Wicked

Wicked Teal Wicks, Kendra Kassebaum

The strategy did not quite work: find a mid-week matinee, take public transportation, enjoy a less attended show. The possibility of rain changed our minds on taking CalTrain. We arrived Orpheum Theater and found a sold-out. Hey, I was on vacation, where do these people come from? Don’t they need to work?

Both kids have seen this show and liked it. They had the CDs and hummed the tunes once in a while. Kid refused to ruin the plot, saying that I should go see the show myself. And she was right.

I highly recommend this show. I am not sure if there is any significant difference between the San Francisco and the Original Broadway versions. Wicked actually started in San Francisco. After about 5 months, the company moved to Broadway, in 2003.

Teal Wicks plays Elphaba, opposing Kendra Kassebaum’s Glinda. I felt she is the main character and a slightly better singer than Kendra. (It could be her mezzo-soprano belt that shook the theater.)

It is really difficult to review this one without ruining it. I understand the musical is based on Greg Maguire’s book, apparently itself a best-seller. The show lasted 3 hours, including intermission, and probably did not do justice to the original book: simplification is a necessity converting books to any performance form. Nevertheless, unlike many musicals, the story was equally enjoyable as the songs.