Reviews of Wicked and Spelling Bee in Chicago

[Johanna2]

Posted: 7/10/07 at 10:12pm

Hi :) I’m new here, but I’ve been lurking for awhile. I just returned from a weekend trip to Chicago where I saw two shows—Wicked and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. I thought I’d post my reviews.

Wicked first—I did a search and I think the last person who saw Wicked in Chicago was withoutatrace. He seemed to enjoy the production, and I did as well. I actually saw 2 performances—I had tickets for the July 8th evening performance and I won the lottery (well my dad won) for the Saturday July 7th matinee. This was actually really nice because that way everyone in my family got to see the show (we had only gotten tickets for those who REALLY wanted to go since it’s expensive). Anyway, I really enjoyed myself and I think the production is in really good shape.

I enjoyed Erin Mackey’s performance as Glinda very much; her voice is beautiful. In my opinion she has the best voice in the show, but I always prefer more classical voices so I wasn’t surprised about this. She also acted the part well—I enjoyed her Popular, but her performance at the end after Elphaba “melts” was the most impressive and believable.

I also enjoyed Dee Roscioli as Elphaba. Her voice was beautiful—she can certainly belt very well, but I particularly enjoyed her on the quieter songs like I’m Not That Girl and For Good. Her Elphaba was angrier, more impulsive, and fiercer than I had expected, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing—just not what I expected. I think that Dee, like Erin, gave her best acting performance in the second act.

Of the other main characters (Fieryo, Boq, the Wizard, Nessa Rose, etc) were okay. The only one I found remarkable was Barbara Robertson as Madame Morrible--she was wonderfully evil and manipulative. Summer Naomi Smart was okay as Nessa Rose—I think she did as much as she could with the size of her part. I was disappointed in Derrick Williams as Fieryo; I don’t know if I expected more things from him since he has played the part for so long, but his acting was only so-so and his voice was even less impressive. I was also disappointed in Peter Kevoian as the Wizard. I know the part isn’t very big or meaty, but I found myself wondering what seeing Joel Gray would have been like. I’m sure that he brought as much personality and life to the role as possible.

Overall an enjoyable show with an excellent cast—I’m glad I got to see it. Another interesting thing was the difference between the matinee and evening audience. The later was much more effusive with their laughter and applause.

Now on to Spelling Bee—

We decided at the last minute to enter the lotto for the show on Friday July 6th evening performance. Only 10 people total entered so everyone won—if you are in the Chicago area and want to see the show I highly recommend entering the lotto. I got the impression that there is rarely, if ever, a crowd.

That being said, the show was wonderful—better than I ever expected. I didn’t know too much about the plot going into the show, but I had heard wonderful things and wasn't let down at all. It was hilarious and heartwarming! I won’t go into detail about the cast because I thought they were all perfect in their roles, and they each told their stories so very well. I guess if I had to pick a standout performer I’d choose Emily Price as Rona Lisa Peretti because her classical training was obvious and—as I mentioned before—I tend to prefer voices like that :) I’m finding it very hard to be critical of this show because I had no preconceptions about how the characters should look, act, etc. I just came away feeling like I couldn’t have asked for more from anyone’s performance. I highly recommend that if you’re in the Chicago are you check out this production; I wish I could have seen it twice while I was there!

This is long—I’m sorry—if you read it all I hope you enjoyed it!

[GilmoreGirlO2]

Posted: 7/10/07 at 11:43pm

Thanks for the reviews! Glad you enjoyed the shows!

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 7/11/07 at 12:26am

I love Erin and Dee!

Barb R. is a Chicago diva. I have seen the production many times and I will hold off until next year.

I saw Derrick a few years ago and I did not like him, but when I saw him in April I thought that he had matured in the role and enjoyed his performance.

I have not seen the new cast of Bee, but did see some at the Taste of Chicago, they sounded great! Nice to see Mark David Kaplan!

[chinkie azn jai]

Posted: 7/11/07 at 3:29am

There's still a lotto for Spelling Bee? I thought they got rid of it. Where is it and what time do they pull names?

[Johanna2]

Posted: 7/11/07 at 10:18pm

Yep--still a lotto. I believe they pull names 2 hours before each show and it takes place right at the theatre.

That's how the one I entered worked anyway--hope it was helpful! :)