NYC Theater: Wicked Review – An Entertaining, Enchanting, Captivating Good Time

Details
Category: Haute This Issue
Published on Friday, 23 February 2024 10:59
Written by Janet Walker

Wicked, the enchanting, magical, musical currently playing at the Gershwin Theater on Broadway, in New York City, presents an adaption of the Wizard of Oz, taking audiences back to witch's academy, when friendships were made and severed.

The play opens with and quickly catches the audience up to the future. Elphaba, played by Alyssa Fox, was born green, and her sister Nessarose, played by Kimber Elayne Sprawl, is confined to a wheelchair. The family seems to be struck by tragedy. Until it is realized that Elphaba has extraordinary magical powers, which make her an asset.

NYC Theatre: Broadway is Back and Chicago is Superb

She is sent to boarding school and is placed in the room with Glinda, the good witch, played by McKenzie Kurtz, who is a vivacious, over-the-top, teenage squealing girl. The set props here are remind the audience of scenes in the 1995 film Clueless or the 2001 film Legally Blonde, filled with racks of shoes, and very girly.

NYC Theater: Moulin Rouge The Musical Review - High Energy, Provocative, Rollicking Good Time

Glinda, who has always been the center of attention and is given anything she desire, is more than the good witch, she will inherit the throne and title, and so she doesn't need to really have an education.

On the other side is Elphaba, who has our sympathies, she is ostracized, and her hardships are visible, she is green, her schoolmates, teachers and society see her as repugnant simply due to the color of her skin. And her she is sent to this school, and of all roommates she is stuck with the blonde bimbo from Munchkin land.

Wicked centers on the awakenings that new environments bring, when children are sent to college and suddenly the world becomes bigger. Soon, and oddly, our opposites Glinda, and Elphaba are friends, and for Glinda, Elphaba is her best friend. It isn't that she sees her as a project, she simply sees her, in what may be one of the first transforming moments in Glinda's life.

NYC Theater: MJ Review – Spectacular, Electrifying, A Must See

Of course, as Glinda has a best girlfriend, she is also at college to find Mr. Right, the perfect accessory to her title. And soon, the handsome Fiyero, played by Jordan Litz, who in the beginning seems as shallow and clueless as Glinda, and when they become a trio, like everyone Elphaba meets he slowly becomes his own person, sees her as a person, with depth. Glinda, who has already fast forwarded her relationship to Fiyero to their wedding day, really just can't imagine that he wouldn't want the life she has planned for him.

Throughout the musical, of course, we are treated with a wonderful soundtrack including "Defying Gravity," the signature song from the play. As the two, Elphaba and Glinda, become their destines, the traits of who they are, what they believe, and more what they will tolerate are tested, and "Defying Gravity," is for each of them, the instant, that releases them, for Elphaba, it becomes the moment she refuses to allows others to define her and for Glinda, she understand Elphaba's power, which is attractive and wants her to be more reserved.

London/NY/LA Theatre: The Play That Goes Wrong Review – Uproarious, Laugh Out Loud Funny

Wicked, an entertaining, enchanted, delightful, story of good versus evil, love, resentment, hurt, severed friendships, and unbreakable bonds. The story is familiar, easy to follow, with a soundtrack that will resonate.

Wicked is playing in New York City on Broadway, in London, and throughout the United States. It is a must see.

Haute News

Haute Tease

  • A Morning Stroll Presents Shocking Symbolism of Society’s Destruction

    A Morning Stroll, a Studio AKA/Grant Orchard film, presents through the use of clear and shocking symbolism and parallels, society’s degradation and hopeless chance for renewal.

     

  • Money News: The Bear Returns To DOW, World Markets

    The DOW Jones Industrial along with the NASDAQ and S&P 500, fell as the bear returned, mauling the markets from Wall Street to Shanghai, with a vengeance upending the majority of global markets leaving few unaffected as nervous investors fueled the volatile market.

     

  • Les Casseroles de Birmanie

    Alors que la planète entière se débat dans une course effrénée pour obtenir dans les meilleurs délais les vaccins salvateurs, la Birmanie, fait face à la junte militaire qui s'est emparée du pouvoir via un coup d'État fomenté depuis plusieurs mois.  

  • Via Veneto Santa Monica Review - Dishing Star-Caliber Italian Cuisine

    Via Veneto in Santa Monica, an authentic European-style, locavore-minded, Italian dining experience, and is as well-known as the A-List clientele, including David and Victoria Beckham, Madonna, Sean Penn, Eva Longoria and Harrison Ford, that frequent the distinctive award-winning eatery.

     

  • Actress Naya Rivera Presumed Dead in Drowning Accident

    Former Glee actress Naya Rivera, 33, is presumed dead after an eighteen-hour search through the murky waters of Lake Piru, after her son was found alone on the lake in a boat she had rented earlier.

     

  • I’m Your Woman Review – Engaging with a Strong Character Driven Story

    I’m Your Woman, from Amazon Studios, opened the 2020 AFI Film Fest presenting a storybook romance gone seriously awry, as life suddenly turns from well-manicured and predictable to unexpected, with thugs, thieves and hitmen around every corner.