Edit: Okay so I'm finally back from the show, another great performance! I had been really looking forward to seeing Katie Rose Clark as Glinda, and I was not disappointed. All the leads were on, there was also a new ensemble member joining tonight, Manuel Herrera.
Here's a rundown of my thoughts on the cast (feel free to ask questions):
Mandy Gonzalez: I really loved her Elphaba. I personally thought it was great how she seemed to have her own take on the songs in how her inflections in singing was different from the other Elphabas I have seen. I also loved how excited and optimistic her Elphaba was, and how her transformation to being "wicked" was more gradual and subtle. She also really brought that out in her body language too which I thought was great. She didn't come out at stage door which made me sad though. But overall, great performance. Her NO Good Deed=perfect.
Katie Rose Clarke: Wow, that's all I can say. She really is one of the few perfect Glinda's out there. She was spastic and hilarious, but not overly so, and had an AMAZING voice. I loved her facial expressions, from the time she first came down at that bubble in the beginning she just looked so happy to be there. Though she and Mandy's voices don't necessarily flow together well, I actually think it can be a nice touch. Glinda and Elphaba are two very different kinds of people, and that can be emphasized by their voices. She came out at the stage door and was an absolute sweetheart, she signed my Grimmerie and took a pic with me
Andy Karl: If I had any complaints about Andy, it's that his voice needs to be stronger. His acting chops are great, you really think he is a jerk through the first half. He has the perfect hair to do the whole "hair flick" thing with Elphaba. He works well with the rest of the cast and will be even better if he works on strengthening his singing. Other than that, great job. He was a sweetheart at the stage door as well, great guy.
P.J. Benjamin: I have never seen P.J as the Wizard before, and I was very impressed. He seemed to take a more realistic approach to the Wizard, like he never tried to sugar-coat the fact that he was essentially a con artist while still managing to be funny in Wonderful. He was pretty cool at the stage door too, not very talkative though.
Jenny Fellner: I really liked Jenny's Nessarose. She had great facial expressions, and I found myself watching her in several scenes to see how Nessarose will react to whatever happened. She has and amazing voice and really worked well with Mandy, especially in WWOTE in her irritation at Elphab's optimism. Great job.