Wicked - First National Tour: Chicago, Illinois (October 30, 2013) *Evening*
10TH ANNIVERSARY PERFORMANCE!
Cast:
Jenn Gambatese (Glinda), Kevin McMahon (Witch’s Father/Ozian Official), Marina Lazzaretto (Witch’s Mother), Dina Bennett (Midwife), Alison Luff (Elphaba), Jaime Rosenstein (Nessarose), Jesse JP Johnson (Boq), Kim Zimmer (Madame Morrible), Tom Flynn (Doctor Dillamond), Curt Hansen (Fiyero), John Davidson (The Wizard Of Oz), Raymond Mats Matsamura (Chistery), Shayla Beck (Ensemble), Kyle Brown (Ensemble), Nirine S. Brown (Ensemble), Rick Desloge (Ensemble), Timothy A. Fitz-Gerald (Ensemble), Adam Fleming (Ensemble), Lindsay Janisse (Ensemble), Trevor Ryan Krahl (Ensemble), Jonathan McGill (Ensemble), Meredith Miles (Ensemble), Shanon Mari Mills (Ensemble), Cassie Okenka (Ensemble), Constantine Rousouli (Ensemble), Brandon Rubendall (Ensemble), & Pamela Shandrow (Ensemble).
Review:
I got tickets to see wicked for my birthday! I was so happy I got to go on the 10th anniversary. It was such an honor to get to see the show on its birthday. Anyway, the show was amazing. Alison Luff was fantastic as Elphaba. Her vocals were crazy. Riffs, upon riffs! The “Fiyero” riff in “No Good Deed” was by far my favorite. Her acting was also great. She sounded very young, which made Elphaba seem so innocent. Jenn Gambatese was great as Glinda. She had beautiful vocals. Her “Popular” was hilarious. Alison & Jenn’s chemistry were by far the best. You can tell they are really truly great friends. Curt Hansen was wonderful as Fiyero. His best song is definitely “As Long As Your Mine”. Kim Zimmer was scary as Madame Morrible. Her “Defying Gravity” speech was epic! Jaime Rosenstein was great as Nessarose. She gave Nessa a sense of niceness and spiled-bratness. John Davidson was Wonderful (I love using this pun) as The Wizard. He really made The Wizard likeable. His “Wonderful” was a big highlight. There were two bloopers that happened during the performance. First in the Shiz scene were Elphaba uses magic to get Nessa’s chair. The char was not on the track properly and did not spin as it should have. This caused Kim Zimmer to push the chair to Elphaba. Then, during “The Wizard And I” when the two pillars move they made a very strange creaking noise that made it seem as if they were getting stuck on the tracks. During, Intermission they gave out bubbles to blow during the curtain call for the 10th anniversary. It was kind of cool, despite the fact they were dollar store bubbles. The whole performance itself was not as stellar as I hoped it would be for the 10th anniversary, but the cast was great!
I would give the performance 8 out of 10! :D
I would give the performance 8 out of 10! :D
Stage Door:
Stage door was fun. There were a lot of super-wicked fans out there to celebrate the night! First to come out was Curt Hansen. He was super nice. He signed my Playbill, & my Grimmerie. Then I showed him the N2N Playbill I had and he loved the fact I had it. I also showed him a picture of the fan mail he sent me 2 years ago. He couldn’t believe how long ago that was. Then a few more people came out, but I’m not sure who they were. Then, I noticed a lady talking to 2 other people and she said her name was Marissa. I immediately began to think “Is that Marissa Lupp?” I saw Marissa back in 2011 when she was the u/s for Glinda. So, I asked if she was Marissa Lupp and she said yes. She was so sweet and it was finally nice to meet her after all of the years I thought she was amazing. Then, she left. Then, a guy came out and said that Alison and Jenn were not coming out because they had to do an interview. So, we left. All & all a pretty nice stage door!