#1
Posted: 6/29/08 at 2:40am
As most of you may know from previous messages I have posted, I got tickets to the matinée performance of WICKED on June 28, 2008 all because I had to see the amazing Kerry Ellis as Elphaba. Most of you also probably know that on Wednesday I found out I would be seeing Julie Reiber as Elphaba. I was not a big fan of Julie judging from videos on YouTube but after seeing her live the saying "don't judge from videos" has never been more true. Julie came on stage and she was Elphaba.
Julie is probably the best I have seen live as far as acting goes, she was amazing.
There were so many acting highlights from today but the one that really stuck out for me was when Elphaba first meets the Wizard. It seemed like Julie was at the mall around Christmas time waiting to meet Santa and when Elphaba met the Wizard, Julie got to sit on Santa's lap, her acting was just that amazing! Julie's voice was just beyond fantastic! Another thing was that Julie had amazing chemistry with the whole cast.
Kendra came down in her bubble and cracked a few times during No One Mourns The Wicked but got much better as the show went on. Also, I have never seen Kendra so ditsy as Glinda before, at one point Kendra made herself laugh because of how she was acting (it was adorable). Overall, Kendra blew me away (as usual).
Aaron and Jayne were simply phenomenal and are by far the best I have seen in the roles yet! In case your wondering, Aaron has adjusted greatly to the show.
Lenny, Ben, and Christy were amazing as usual.
At the stage door only Lenny, Aaron, and Julie came out (it was a little disappointing, I was really surprised that Ben and Kendra didn't come out.) Only me and like 4 other people recognized Julie and all of us not being first time Wicked goers (well at least I think no one was) knew not to call someone over at the Gershwin until they got down the line. So, Julie went to the beginning with a marker ready and noticed no one got excited so she was like "I WAS ELPHABA!" and everyone got crazy, and Julie was extremely nice.
One thing I did notice mainly throughout act one and the beginning of act two were sound problems. It sounded like mics were being put on to late and the ensemble was very hard to hear and the pit seemed either very loud or very soft.
As some of you may know, I decided to do the WICKED lotto because I still really wanted to see Kerry, being the title of this thread I feel I don't need to say it but... I didn't win.
By that point it was pouring and after going to the Eugene O'Neill and being told the rush tickets were sold out I decided I was not going to go theatre to theatre looking for rush tickets, so I decided to go to TKTS and I saw they had Young Frankenstein tickets. First off the guy at the TKTS booth was so obnoxious and rude, it was just disgusting! Anyway, I was side orchestra, row p, seat 26. I expected the seat to be ok but the seat was amazing! I had the perfect view (except for a tall guy in front of me, who I was mostly able to avoid) and was in front of the over hang and everything!
I got very nervous when I saw an understudy board but luckily Sutton and Shuler were there.
The understudy board was as follows:
At this performance
The role of will be played by
Frederick Frankenstein Jon Patrick Walker
Igor Brian Shepard
Roles played by Brian Shepard Craig Waletzko
Roles played by Heather Ayers Kristin Marie Johnson
In a way I'm happy both Frederick and Igor were understudies because I feel the understudies probably had better chemistry together where as I have a feeling it might have been different if it was just one was an understudy, but I can't say for a fact.
Although as far as understudies go, you could not tell they didn't play the part every night, they were phenomenal.
The show overall was great and Sutton, Shuler, Megan, Andrea and the whole cast were on fire!
At the stage door everyone came out except for Sutton, so it was a very nice stage door experience for the most part.
Julie is probably the best I have seen live as far as acting goes, she was amazing.
There were so many acting highlights from today but the one that really stuck out for me was when Elphaba first meets the Wizard. It seemed like Julie was at the mall around Christmas time waiting to meet Santa and when Elphaba met the Wizard, Julie got to sit on Santa's lap, her acting was just that amazing! Julie's voice was just beyond fantastic! Another thing was that Julie had amazing chemistry with the whole cast.
Kendra came down in her bubble and cracked a few times during No One Mourns The Wicked but got much better as the show went on. Also, I have never seen Kendra so ditsy as Glinda before, at one point Kendra made herself laugh because of how she was acting (it was adorable). Overall, Kendra blew me away (as usual).
Aaron and Jayne were simply phenomenal and are by far the best I have seen in the roles yet! In case your wondering, Aaron has adjusted greatly to the show.
Lenny, Ben, and Christy were amazing as usual.
At the stage door only Lenny, Aaron, and Julie came out (it was a little disappointing, I was really surprised that Ben and Kendra didn't come out.) Only me and like 4 other people recognized Julie and all of us not being first time Wicked goers (well at least I think no one was) knew not to call someone over at the Gershwin until they got down the line. So, Julie went to the beginning with a marker ready and noticed no one got excited so she was like "I WAS ELPHABA!" and everyone got crazy, and Julie was extremely nice.
One thing I did notice mainly throughout act one and the beginning of act two were sound problems. It sounded like mics were being put on to late and the ensemble was very hard to hear and the pit seemed either very loud or very soft.
As some of you may know, I decided to do the WICKED lotto because I still really wanted to see Kerry, being the title of this thread I feel I don't need to say it but... I didn't win.
By that point it was pouring and after going to the Eugene O'Neill and being told the rush tickets were sold out I decided I was not going to go theatre to theatre looking for rush tickets, so I decided to go to TKTS and I saw they had Young Frankenstein tickets. First off the guy at the TKTS booth was so obnoxious and rude, it was just disgusting! Anyway, I was side orchestra, row p, seat 26. I expected the seat to be ok but the seat was amazing! I had the perfect view (except for a tall guy in front of me, who I was mostly able to avoid) and was in front of the over hang and everything!
I got very nervous when I saw an understudy board but luckily Sutton and Shuler were there.
The understudy board was as follows:
At this performance
The role of will be played by
Frederick Frankenstein Jon Patrick Walker
Igor Brian Shepard
Roles played by Brian Shepard Craig Waletzko
Roles played by Heather Ayers Kristin Marie Johnson
In a way I'm happy both Frederick and Igor were understudies because I feel the understudies probably had better chemistry together where as I have a feeling it might have been different if it was just one was an understudy, but I can't say for a fact.
Although as far as understudies go, you could not tell they didn't play the part every night, they were phenomenal.
The show overall was great and Sutton, Shuler, Megan, Andrea and the whole cast were on fire!
At the stage door everyone came out except for Sutton, so it was a very nice stage door experience for the most part.
Goodbye
