"Wicked" At The Pantages and other Performances

[happyfilmluvguy]

Tonight I had the wonderful pleasure of seeing the Broadway musical, "Wicked" tonight at the beautiful Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. I invited a friend to come along. My friend was very excited about it since I asked. He'd never been inside the Pantages, let alone seen a play/musical of that magnitude. Since he works at Universal Studios, he sees an advertisement of it quite often. Universal Pictures is at part of the production. He told everyone at work about it and they were jealious. Hopefully they'll get a chance to see it.

I myself hadn't been to the Pantages since 2002 when The Lion King was making it's first run in Los Angeles. There was a much greater opportunity for my friend than me. He's also an admirer of Howard Hughes, so I told him that Mr. Hughes had owned the theatre at one time and had used it as a moviehouse. I'd post photos of the theatre, but take my word for it. Visit the theatre itself if you can.

The moment we entered the lobby, he was in awe. I could tell. The decor is absolutely beautiful beyond belief. Imaging the time and effort that went into building the theatre much have been enchanting and difficult. As we entered the theatre itself and we sat down, I told him to look up. The ceiling was amazing, and having not see it in a few years, I couldn't help but look at it. Our seats were in the 5th or 6th row, stage right, so we had an almost stage front view of the show.

Enough about the theatre, and onto the musical. It was a spectacular show. The music, the lyrics, the lights, the sound, the cast and crew, it was great. The story I felt had some loose ends, but the way it ties "The Wizard Of Oz" with this prequel was interesting. Not at all disappointing. I only wish that at the end of theatre experiences like this, the cast would come out and greet the audience. Many do, and many don't. My friend said he had chills running through his body the entire time. I can tell he just can't wait until the next show.

Have you seen "Wicked"? Have you planned on it? Have you read the novel? If you've seen the performance or read the novel, what can you compare from the two?

 

[fourstarbanner]

I have tickets to see the show next month! I'm familiar with the show, being a theater person at my college. From what I know, they're able to pull off all the neat effects because Universal Studios owns part of the rights to the show. Its definitely a spectacle show with a fun and fresh plot. I'm excited there are great shows to spark people's interest in theater today!

 

[Doctor Strange]

I took my daughter to see it on Broadway last summer. It's a very good show, quite clever, though not all of the music is especially outstanding. It is certainly a very spectacular production and quite an emotional ride.

For the record, I liked the show much more than the source novel - Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holtzman (creator of My So-Called Life, etc.) did a great job of refocusing the story onto adolescent angst and the two witches' friendship, lightening the darkness of the book, cut a lot of seriously bizarre extraneous stuff, and added some neat things that bring it closer to the 1939 movie Oz.

Definitely the best new musical I've seen in decades - and my 13-year-old daughter went utterly ga-ga for it. And it's quite the mega-boxoffice success, with something like *five* companies (only one a touring company, the others are permanent runs in different cities) now running full-time.

 

[Dagwood]

I agree that the Pantages is a great venue. If I remember, the Pantages still has references to "RKO" both inside and outside. [Update - It is still called the RKO Pantages Theater]

The show was very good. The costumes, story, special effects, etc. The only quibble (and it is a quibble) is that I left the show without being able to sing any of the tunes. However, that being said, I highly recommend it.

I haven't read the book, but I hear that it is different from the show.

 

[Mr_Misanthropy]

I have read the book and seen the musical. I saw it in Chicago for my birthday in January, at the Ford Oriental Theater. The theater itself and the show were both spectacular. It is a lot different than the book, but I still love them both. It was a truly moving experience, and I'd love to go again. I can see why it's so popular. I believe it's won something like 10 Tony awards. I have the soundtrack, as well as the piano sheet music. I hope one day they release a DVD of the stage performance. Wizard of Oz fan or not, if you ever get a chance to see this show, DO IT! You won't be sorry. I had seats in the nosebleed section and it was still great.