Wicked Saved Broadway!!! So did many musicals before Wicked! Cake! — Page 3

mm i like cake

keggss23, haha you make it sound like all people who like wicked only like it because of the looks of the people that play the characters. I liked the show way before I had ever seen a picture of anyone who was in it. (besides kristen chenoweth, because I already knew who she was). I liked it strictly for its music. Yeah yeah, you can argue that the music sucks, but I love it! (besides the occasional not as good songs)

I think, if anything, the STORYLINE appeals to teenagers. I think a lot of teens like the whole, "the girl that doesn't fit in gets the guy" thing. Not fitting in is an experience that most teenagers can relate to...

But also, since, believe it or not, there are a lot of Wicked fans in the country that DON'T live in NYC (including me) - meaning a lot of them became fans before they saw it on broadway, it is the music that attracted them to Wicked. Some people hate it. But good or bad, I think it attracts way more teens than the "hot guys" or the "husbands of the women in the cast".

EDIT: But I've got to agree with you on one thing, Wicked isn't the best musical of all time. I think it's good, but definetely not the best.

Updated On: 4/13/05 at 04:15 PM

Defy Gravity - I know that not all Wicked fans are that way and I am not knocking anyone who likes it. If it floats your boat, that's great. I was just using an extreme to make my point that for the most part these crazy, obsessed fans of Wicked are not going to be turned on to Broadway other than this particular show. Sure a few may be turned onto a few other of the contemporary rock shows, but will they educate themselves on the history of broadway or classic shows and composers? For the most part, probably not.

I just think it is incredibly ignorant to say that Wicked has saved Broadway. To prove my point, this is a quote from an earlier reply on this thread:
"It has power which scares older Broadway patrons who think that people like Sondheim and all were and still are amazing but what have they done recently..."

I think this quote is the best possible example to prove my point of how ignorant some people are. Sure, Wicked is the flavor of the moment, but the reason "people like Sondheim and all" are still around is because their works stand the test of time. In 20 years will people still care about Wicked? Sure, it's possible. What I do know is that I guarantee in 20 years, theaters all over the world will still be performing the works of Sondheim, Rogers and Hammerstein, the Gershwins, etc. It is ridiculous to dismiss them because a new flash in the pan has arrived.

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Updated On: 4/13/05 at 06:20 PM

Ok, I apologize for using your quote now that I see what you were trying to say. However, I still stand by my earlier post (minus using your quote). There are people who claim that Wicked is the greatest show ever, without really knowing any other shows. Without anything to compare it to, how can anyone say it is the best?

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Not at all, RentBoy. You are absolutely entitled to your opinion! At least you have educated yourself about other shows and composers. I am strictly speaking about the insanely obsessive fans that will start threads to give us the time and date Idina last went to the bathroom, etc. I am also only speaking of the Wicked fans that are so quick to say that Wicked has saved Broadway and that it is the best thing ever without really knowing any other shows.

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Oh, well I've never seen Wicked, i'm simply speaking of the music. I actually put off buying the recording for a year. I went out and bought Avenue Q first and thought it was a great show, but then I heard defying gravity and i was like "i have to hear that song again." So i bought the CD and now i'm going this summer to Chicago to see Wicked. I guess that's the same way i was with Rent. After the first song in Rent, i was like "this is going to suck," but then I was just amazed by it and now it's my favorite show on Broadway - or ever.

I actually partially agree. I was interested in Broadway earlier - we always went to TKTS, and so I saw a few shows. However, me going on a theatre trip in August of last year got me really into Broadway by seeing Wicked and Hairspray, and both gotten me interested in other shows. Let's take Norbert Leo Butz for example.

I saw Wicked, loved it. Bought the Wicked OBCR. I really loved Norbert's voice, and so found out more about him. Bought the Last 5 Years CD. I just went to see Dirty Rotten Scoundrels for the sole reason of seeing Norbert.

This goes with a lot of Broadway shows and stars. It all really depends. But I am trying to see almost every show on Broadway now. I really want to be exposed to all of it, because I love it.

My mom told me once before I saw Wicked that she thought that the concept of Broadway would end and most shows would start closing down and there would be eventually no more Broadway before I died. After she saw Wicked, and how many people loved it, she took back her statement.

So, please don't think that every fangirl that sees Wicked will think it's the only show in the world. It's made a real Broadway fan out of me.

Well, to commment on the whole Sondheim will stand the test of time. I dunno about other people on this board, but as a 19 year old, Sondheim just doesn't appeal to me. I'm not sure why, I've tried to get into him, but i think since pop culture as changed so much since his first Broadway show, so have teens tastes - if that makes sense. I'm more drawn to the 'popper' sounds of Wicked and Rent than I am to The Frogs, but that's just me. I think with Wicked & Mamma Mia, more teens are at least looking at the theater as an entertainment outlet. For instance, i showed my sister a video of Wicked, a clip from a website, and now she is pestering my mom to take her to NYC to see this musical and now she wants to hear more songs and hear other Broadway shows. So, bascially, I think Wicked works.

totally agree. I think it will run for a long time because more and more teens will catch onto it. I mean eventually it will fizzle out, but not for a long time.

We have been talking about teen girls seeing Wicked and possibly not seeing any other shows or a few of the pop/rock based shows. I would like to throw another scenario into the mix. The evening I saw Wicked, there were very few African Americans period in the audience. (I am African American) Where Wicked is drawing all of these teens, based on what I saw that evening at the Gershwin and at the stage door, they are predominently white. It is very hard to get African Americans to the theatre unless the cast is all African American or the storyline pertains to us and has some African Americans in the cast. My family does not go to the theatre unless this is the case. But they did see The Wiz, Dreamgirls and last year's revival of A Raisin in the Sun. (AS did I) As some of you know from my posts, I am active at the Denver Center Theatre Company. The organization I chair was formed to get the African American community into the theatre to see more than shows like the above mentioned. Yes, it is great that they took the time to hop a bus to NYC to see a show (and good shows at that), but you won't see a ton of African Americans at Assassins, Scoundrels, Pillowman, Doubt or a lot of other shows running. So even though a show appeals to a certain demographic and draws them in, it does not always mean that it will make them go back and see more shows. I really wish it would. I tried to get my ex, who is African American, to see Sweeney Todd with me and he asked me why would he want to see this show? And were there any black people in it? I told him that "there weren't but why should that matter. You go to be entertained. It is not a black or white thing. Whether black or white, you should be able to follow the story that the show tells. And no matter your color, you can relate to the stories being told on some level. And even if you can't relate you can be entertained. Open your mind. Not everything can be "You're Arms too Short to Box With God starring Patti LaBelle"!

I saw Sweeney Todd alone and the only show we saw together in 8 years was "Your Arms too Short to Box With God"!

Just my 2 cents.

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I'm sure every theatre generation has their "Wicked". Mine at the time happened to be the original production of "Annie". It was my first broadway show. I had never experienced anything that "magical" before in the theatre. That sense of excitement, joy, etc. are what keeps me returning to the theatre as an adult.

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I agree AC! When my dance studio went to LA last year we did dancing thorugh life. TONS and TONS of kids from ym studio are now into Broadway because of that show. They heard the music, bought the cd and now are hooked on many other musicals! Even my friend who was "too cool" for that kind of stuff, and we all know the type of people I'm talking about. Theres my 2 cents!
<3liz

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Sorry. SAVED: as in , keeping the interest alive to those who aren't particually inclined to see a show (general population). At least, that's how I take it.