#1
Posted: 6/20/08 at 10:08am
Here's the review from the Buffalo News:
http://www.buffalonews.com/entertainment/story/374583.html
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'Wicked' Enchants Fans in Flight of Fancy at Shea's
BY COLIN DABKOWSKI, News Staff Reviewer
Forget all about Kansas, Toto. I have a feeling we’re not even on Broadway anymore. After nearly a year of giddy anticipation from Broadway fans across Western New York, the blockbuster musical “Wicked” has swooped into town for a monthlong run that started Wednesday night in Shea’s Performing Arts Center. And if Thursday’s official opening night performance was any indication, it’s been well worth the wait.
The show takes place, if not over the rainbow, somewhere deep beneath it. It’s based on the 1995 novel “Wicked,” Gregory Maguire’s transposition of L. Frank Baum’s famous fantasy dream world into his own macabre and moralistic nightmare about the shady origins of the Wicked Witch of the West and the entire crew led by “that wretched little farm girl” Dorothy.
In a sense, the message not so subtly encoded in Maguire’s book — be careful who you demonize — found a hospitable and arguably more appropriate home in the stagecraft wizardry and swelling orchestration of this Broadway musical, a form given more to lush, broad strokes than complex psychological depth.
And with Stephen Schwartz’s music and lyrics, boy are those strokes broad. The score, which at times veers toward what sounds like a “South Park” parody of the typical Broadway musical, is for the most part rooted in an instantly recognizable and formulaic pop sensibility that has clearly struck a chord with millions of teenage fans. Which is not to say there aren’t some runaway winners in the song department. “Popular” is popular for a reason, which is essentially that it’s the one of the few lyrically inspired tunes in the show. And “Defying Gravity,” while maybe a bit over the top (oh my God, we’re in a new key again!) is nonetheless capable of transporting audiences to new sonic heights.
Schwartz also deserves credit for his pair of clever vaudeville-inspired numbers, “A Sentimental Man” and “Wonderful,” both performed with great panache in this tour by the very George Wallace-esque Lee Wilkof.
As Elphaba, the green-hued and much maligned girl whose grand ambitions are shattered by the cruel and Orwellian populace of Oz, Carmen Cusack gives an excellent performance, revealing herself as a fine comic actor and a good singer. Katie Rose Clarke does an excellent impression of Molly Shannon’s comic body language and, when she gets around to it, isn’t half bad either at playing Elphaba’s hyper-goodie two shoes roommate and eventual nemesis Galinda/ Glinda the Good.
They’re joined by the formidable talent of Cliffton Hall as the aloof prince Fiyero and the viciously honed and thrilling performance of Alma Cuervo as the deplorable Madame Morrible.
In transition from book to stage, the story at the heart of Maguire’s book has unintentionally taken a turn back toward the uncomplicated world of Baum’s Oz. But in refusing to adapt “Wicked” into a children’s book, Maguire and later the show’s creators have wisely and effectively funneled millions of teens and children into the happy, glittering world of Broadway’s unapologetically popular side.
And that, by any measure, is a change for good.
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Review
Three stars (out of four)
WHAT: “Wicked”
WHEN: Through July 13
WHERE: Shea’s Performing Arts Center, 646 Main St.
TICKETS: $34.50 to $127.50
INFO: 847-1410 or www.sheas.org
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.buffalonews.com/entertainment/story/374583.html
==========================================================
'Wicked' Enchants Fans in Flight of Fancy at Shea's
BY COLIN DABKOWSKI, News Staff Reviewer
Forget all about Kansas, Toto. I have a feeling we’re not even on Broadway anymore. After nearly a year of giddy anticipation from Broadway fans across Western New York, the blockbuster musical “Wicked” has swooped into town for a monthlong run that started Wednesday night in Shea’s Performing Arts Center. And if Thursday’s official opening night performance was any indication, it’s been well worth the wait.
The show takes place, if not over the rainbow, somewhere deep beneath it. It’s based on the 1995 novel “Wicked,” Gregory Maguire’s transposition of L. Frank Baum’s famous fantasy dream world into his own macabre and moralistic nightmare about the shady origins of the Wicked Witch of the West and the entire crew led by “that wretched little farm girl” Dorothy.
In a sense, the message not so subtly encoded in Maguire’s book — be careful who you demonize — found a hospitable and arguably more appropriate home in the stagecraft wizardry and swelling orchestration of this Broadway musical, a form given more to lush, broad strokes than complex psychological depth.
And with Stephen Schwartz’s music and lyrics, boy are those strokes broad. The score, which at times veers toward what sounds like a “South Park” parody of the typical Broadway musical, is for the most part rooted in an instantly recognizable and formulaic pop sensibility that has clearly struck a chord with millions of teenage fans. Which is not to say there aren’t some runaway winners in the song department. “Popular” is popular for a reason, which is essentially that it’s the one of the few lyrically inspired tunes in the show. And “Defying Gravity,” while maybe a bit over the top (oh my God, we’re in a new key again!) is nonetheless capable of transporting audiences to new sonic heights.
Schwartz also deserves credit for his pair of clever vaudeville-inspired numbers, “A Sentimental Man” and “Wonderful,” both performed with great panache in this tour by the very George Wallace-esque Lee Wilkof.
As Elphaba, the green-hued and much maligned girl whose grand ambitions are shattered by the cruel and Orwellian populace of Oz, Carmen Cusack gives an excellent performance, revealing herself as a fine comic actor and a good singer. Katie Rose Clarke does an excellent impression of Molly Shannon’s comic body language and, when she gets around to it, isn’t half bad either at playing Elphaba’s hyper-goodie two shoes roommate and eventual nemesis Galinda/ Glinda the Good.
They’re joined by the formidable talent of Cliffton Hall as the aloof prince Fiyero and the viciously honed and thrilling performance of Alma Cuervo as the deplorable Madame Morrible.
In transition from book to stage, the story at the heart of Maguire’s book has unintentionally taken a turn back toward the uncomplicated world of Baum’s Oz. But in refusing to adapt “Wicked” into a children’s book, Maguire and later the show’s creators have wisely and effectively funneled millions of teens and children into the happy, glittering world of Broadway’s unapologetically popular side.
And that, by any measure, is a change for good.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Review
Three stars (out of four)
WHAT: “Wicked”
WHEN: Through July 13
WHERE: Shea’s Performing Arts Center, 646 Main St.
TICKETS: $34.50 to $127.50
INFO: 847-1410 or www.sheas.org
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"To love another person is to see the face of God!"
Updated On: 6/20/08 at 10:08 AM
