Is Wicked really THAT great a show?

I thought it was okay -- the newest in the line of bloated megamusicals that are nevertheless quite enjoyable. Some people here are really obsessed with it, though, and then there are those who find it highly overrated.

Your kids will love it.

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oh boy... talk about continually beating a dead horse...

Updated On: 4/4/05 at 02:52 AM

it's not a GREAT SHOW, not by a long shot. but it *is* an entertaining one and i found it a nice time at the theatre. but it isn't the *mother of all musicals* either. just a *cute* show with some nice songs that takes a different approach to a tried-and-true classic. nothing more, nothing less....

Touch your heart more deeply than any other show?

Are you sure about that?

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I agree with TGIF. It's entertaining fluff, but don't expect to come out enlightened. (Unless you're Britney Spears.)

If you've got excellent orchestra seats, then $125 is worth it, but because of the grand scale of the sets and special effects, and the size of the Gershwin, balcony shouldn't be horrible either. If you feel iffy about the show, try that first, I'd say.

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Yes Munk, I'm positive. I'm not saying it will do that to everyone, but that's the effect it had on me. And LOL at the Britney Spears comment. I am an obsessive Wicked whore, but I'm in no way "enlightened."

Success does not rely on quality.

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Oops, TGIF, I missed that part!

Well, what have other people said about the balcony view at the Pantages? I think someone started a thread on this, didn't they? Hmm...well, my comments remain the same. Stick with Balcony if you aren't too keen on the show and can make some quick cash from your orchestra seats!

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I will add my two cents worth. I've been seeing musical theater for decades, and Wicked is one of my all-time favorite shows. The music got to me first. The CD was in my car player for at least a week, non stop. I was incapabable of listening to anything else. For me, (and I know BlueWizard disagrees with this assessment), the score is powerful, inventive, funny, tear-provoking, dazzling in its richness. I saw the show twice in New York last summer and if there was any sense of let down, it was miniscule, and simply because I already knew the score so well. The sets and costumes are dazzling. And the show provides young singing actresses with two of the best roles available in musical theater. The message of the redemptive power of friendship is another reason this show has so resonated with its many fans. There has been a backlash, because whenever something is as loved as Wicked is by its admirers, there are those who simply cannot understand the acclaim. I do understand it, and I highly recommend Wicked.

Updated On: 4/4/05 at 03:35 AM

Thank you for the glowing reviews. I have a tendency to love a beautifully dressed show. My husband and I call these kinds of shows "eye candy". He is a lighting designer. From what I saw of the print work it's looks ravishing! And I heard the witch and monkeys fly. Is this true?

Sure they are! Who likes surprise, anyway?






**spoiler alert**





The witch gets elevated in Defying Gravity (although some people have said on tour, it's later on in the show at a different number in Act 2). The monkeys fly in the background with wires, but use ropes to climb and swing on in the beginning. Think of Cirque Du Soleil and the aerial silks.

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Well, be more specific. Elphaba stands on a forklift in "Defying Gravity."

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