One of the more underrated things in Wichita is our music theater.  A few years back, we were one of only a few cities aloud to put on Disney's Beauty and the Beast.  (This was due in part to the fact that one of our actresses played Bell on Broadway.)

The Few shows that I have been lucky enough to see have been amazing.  I would say that it is as good as you can see anywhere, and better than most outside of New York.  It's really a shame that more people don't give it much credit.  Case in point, We were host to the traveling cast of Wicked, and to my knowledge, we have not sold out one show.  (The night I went, the house was packed, but I don't think it was capacity.)

I think, the more people that come to see the shows, the more big shows like Wicked and Avenue Q (showing later this season) we will be able to bring in. I think we could even be know as the theater capital of the mid-west.  That would do much more for us than casinos would, but that is beside the point.

I say all this because I really want to talk about Wicked.  I can cross this desire off my bucked list.  Ever since I got the soundtrack, I have wanted to see it.  It was my dream to see it in New York, but I have no idea when I will be able to go there and do that.  When I heard it was coming to town, I had to go.  (My Aunt got some great advanced tickets, so the price was good, and the seats were amazing.  I took the picture seen at the start of this blog from my seat.)

I am not a theater person, nor do I do reviews for a living, but I know what I like, and I loved this performance.  It fact, it was everything I though it would be.  In some ways it was more.  I feel like my life is some how more complete for having seen this live.

Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth created the roles of Elphaba and Glinda (respectfully) and their performances of these roles are featured on the soundtrack of the Broadway cast.  They are the ones I've been listening to all this time, and who I thought of as I though of these characters. I have to admit that I was concerned that who would be playing them here would not be as good as the originals.  I was surprised.

Marci Dodd (Elphaba) and Heléne Yorke (Glinda) lead the cast for our leg of the tour, and they nailed it.  They were every bit as good as Menzel and Chenoweth.  I had no problem forgetting what I knew and getting lost in the show.  If I could have bought a soundtrack with them on it, I would have.  From what I could tell, they were flawless.

The rest of the cast did a great job as well.  You can see a list of the principles here.  The whole musical is one power song after another.  With only 32 players, it's a relatively small cast, so the chorus did multiple parts.  Being as the chorus was in just about every scene, it was a vocal work out for every one.  They all did a fantastic job.

I can't say that there was one part that really stands out to me, but as the curtain goes down at the end of act one and the last notes of "Defining Gravity" are dying in the air, I wanted to give a standing ovation right then.  (I did restrain my self.)

The comedic parts were really funny, and the emotional parts tugged at your heart in just the right way.  Almost all of the character development was phenomenal.  You really saw how each person grew throughout the course of the story.  When Elphaba and Glinda sing "For Good", you can see how they changed each other.  Elphaba is more confident, and Glinda is a deeper and more selfless person.  In the three hours of performance, you identify and connect with each one.

To be balanced, the weak point in my mind was Nessarose, aka the Wicked Witch of the East.  She seems to be almost an after thought.  In act one, she is more of a side character, but by act two, it seems there is much more to her that we missed.  It was as if I had slept through about 45 minuets of the musical.  To me it felt like they put her part of the story in at the last minuet to explain what we know about the Wicked Witch of the East from the original Wizard of Oz.

Over all, the whole show was highly entertaining.  If you have a change to go and see it, either the traveling cast, or on Broadway, then I would take it.  I know I would love to see it again.  Definetly a highlight of my life.