Saycon Sengbloh as Elphaba (her first performance) and POTO: REVIEWS

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 1:09am

So today was a fun day. I went into the city with my friend (WickedCatsontheRoof) and we did the lotto for Wicked Matinee. We didn't win so immediately hopped on the cancellation line (first in line). Finally, the guy called us and gave us Center Orchestra Row G - amazing seats!

After we got our tickets I saw that the understudy list was posted - ELPHABA SAYCON SENGBLOH.

Now, the whole point of seeing Wicked was to see how Shoshana matched with Idina...so to speak. I was kind of happy, though, knowing that it was her first performance. Also, kind of nervous. This was my fifth time seeing the show (first 4 with Idina, first 2 with KC, second 3 with JLT).

JLT came on and sounded a little - sick. But she is just so damn awesome it didn't matter! Her Popular today was one of the best. It was hilarious. And because Saycon made a few mistakes throughout the show, JLT covered nicely. Did I mention JLT is awesome?

But you want to hear about Saycon, so here it is: SHE IS F****ING AWESOME. BEYOND AWESOME. I saw video clips of Shoshana and heard audios (tsk tsk on me) and Saycon has so much more power! Some of her line deliveries weren't great...in fact, she stumbled on a few lines. I think she was nervous and, hey, it WAS her first time. But her "Well, we can't all come and go by BUBBLE!" line totally made up for any mistakes. Black sass with a hint of attitude - that's Saycon.

Wizard and I - Very good. It was a little shaky at first. Her singing is different than Idina's and Shoshana's (and Kristy and Eden) but definitely awesome. At the end of WAI she tore sh*t up. That was when she hooked me.

Defy Gravity - ahh, the big one. She was great. She went up in the air and completely blew me away. She got a huge applause afterwards. She definitely won over the audience! One thing I noticed throughout the show was she kept adjusting her hat. When she was in the air she fixed it and had her broom raised. When the last downbeat came, her broom was in the air and she didn't do that extra raise-of-the-broom. But that was alright because she was singing like a Wicked Witch!

No Good Deed - Amazing. She has some voice on her. And her facial expressions...wow! With some work she could be better than Idina - dare I say it? I dare!

For Good - What emotion! I haven't seen this emotion in a while! One thing, during her first line in the song she adjusted the hat and gave this sexy look as if to say, "I'm wicked, green, and hot! Love me, baby!" She did the same motion again when she repeated the line. It was funny, but it worked - for some reason.

One thing she lacked was the power in her spoken lines. Especially, "And I will fight you till the day I die." It wasn't as strong as it should have been. Overall, her voice made up for that. I hope she takes over the role - soon!

David Ayers was great! I think he has the best voice of the three. I think Joey did the best job of acting "stupid"...perhaps it's because he wasn't acting - I dunno... David just seemed to "smart."

Jeffrey Kuhn - was great! I thing some of his line deliveries were better than Chris'. I think Chris has the more powerful voice, though.

During the fight scene between Glinda and Elphaba, Glinda dropped the hat as she grabbed it from Elphaba's head. As JLT tried to pick it up, she kept missing it or dropping it. Finally she went down for it and the guard (Sean McCourt) put the staff right into the hat, as if stabbing it. Then JLT grabbed the hat. It was quite funny.

Also, during Popular, Saycon said her "Want me to help" line too late because JLT had already thrown the magic wand off stage. So, to cover, as Saycon was saying the line, JLT raised her hand up and said, "SHHHHHHHH, NO! Wear the frock - it's pretty." Again, it was funny if you knew what was supposed to happen.

All in all it was great! Though Idina is gone, Elphaba is in good hands - Sengbloh hands!

_______________________________

The Phantom of the Opera

Backstory: As you may, or may not, know: I HATE POTO! I saw it when I was 13 and found it incredibly boring. I went and saw the movie and, well, you can read my review in the blog. I had said that if I liked the movie I would consider seeing the show again. Well, I walked out of the theatre and said: NO SHOW!

The first weekend of March my aunt died and I went down to the funeral. We left very early in the morning and I wouldn't music that would put me to sleep - in a good way. Enter POTO. Anyway, the music put me to sleep but I enjoyed it. Since then, it is all I have been listening to. Today, after Wicked and lunch, we went to the box office and got tickets to see the show (Front Mezz Right Row G - something about Row G today...).

So here is the review: Amazing. Brilliant. Simply, I feel in love. The staging, the music, the sets, the costumes, the special effects: GREAT (especially the flames in Wishing You Were Somehow Here - I felt the burn!)

So, I will be going back sometime to see it in the orchestra!

Hugh Panaro as the Phantom is brilliant. Better than Michael Crawford. The voice and the acting came together and was just perfect. Need I go on?

Sandra Joseph as Christine was great. Not much to say. She didn't do anything that annoyed me. (She was on instead of the alternate.)

Piangi, Firmin, and Andre were all great! I guess it wouldn't be fair to compare this Carlotta to Minnie Driver. I do, however, prefer the CD's Carlotta and Firmin to the current cast. Maybe it was me, but it sounded like Andre had an Irish accent...

Raoul - Michael Shawn Louis(understudy) I find it ironic that the first time I saw POTO I saw the understudies of Raoul and the Marksman. This time, I saw the understudies again. Michael was very good. Brilliant in fact. Very comparable to the original Raoul and Patrick Wilson.

So today was an awesome day! Next, DRS on Saturday!

Good night all!


[This Review can be found in my blog]

Updated On: 3/10/05 at 01:09 AM

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 1:11am

YAY SAYCON!!!!!!!!!!

[QtKt]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 1:19am

Great reviews BSoBW2!
I think my friend FOAnatic and I were right behind you on the cancellation line..! We got left orch row C, and it was definately worth it, Saycon was fantastic!

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 1:20am

Oh, were you the one fraking out when he was dragging you to meet Rob?

[TGIF]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 1:22am

How was As Long as You are Mine with her?

[QtKt]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 1:23am

Yeah, that would have been me.
I prefer when my friends don't drag me to do things i'm not comfortable with, but i've forgiven him

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 1:24am

Her and David did a greta job. I thing it was the best it ever was...I dunno.

The one thing I have to say is that Saycon doesn't sound like Idina. Shoshana kind of tries to sound like Idina. It was nice.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 1:25am

HAHAHAHA

Yeah, I turned to my friend and said, "Hey, she was behind us on the line! I guess they got tickets!"

Congrats.

I wonder if the family from Ohio ever got tickets.

[Matt_G]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 1:25am

Wonderful. You're gonna make me go and see her aren't you?

When is she on again?

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 1:26am

Hopefully she gets a lot of practice - cause I know she'll be awesome.

She doesn't sound like Idina, as much as others, as I said. She has something about her that just leaves you wanting more.

And she looked good in green. The people in front of us thought it was Shoshana. Then they looked at the playbill, saw the insert, and realized it wasn't. The woman said, "I thought she looked black."

Funny, "I thought she looked green..." Updated On: 3/10/05 at 01:26 AM

[QtKt]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 1:28am

I saw the guy who was at the end of the cancellation line inside when I went back in at the end of the matinee..
I think they got tickets... for their sake I hope so, because it was most definately worth it!

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 1:33am

Yeah, I though JLT was going to say something about it being her first show. But then she did that funny thing about Bway Cares.

POTO also is selling a cookbook - and a CD. And Hugh made a joke that past and present phantoms sing on the CD. Then he said, "I particularily like Track 3!" Then he pointed to himself. I dunno, it was funny.

He didn't mess up the name like JLT di though.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 3:28am

Your first Phantom experience you got an u/s? The first time I saw the show, I had understudies for the Phantom, Raoul, and Andre, plus the alternate Christine.

Still was a great combination, though.

[Jwei123]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 6:28am

SO glad for saycon! Yay :)

[kim1061]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 6:51am

great review!
i have been hearing good things abouther.

[Glinda's Candy]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 7:36am

Cool - thanks for the review. I'm glad she is really good - there is nothing worse than getting to the theatre and seeing that little piece of white paper fall out of the playbill - understudy... so it's nice to know that they picked a good Elphie.
X

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 9:36am

BSO, when I saw POTO back in Nov./Dec. with Hugh, he was talking about BCEFA and he also mentioned the CD and did the same thing when he told us to particularly listen to track 8 and pointed at himself. It was cute. Congrats on finally giving in and enjoying POTO! It's a great show, and like I told you before, "now you are here, no second thoughts, you've decided, decided."

[Ebonic_Singer]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 9:52am

Glad to hear she was good! I was wondering how she sounded!

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 10:58am

Yeah, my first AND second time I saw Raoul's understudy...Oh, well...

At least Hugh was there. He was awesome. And for discounted seats...

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 12:48pm

I am going back sometime to see POTO with my discount code - this time front row!

Did I mention I spent 6 hrs yesterday at the Gershwin alone?

[ChristineDaae]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 3:13pm

I'm glad you liked POTO =-D

[zepka102]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 4:40pm

BSO, i don't know what to say outside of...




I TOLD YOU SO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!






you can't say you hate me anymore

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 4:45pm

I still can.

YOu ruined EVERYTHING!

I am planning to see it again lol!

Errr

[zepka102]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 4:50pm

SWEET!!!





i win

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 3/10/05 at 4:55pm

lol

I think it's one of my favorite shows now...

::pulls out noose::