WICKED - Nifty story, Dismal score (SPOILERS)

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 10/29/03 at 11:46pm

I specifically haven't read other posts on the subject, as I did not want to be unduly influenced or spoiled by what I saw tonight.

There are lots of things that don't work in WICKED. But this is the one thing that cannot be avoided. The score's a bore.

While lyrically clever, nimble and at times touching, the music is nearly all power ballads of no great flavor or musical disctinction. And in a musical set in Oz, you are unvoidably reminded of the variety, luscious melody, charm and saucy heart of Harold Arlen & Yip Harburg. The only time the musical feels light and joyful is in Joel Grey's merry second number.

The cast is too good for the material. Kristin works her tail off, but she's given no chance to "DO", while Indina seems directed to be grumpy and humorless, while geshreying her numbers to indicate conviction or passion. I actually thought that the score gave neither woman a real chance to really shine. Galinda and Elphelba become friends almost too quickly, and I never believed in thier friendship . And Elphelbas 'motivation' to turn against the Wizard is very sketchy. She never asks him WHY he deprives the animals of speech...and we never learn, either.

The choreography is pretty bad, and the chrous numbers are turgid. One misses a sprightly "Oooo-reee---ooo, ORRRReo! Oooo-reee-ooo, OooRReo!"

Is it a terrible show? No. It's filled with spectacle and great effects. The plot is pretty juicy. It could have made for a compelling enchanting musical. But I found WICKED a surprisingly cold show. It screams for a great, magical score. It doesn't get it.

I went in wanting to love it, but I left dissapointed.

Updated On: 10/30/03 at 11:46 PM

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 10/29/03 at 11:52pm

Yikes! So sorry you were underwhelmed. Wait till you see BOUNCE!

[Unknown User]

Posted: 10/30/03 at 12:21am

That is a shame. But I have heard many people say that about Stephen Schwartz music. I personally love his work. Children of Eden is brilliant. And I am one of the few who enjoy Nightingale

[DefyingGravity]

Posted: 10/30/03 at 12:22am

wow.

[CourtneyM]

Posted: 10/30/03 at 12:29am

i was there tonight too and i actually enjoyed it quite a lot. just wondering, were you in the 4th row orchestra?

[newyorkuniq]

Posted: 10/30/03 at 12:39am

I thought the music was great and Joel Greys song was the most dull.

[DefyingGravity]

Posted: 10/30/03 at 12:42am

i thought it was the best musical i ever seen...Idina gave me chills when she sang! like always! i can't wait to see it again November 4th!

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 10/30/03 at 12:46am

Hi Courtney, no, I was in the balcony. But I had a great seat and didn't miss a thing.

I'm glad so many people had a great time. I wish I had!

But this one one of the few musicals where I wished the songs would be done with so the story would move along.

[MusicMan]

Posted: 10/30/03 at 1:01am

Do you mean Nightingale by Charles Strouse, BOJON? Perhaps you're confusing it with Meadowlark, one of the great muslcal theater songs.

I can't help but concur with Master. "Popular" is fun, "What is This Feeling" has hilarious moments but WHY drag on the chorus? Wrong, wrong, wrong. "For Good" is also clever and an almost great closer. But the majority of songs simply don't land. Mantello's direction contributes little and, frankly, the ultimate feeling I had was this was a property that didn't warrant musicalization. Despite the undiscerning and dim-witted standing ovation, this is no hit.

[ShbrtAlley44]

Posted: 10/30/03 at 8:22am

I was just wondering, DefyingGravity, how you manage both being in Aida and seeing Wicked a lot?

[Ron Pulliam]

Posted: 10/30/03 at 11:25am

Having seen the show in San Francisco in one of its earliest incarnations, I can tell you WHY the wizard was robbing the animals of speech.

He explained it to Elphaba in his throne room: It's because he comes from a land where they eat meat, and, as he said in that earlier version of the show, "It's impossible to eat something that once talked to you."

!!!!

That said, I think the score is glorious! And NO, I don't "take" to scores right away...I knew I liked this one on my first visit. I saw the show again on its last day and was BLOWN AWAY by the score...totally.

"Wonderful," that second song by Joel Grey, is the most "traditional" song in the show...very old hat style, but fun.

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 10/30/03 at 3:04pm

Glad there are people here that liked the score! :)

Ron, The Wizards line is a GREAT point in the script that would have explained a lot. It was very dumb to have cut it.

Updated On: 10/30/03 at 03:04 PM

[Corine2]

Posted: 10/30/03 at 4:31pm

I hope to see it soon. Updated On: 10/30/03 at 04:31 PM

[newyorkuniq]

Posted: 10/30/03 at 4:34pm

They should have left that line in! It helps explain the plot. Updated On: 10/30/03 at 04:34 PM

[WOSQ]

Posted: 10/30/03 at 4:42pm

I think the score rates a better word than 'dismal', I'd call it good but certainly not great. But I also am the first to say that this is a book-driven musical as opposed to for instance, Avenue Q which is score-driven.

At last a musical where we really care what happens to these people, and we think we know them all and from this POV, we do not. I do have a weakness for retellings in general, but this was rather delightful. I have not read the book yet so many of the events were a surprise.

The line about eating things you have talked to is pretty crucial. A tad gruesome perhaps, but it explains a key and missing plot point.

As is my usual gripe these days, I felt the set was way way way too big and the choreography was neither good nor bad. It just had nothing to do with the matters at hand--McChoreography if you will.

I think it will sell. Whether it will make back its 14 mil cost is another matter.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 10/30/03 at 4:53pm

Ron's take mirrors mine. Halfway through "The Wizard and I," I was emotionally connected to Idina's character, as one hopes to be in the "I want" number. For me, Schwartz gave Elphaba a voice, a way to express her internal life that couldn't be part of the book scenes. To others, they are "power ballads" to reminiscent of the animated Disney films. Whether we agree on the quality of the music, the evening is all of a piece: the pop idiom in the score is a tonally/stylistically appropriate match for the Holzman pop-ish book, no?

But I respect the "ears" of others, and certainly think Master and MusicMan and others are harbingers of things to come: this score may well be deemed the show's liability. I think the posters who reference the classic Arlen zeroed on something important. These character spring from an iconic film and film score, along with "Singin'In the Rain," arguably the most familiar (and best) of the genre. Subconsciously, we carry that with us, even if Dorothy never appears. The Oz on stage has already "sung" for us, so we expect a kind of connection to that music--music that's a part of our collective consciousness. Schwartz's songs -- though in sync with Holzman -- clearly aren't in the Arlen tradition, and that simple fact may keep the audience at arms length.

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 10/30/03 at 8:14pm

Auggie, When the show made throwaway reference to two lines from the WIZARD film (you know which ones they are) the audience cheered and applauded loudly.

For better or wors4e, The WIZARD is never far from the minds of the people who see WICKED.