ok.... here we go. never written a review before so bear with me...
i had pretty decent seats. first row of balcony, row AA, about 10 seats from the left end (stage right). i could see everything, and I remembered to bring my binoculars this time, so i could see some facial expressions.
as everyone else said, jlt is still out.
megan didn't disappoint me though. her voice was beautiful, not as helium-ish as other glindas (i think at some points she sang an octave lower), but great just the same. her comedic timing isn't as great as jlt/kristin, but she did definitely make the part her own.
you could tell idina was sick. well, *i* could tell idina was sick. my parents, who had never heard her voice before, couldn't tell. she was gasping and huffing a lot more than usual, and didn't hold some of the longer notes as long as usual. all the heavy breathing in between lines couldn't be heard when the note actually came out of her mouth; she did a great job disguising it. she was definitely saving a lot of her energy for the last note in defying gravity, and the fiyerooooo in no good deed <-- these two sounded beautiful. but despite all this, I DIDN'T CARE, because i'd rather have a sick idina than no idina at all.
everyone else was in fine voice. joey mcintyre, george hearn, and carole shelley were great. i truly enjoyed michelle federer's performance, especially wicked witch of the east (WHY isn't this in the OBCR??). this is the first time i saw her; eden espinosa played nessarose last time. it amuses me that, although chris fitzgerald is short, all the glindas seem to be shorter. he's a munchkin, and towers over many of the other characters! william youmans makes a great goat, sometimes too good. my parents couldn't understand many of his lines.
stage door - megan, joey, chris, and sean mccourt all greeted fans. michelle ran out before anyone could even recognize her. megan was very sweet, and joey and chris really enjoyed themselves. (i’ll post pictures when i have time)
FINALLY, 45 minutes later, the guard comes out to tell us idina left. i RAN to the other stage door the second i heard this, and waited for another 45 minutes, but to no avail. i’m still kicking myself for not just waiting at the other stage door in the first place. :headdesk:
overall, great. no major mistakes or bloopers, and many performers greeted fans at the stage door. not meeting idina put a slight damper on the experience for me (i had a letter i wanted to give her), but the night was generally enjoyable.
