I saw her do Wicked in Los Angeles, and was absolutely blown away! You would have thought it was Liza Minnelli who walked on stage the way the audience reacted - as a matter of fact, I honestly don't know if I've even heard a Liza audience scream quite THAT loud as they did for Stephanie when she first walked on stage in Wicked that night. It was one of those moments where you get tears in your eyes and a little choked up because you know it's got to be such an incredible feeling for her to feel that kind of love.
Well, I can only say that the audience got even MORE enthusiastic by the end of Act 1. Her Defying Gravity almost had the entire place on their feet. In the lobby at intermission, you didn't hear one single conversation that wasn't about Wicked. I didn't hear one person talking about the restaurant they went to for dinner, their work lives, etc. And even that idiot agent that sat on the cell phone near us all the way up to curtain yammering on and on in a loud voice about some VIP client of his (showing off, if you ask me!) - even HE was talking about Wicked and Stephanie when he got back to his seat all the way up to the Act 2 curtain.
Anyway, suffice it to say that Stephanie was every bit as incredible as I heard and hoped she would be. I can't say that she got a standing ovation during curtain call, per se, because the audience was on their feet the SECOND they realized curtain calls were starting. And I'm talking about JUMPING to their feet - not just standing because it was a good show - they FLEW up screaming and applauding like crazy. So obviously they were on their feet long before Stephanie came out for her curtain call. But if they could have stood again, they would have, I'm sure.
I also want to mention that Katie Adams went on that night as Galinda and although she wasn't recognized or given the reception in the beginning that Stephanie was - by the END of the show, the audience had all been won over and I have to say that her bow got almost as much noise as Stephanie's did. And Katie deserved EVERY bit of it.
Mark my words, they're going to write something huge for Stephanie one day. It'll be an Evita or a Sunset Boulevard or a Gypsy - or something like that - a show that's pretty much all about this one leading character - or at least driven by that one characer. And she'll win a Tony for it. That's just my prediction.
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