Wicked tour review 12/15/07 8pm

[Elphaba3]

Posted: 12/19/07 at 6:03pm

This was my 7th time seeing Wicked over the course of almost four years, and my first time seeing this cast.

Carmen Cusack as Elphaba- She completely owns the role. Her acting is very strong and while her singing has a little more vibrato than I like, she has a lot of power.

Katie Rose Clarke as Glinda- I can't imagine anyone acting the role better than her. She makes Glinda a real person, not a caricature. Her singing is soft and beautiful.

Cliffton Hall as Fiyero- He started out quite strong and got progressivly weaker. Still, I could tell he was actually happy to be up there unlike another Fiyero I've seen.

Alma Cuervo as Madame Morrible- She has a lot of presence, which is essential for Morrible. She did a great job of being seemingly nice and then showing her true evil self. She owns the role.

Lee Wilkof as the Wizard- Considering that I saw one of his first performances, I was very impressed. He was cute and lovable, rather than evil and manipulative. I liked him.

Deedee Magno Hall as Nessarose- She's definitely my favorite Nessarose. She added so many little nuances to the role that added up to make one of the best performances I've ever seen.

Brad Weinstock as Boq- Not much of a role, but he did pretty well. He wasn't overly whiny, which was nice.

Tom Flynn as Dr. Dillamond- Again, not much of a role. He did well also, especially in the scene where he's fired.

Overall, it was the strongest Wicked cast I've seen since 2004. I definitely recommend seeing them if you can

[deadparrot]

Posted: 12/19/07 at 7:28pm

I was there, too. How about that snow at the end of the evening?

One little moment that made me laugh was during Popular, after KRC did the splits. She got up, kind of jumped around, and under her breath muttered, "I can't believe I did that."

In any case, I thought KRC/CC made a great team. I liked KRC's slightly more subdued (rather than hyperactive) G(a)linda, and CC was all-around fantastic, particularly in Act II.

[BrianIdol]

Posted: 12/19/07 at 7:29pm

ALMA CUERVO is THE BOMB....if only Grey Gardens had run long enough to need a replacement for Mary Louise Wilson

[Elphaba3]

Posted: 12/19/07 at 8:12pm

So she did do the splits! I was sitting pretty far over on house right so I couldn't see exactly what happened. All I knew was that she and Carmen had the giggles for the rest of the song. I also like my Glindas more calm than spastic. The weather was terrible. My friend and I were literally the only ones at the stage door. Katie actually remembered me from the Piazza stage door five months ago. I was not expecting that.

[Eos]

Posted: 12/22/07 at 1:37am

I saw it on the 16th. I've always thought Alma Cuervo is the best Madame Morrible - she could get laughs out of a turnip!
Carmen's great, and I love Katie Clarke. I thought she was very funny during "Popular". That must be a pretty tough number to make your own after so many have put their stamp on it.
Cliffton Hall's delivery was a little distracting - a little too "Christian Slater does Jack Nicholson" for me.
Have you guys tried the lottery? Just wondering how crowded it is.

[broadwayfan7]

Posted: 12/24/07 at 7:20pm

So glad to hear you liked the show Elphaba3, deadparrot and Eos!

[Allshowsrock]

Posted: 12/24/07 at 9:16pm

Yea, I saw Carmen and she was amazing. I love her No Good Deed, her high F in "Defying Gravity" could use some work but she is still settling I think. She is amazing tho, and I cant wait to see her again.

[Linda3]

Posted: 12/30/07 at 9:51pm

I saw Wicked while touring and loved it so much that I had to go back, but unfortunately they were sold out so I took my chances and went to the lottery. About 75, maybe more people were there and I did not get a ticket, but with a big group, you have a better chance, of course, to get the tickets. One lady there tried 5 times until she finally got a ticket. I eventually got a ticket from people outside selling them and the show is absolutely AMAZING with Carmen Cusack and Katie Rose Clarke. I can't think of a better duo than them. Absolutely incredible.

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 12/30/07 at 9:55pm

Glad to see she is back with the show, although I was looking forward to seeing her in My Fair Lady. She is a great actress, and I'd love to see her again.

I agree, the tour is a very strong production.

Updated On: 12/30/07 at 09:55 PM

[broadwayfan7]

Posted: 12/30/07 at 9:59pm

Thanks for the update of the lottery Linda! Glad you got to see it again! I'm probably going to try the lottery next weekend.

[Linda3]

Posted: 1/1/08 at 2:24pm

Well, good luck!! And if you don't get it, you could always stay outside waiting for someone to sell their tickets, like I did. Just some advice..