The reviews are in!

Just in case you were wondering what the local press thought of Wicked, here's the review from The Seattle Times, and another one from The Seattle Post-Intelligencer. (Read Dorothy.)

Wicked is wicked!

(Let's get this bit out of the way first: Read Dorothy!)

So, yeah, I finally saw Wicked on Thursday. It was a lot of fun! Okay, where to start?

How about the cast? Yeah, we lucked out and got who some consider to be two of the best, Shoshana Bean as Elphaba and Megan Hilty as Glinda. We got them as they're both from the Northwest, so they joined the tour in Portland, came to Seattle, and will move on to Toronto. They were both terrific. (Disclaimer to fans of other Elphabas and Glindas: Hey, these are the only two I've ever seen, all right? I'm sure there are many other good actors for both parts, and I make no claim that Sho and Megan are superior to Idina, Kristen, Kendra, Ana, or whoever your favorite is.) Okay, Shoshana couldn't quite hit the high notes in "Defying Gravity" the way Idina Menzel did, but I'd be surprised if anyone could. These two were funny, touching, and everything they needed to be. Megan Hilty is a babe, I might add.

Ah, but what of the rest of the cast? Yup, more good stuff. The other big part that stood out for me was Sebastian Arcelus as Fiyero. After listening to the cast album for years now, and seeing Norbert Leo Butz perform on the Tony Awards a couple of years ago, Arcelus was not at all what I was expecting. He was young, dashing, handsome, sweet-voiced, and overall not much like Butz. But he sure seemed to be enjoying himself, and sold me on a young, dashing, curly-headed Fiyero. The Wizard — and we got one of the understudies, and I'm sorry to say I forgot to take note of who it was — was also great. It's a more complex Wizard than in the books or any movie version, but he pulled off both the avuncular imp and the conniving manipulator equally well. Jennifer Waldman as Nessarose did the best she could in a too-small part. And there really wasn't a weak performer in the whole show.

The staging was terrific. Laura and I both noticed the lighting, particularly in the Emerald City (well, that's hard to miss, it hits you so hard). No wonder it won a Tony. The sets were just right, not being overwhelming yet giving enough feel to what was going on. I was particularly impressed by the bridge. I know enough about stagecraft to know how touch it is to make a practical bridge that much of the cast can walk on, and I wonder what they must have done backstage to get people up there. The rain was also effective. The costumes were great (and I greatly appreciate all of those quick changes Megan Hilty had to go through), especially the intertwined "O-Z" motif in some of the Emerald City outfits. We fans of the books appreciate it.

Oh, the story? Well, I'm not going to give too much away. It certainly is not the same Oz of the books, and it even has enough differences from its source material that it's not even the Oz envisioned in Gregory Maguire's novel. There were a few bits towards the end, when the story gets intertwined with The Wizard of Oz, that didn't quite gel in the broader sense, but on its own, it worked fine (just don't think too much about how it all fits into The Movie). The twist ending sure threw me for a loop, and Laura managed to keep that a secret from me for some time now! Overall, I enjoyed it, and Laura and I are looking forward to it coming to town again. Yes, we're probably going to see it again some time. And twenty years or so from now, I'd love to be part of a community theater production. Hmm, I'll be old enough by then, maybe I could pull off playing the Wizard. Oh, wait, I'd have to learn to sing...

Three things to do if you go see Wicked

1. If your seats are under the balcony and you can't quite see the whole proscenium arch, do yourself a favor and go down before or after the show, or at intermission, and take a look at the Time Dragon hanging overhead.
   
2. Go wild when Glinda makes her first entrance, and encourage everyone around you to do the same. It will just make her first line that much more appropriate and amusing.
   
3. Bring some sunglasses, or buy some of the green specs in the lobby before the show starts. They will come in very handy when you first see the Emerald City.
   
4. Read the Dorothy comic. (Okay, that last one has nothing to do with Wicked, and everything to do with upping my number of entries in this month's contest...)
   

TODAY'S THE DAY!!!

Yup, off to see Wicked this afternoon! I've been waiting to see this for over three years, and I just hope I'm not disappointed only because my expectations are too high. Well, I guess I'll have to tell you more this weekend!

And now, for about the 3,851st time: Read Dorothy. Or, if you want to spreadthe joy, buy a copy of the trade paperback and donate it to your local library.

Four Short Days

Only four more days before Laura and I go to see Wicked. And our ticket outlet was kind enough to e-mail us a reminder (yeah, like we weren't already looking forward to it). Naturally, the local press is heating up about the show. So here's the article from today's edition of The Seattle Times. And here's the piece from Friday's edition of The Seattle Post-Intelligencer (courtesy of The Daily Ozmapolitan).

If you can't go see Wicked, then at least go see what's going on in the Dorothy comic.

Congratulations to an Oz fan

Oz fan Gili Bar-Hillel, probably the biggest Oz fan in Israel, has been nominated for a Geffen Award for her translation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

And another Oz fan's dream comes true: Eric Shanower goes to Troy.

Go read Dorothy!

Ahhhhhhh!

I've been Boing-Boinged! I am so suddenly going to get a lot more hits, aren't I?

Not a lot Ozzy going on

Just as the title says, there's not a lot Ozzy going on here.

Oh, except I got the latest issue of Illustration magazine, with a big article about John R. Neill, written by Michael Patrick Hearn. I've seen a lot of the pictures before, but never reproduced this nicely. I'm looking forward to reading the article.

Eleven more days to Wicked!

So, if you haven't already, check out the Dorothy comic.

The countdown begins...

Only two weeks to go now before Laura and I go to see Wicked!

And be sure to check out the Dorothy comic!

AFI's Top 25 Musicals

The American Film Institute unveiled their latest list of movies, the top twenty-five musicals, last night. Guess what was in at number 3? (No, not Springtime for Hitler!) Go ahead, take a look at the whole list by clicking here.

And don't forget to tell everyone about the terrific Dorothy comic book!

Spread the love month

September is Spread the Dorothy Love Month over at Illusive Arts, the publishers of the fine Dorothy comic book. So get over there already. But if you forget, I'll have further entries reminders up here throughout the rest of the month.

The Mightiest Dorothy of Them All!

Laura and I had a good time watching the DVD of Adventures in Oz with Cheryl (to give its full name, and to avoid any more cracks comparing it to Eric Shanower's latest book). It's hosted by Cheryl Silich, who is a fitness expert and contestant on American Gladiators. It shows!

Yup, nobody's going to mistake her for Judy Garland or anything drawn by W. W. Denslow or John R. Neill.

But seriously, it's a fun little workout for kids, told within a fitness-themed version of The Wizard of Oz. Whenver the action stops for a song, there's a little window that pops up and Cheryl does the workout portion. Don't take it too seriously, it is not a 100% faithful retelling of the story. But it is amusing, and there's a neat twist ending that old time Oz fans will get a kick out of. The workouts themselves don't look too strenuous (yeah, how sad is that that I didn't actually do them?), so I wouldn't recommend it for serious weight loss or toning for adults, but I'll bet kids would get along with it just fine.

If you want to get it, or the extra equipment that can go along with it (but isn't necessary), or just to find out more, take a look at www.adventuresinoz.com.