Wicked

For the past few years, Wicked was the only item on my list of must see musicals (Avenue Q almost makes it). Now, I can finally cross it off my list. Prior to Wicked, The Lion King was the only other musical to hold a coveted spot on that list. Regardless, somehow over the years I've seen quite a few musicals.

So I watched Wicked last week and thought it was quite good. I think of all the musicals I've seen, Wicked has the most interesting storyline. Or at least one that I never felt got boring as I find most stories in musicals do. Usually I'll find the first half of a musical to be great, but then after the intermission I tend to get bored. That was definitely the case for Mamma Mia and Phantom of the Opera.

If you don't know already, Wicked is based on a book by the same name. It tells The Wizard of Oz story from the Wicked Witch of the West's perspective. Actually it takes place even before the events of The Wizard of Oz and we get to see when the Wicked Witch wasn't really so wicked. I'm a sucker for these kind of stories that take a well-known tale and put a twist on it.

Wicked had some pretty cool tech too: an animatronic dragon and Wizard of Oz. How they set up the final "shot" of the first act with the witch was quite impressive and compelling as a visual. For the songs, I can only recall two: Popular, which I hear all the time on TV commercials and Defying Gravity, which I thought was the most memorable.

Here's a list of musicals I've seen in no particular order:

Phantom of the Opera
Les Miserables
Rent
Urinetown
Spamalot
The Lion King
The Producers
Mamma Mia
Wicked
Flower Drum Song
Hairspray
Chicago
Pacific Overtures
Movin' Out
Bombay Dreams

Wow, that's a lot. I think it's time to note that I enjoy musicals in the LGW. It's great as far as live performances go. Musicals are high energy and a feast for the eyes and ears. Not a huge fan of plays, operas, or ballets though.

I've amassed this large musicals watching due to the following factors:
1. Whenever we go to New York City as a family, my dad insists on watching some kind of a performance on Broadway, usually a musical.
2. My sister is a musicals nut.
3. I did my undergraduate roughly 90 minutes from New York City so
a. It was really easy to go and watch something.
b. My residential college took trips into the city to watch shows at $25 a ticket.

Favorite musicals?
Les Miserables and The Lion King. I would not be able to tell you anything about the plot of Les Mis, but I like the songs in it. Wicked comes close.