Ben Vereen, the Wizard in Chicago

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 8/31/05 at 12:00am

Who is seeing Wicked this week?
Updated On: 9/1/05 at 12:00 AM

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 8/31/05 at 12:17am

I'm gonna try!! Everybody pray for me!!!!! I can't really afford tickets *(and neither can my friend!) but we are gonna try the lottery 2 times on saturday and hope for cancellation tickets or something..we are MT majors!! We need to see Ben Vereen!!!!

so seriously...PRAY FOR ME OR SOMETHING!! or push all your good luck toward me! :)

[Jilani]

Posted: 8/31/05 at 12:31am

I'm seeing it on Friday. I'm so excited - I bought tickets ages ago (brdlwyr, you actually gave me some great Chicago sightseeing suggestions at the time), so I didn't even plan on seeing Ben Vereen as the Wizard. What a great bonus!

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 8/31/05 at 12:32am

My ticket was 30 the lottery is 25!

[chinkie azn jai]

Posted: 8/31/05 at 7:58am

I really want to...but I doubt I'll be able to.

[vbplayer]

Posted: 8/31/05 at 8:06am

Going tomorrow.

[AllNite429]

Posted: 8/31/05 at 8:06am

I'm going saturday evening.

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 8/31/05 at 8:49am

Today is Wicked for me.

[MagicToDo82]

Posted: 8/31/05 at 10:50am

:) I was there for Ben's opening night in the Chicago Wicked last night - and he was, indeed, wonderful. He got huge entrance applause (more than Ana or Kate) and was just great as the Wizard. He's such a warm presence, you really can't not love him. "Wonderful," as performed by him and Ana Gasteyer, was great. He threw in some little dances, and a few more gorgeous high belty notes, and proved he's still got it. In case you're wondering, they've changed the bows a little. The Wizard and Morrible (I believe) used to bow together, but for Ben, The Wizard's bow is right before Elphaba and Glindas.

On another note: Kate Reinders is amazing. This is the second time I've seen her, and her "Popular" gets bigger and better every time. It was showstopping. Ana was in fine voice last night, and her "Defying Gravity" was sensational.

I also learned that of orchestra left, box seats, and balcony, the best place to see the entire show is either mezzanine or lower balcony. My friend Cherie was in orhcestra left last time and missed some things, and I was in the HORRIBLE box seats on the right side and missed 50% of the show. So go for balcony. You get to see stuff, AND you get the whole effect during "Defying Gravity" which was ruined in those box seats where you can see the machinery.:)

P.S. Look for Ana doing the robot as the curtain goes down:)

[I'm not that GURL]

Posted: 8/31/05 at 11:09am

I was actually lucky enough to win the lottery last night - YAY. It was great to Ben Vereen and he was a fantastic. Looked totally relaxed and there was great chemistry with he and Ana especially when they are dancing during "Wonderful" You could tell by the expression on her face that she was "I can't believe I am dancing with Ben Vereen!"

And a note on Ana - I hadn't seen her since the end of June and she has totally grown so much in the role. She's really added great comic delivery and has taken more ownership of her version of Elphie I think. And her vocals are just sparkling.

I am such a lucky girl to be able to see this production.

[djjd007]

Posted: 8/31/05 at 8:13pm

I am going on Saturday evening and am going to try the lottery... I am *so* excited to see what Ana has done with this!

I am still incredibly disappointed (am I the only one?) that Ben is in and Gene is out. I really wanted to see all the Chicago cast live up to its' hype.

Oh well. At least I know Ben will not disappoint.

[Elphaba3]

Posted: 8/31/05 at 8:28pm

I was there last night- here's my review https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?thread=865755&dt=083105075649

Updated On: 8/31/05 at 08:28 PM

[Act0r721]

Posted: 8/31/05 at 9:02pm

I hope to be there for the lottery on Saturday, too.

Um.. I say we all PM each other and get names, so we can meet and if one of our groups wins multiple times, we can share the wealth... I WANT TO WIN SO BAD!!! haha.

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 8/31/05 at 10:44pm

It was a pleasure to see a Broadway legend. I played Pippin three times as a much younger man and I have listened to Mr. Vereen's Leading Player hundreds of times.

He used his shtick well and brought a more humble interpretation to the role. He danced and sang well and I agree the he and Ana had a great chemistry.

I loved Ana. She was a soft spoken, sincere and very funny Elphaba. She hit the notes and was most excellent. I love her. SMOOCH to Ana

Kate was very funny and sang well. Kendra was the funniest to me.

Rondi Reed is a Chicago legend and it was a pleasure to see her.

Telly was such a delight after seeing Derrick. He brings much more youth to the role.

Kristoffer was fine.

There were hundreds of empty seats!!!

I love this production and plan to see it many more times.

Lets not forget Kathy Santen and Jeff Dumas!

Gene, sorry that I saw it without you!!!

Updated On: 8/31/05 at 10:44 PM

Posted: 8/31/05 at 10:53pm

Hundreds of empty seats? What? Where? I was there last Wednesday and it was sold out clean. I tried to get a single seat for a friend and couldn't!

And if I may recommnd, my favorite seats are the $45 front of balcony seats. (Row M if I get to pick) Perfect views, not too expensive.

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 8/31/05 at 10:57pm

Joe - I was at the lottery last Wed. and the only tickets at the Box Office were limited view. I was shocked!

I want to bring the kids again so thanks for the info.

Posted: 9/1/05 at 5:43am

dont tell me he's playing Billy Flynn...isnt he a little old?

haha kidding. The title was misleading.

[vbplayer]

Posted: 9/1/05 at 8:26am

Can't wait for this evening, I finally get to see what all the hype is about and get to form my own opinion about this show.

[WickedGeek28]

Posted: 9/1/05 at 11:16am

On Broadway the Wizard never bowed with Morrible. Can you imagine Joel Grey, Geoge Hearn, or Ben Vereen sharing what they did! They are living legends and I'm glad I got to see all 3.

[Jilani]

Posted: 9/4/05 at 1:51am

I just saw the Chicago production of Wicked on Friday, and thought it was fantastic. I've seen it several times on Broadway, with various people in each of the principal roles, and I have to say the Chicago cast is definitely among the best I've seen. It was a nice surprise to see Ben Vereen in the role of the Wizard (I had bought tickets a long time ago, so I obviously didn't know he would be in it) - he's very charismatic, and it was clear that he and Ana Gasteyer were having a great time together. Kate Reinders gave a hilarious performance as Glinda (her "Popular" was very madcap and manic, and it worked really well), but was able to achieve depth when it was needed as well.

I'm not one for posting long reviews, so I'll just end by saying that Ana Gasteyer was really great! All of the praise she has received is well-deserved. Her singing is fantastic, but what I think really puts her in a class of her own is her acting. She got great reactions from the audience in places I had never even noticed before. Any Wicked fan who is in or near Chicago, or planning a trip sometime before January, should definitely try and see her in the role. She's wonderful! (BTW: people have been mentioning that the cast likes to do weird dances at curtain call - the night I saw it, Ana did the booby-shaking dance from the Martha Stewart Topless Christmas Special on SNL - so funny!)

[AllNite429]

Posted: 9/4/05 at 5:13pm

I got to see "Wicked" in Chicago last night (9/3) and I have to say this cast is amazing. Sarah was in for Kate which was really disappointing. Sarah messed up three times. Twice in the very beginning when she forgot two lines before starting to sing while in the bubble, and once at the end when she started to say a line too early. But other than that I really enjoyed her Glinda. Ana as Elphaba was absolutely amazing. I was shocked at how good her voice was. I "Defying Gravity" was awesome and she really built it to the end. When she rose off the stage she wasn;t belting right away, but built it to the last few notes and it was really effective. I just loved her. Kristoffer as Fiyero was good. He's really nice in person too, and HOT! Overall, I was very happy to see this cast and it is a great production.