Boq) actually passed her while doing the same thing. After Vicki was done with the last person, she came back to the front and almost got lost on her way to the party, having to ask the security guards which way to go. She's adorable, I love her
Chistery came out but didn't talk to anybody, and that was it for cast, Ensemble, Swings, and Leads. AMAZING show
Feel free to ask questions or add anything!
