Quick review: Pippin, 4-27-13 and Wicked 4-28-13

[dandlewood]

Posted: 5/2/13 at 1:56am

Hey guys,
decided to do a blow out birthday weekend for my wife and we ended up seeing both Pipping and Wicked. I thought I would give my thoughts to those considering seeing these shows in the near future.

Pippin:

All I can say is: wow. If you can ignore the intrinsic disconnect between the first act and the second act, this show is amazing. The circus theme along with all the acts were phenomenal. The casting was perfect and the cast genuinely seemed to be having fun. In the hallway during intermission I could hear some hipster kids being persnickety, comparing Patina Miller to Ben Vereen. It's a different take: Ben Vereen was amazing in his own way and Patina Miller is fabulous in hers. This is definitely one of those shows where you want to see the original cast if you can. I sat in the middle of the mezzanine, 6 rows back. The music box is a very small theater, so nearly all seats are great (except the balconys and extreme sides). If I had to pick the best seat, I would say front row, center mezz.


Wicked:
I went into Wicked with really high expectations. While I enjoyed the show (understudy was in for Galinda), I didn't feel like the actors had nearly the same level of enthusiasm as the cast of Pippin. The leads were very strong, but the supporting cast felt weak. The actress that played Elpheba was amazing and she knocked it out of the park in Defying Gravity. If nothing else, the show is worth seeing for that number alone. The Gershwin is a large theater and I had side Orchestra seats. They weren't bad, but I wouldn't go back to another show at the Gerhwin unless it was mid center orchestra. If I'm paying all that money to travel to NYC (my parking bill was nearly as much as my hotel), may as well make it worth it.

Hope this helps if you're on the fence about seeing either show.