On Saturday, December 21 at 8:00 p.m., I saw the play Wicked in Chicago at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts with my family. I had always heard how spectacular the play was. My parents even saw it on Broadway in New York years ago and absolutely loved it and wouldn’t stop talking about it. Well let me tell you, describing Wicked as being a spectacular show is dead on, maybe even an understatement. Wicked was by far one of the best plays I’ve ever seen! Between the actors, lighting, scenery, and music, it was an amazing show and grabbed your attention at all times. I would highly recommend seeing this phenomenal production to all ages!
Wicked is the story of the two witches of Oz. Elphaba is looked upon as the “wicked” witch and Glinda is looked upon as the “good” witch. Elphaba was born with green skin and is a smart, strong-willed, and misunderstood girl. Meanwhile, her college roommate Glinda is beautiful, ambitious, and loved by all. Elphaba has extremely low self-esteem because everyone looks at her in a negative way. She thinks she isn’t special or important to the world at all. Elphaba goes to a school that makes her think even lower of herself because she was only sent there to look after her sister, the “favorite” child of her family. When the headmistress tells her that she is special and has a talent for sorcery, she feels like she has a gift. She realizes if she gets the opportunity to meet the Wizard someday, everyone will love her because he treats the people of Oz very poorly, even though they don’t see it. His main goal in life is to segregate the talking-animals of Oz from the rest of the society. Because Elphaba fits into the talking-animal category, she refuses to help the Wizard. This makes her look evil...
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...tly, the costumes in this production of Wicked were incredible! There were so many beautiful costumes! Many were very elaborate and detailed, while there were also various simple and elegant costumes. This was extremely refreshing to see as an audience member. The costumes always matched the characters’ emotions, which made the plot go along much smoother. I noticed that in numerous scenes the costumes were the same color as the lighting in the scene. I think the director did this on purpose to emphasize certain moods, but in some cases, a variety of colors would have worked better.
Overall, Wicked was an extraordinary show with very little flaws! It was such an enjoyable show to see and I would most definitely love to see it again! It is for sure a must-see musical. I assure you, you wont regret seeing it at all!! So what are you waiting for? Buy your tickets now!
This play was set in the 1890s, meaning it is very important to have correlating costumes so the audience can be aware of what time period there in. Of course Dolly who had a few costume changes looked stunning in everything she wore. My one small critique was with her last outfit that she wore during the finale. The jewels on the red dress were awkwardly placed it was almost like a diamond belt but, it fell on her in the wrong area making it not as flattering to her body as it could have been. However, her feather headset and the glistening diamond reflections in the spotlight made up for it. Also Claire Dicorte, an ensemble member, had a perfectly fitting outfit that fit her in all the right places she looked like an everyday woman in that time. Of course Emily Mouton looked hilarious in her big obnoxious orange dress too, if anyone can pull that off it was her character Ernestina. Finally, all the waiters and waitresses correlating colors looked fantastic, especially when they were dancing, no distractions because they were all the same color! My OCD was not bugging me on that because believe me if they had a shade off I would have noticed. I could tell the hard work that was put into those costumes so I congratulate Michelle Tinker for all of her hard
The production had many elements which for the most part formed a coalition to further the plot. The characters, the three part scenery and costumes represented well the period of time these people were going through. As far as the performers entering and exiting the stage, it could have been more organized. There were a few times when the performers exited at the wrong times or it seemed so due to the echo of the music. At certain moments the music was slightly loud and drowned the performers. Many of the songs dragged on, so the pacing could have been more effectively executed. Though the music was off at times, the director's decision to have most of the songs performed center sage was a wise one. Also the implementation of actual white characters that were competent in their roles came as a great surprise to the audience and heightened the realism.
When we came together with ideas for what text we wanted to use to inspire our performance, we ended up with about 10 ideas. Fairy tales, Edgar Allen Poe, Dr. Seuss, and urban legends had all been thrown out as ideas, but the play we chose was is a much lesser known greek play named, Casina. Casina, looking through one lens, is a comedy about two men fighting over a woman. Through a different lens, Casina is a power struggle between husband and wife and seeing which of the two will win over the other.
Although the movie doesn’t follow the cycle totally, it fails in comparison to Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, which by far is the most unique of the three stories plot wise. While throughout the story you will see some aspects of the cycle, this is the life story of Elphaba, from her birth to her death. Because at the beginning of the story she is not alive and at the end of the story she dies, there is no status quo, or ordinary world at the beginning of the story to return to at the end. After the beginning of the story all of Oz is the special world that Elphaba has to explore, and even when Elphaba does return to her birthplace in Munchkinland near the end of the novel it is in no way the way she left it. A woman who lives there has a maid who is falling in love with a woodcutter, and the maid might quit her job to be with him. She comes to Elphaba's sister Nessarose, who is now the highest ranking official in Munchkinland, and asks for help, “‘I can give you two Sheep and a Cow,’ said the woman… ‘I might bewitch his axe and let it slip,’ said Nessarose thoughtfully, ‘just enough perhaps to cut off his arm.’” (Maguire 314) The woman asks her to hurt the woodcutter so severely that the maid will not be attracted to him anymore and she will continue working. Of course a cruel leader like Nessarose would never help a citizen out of
How would you feel if you had family problems? In 1987, Sandra Cisneros released a novel called My Wicked, Wicked Ways. In the book, she has a poem also named “My Wicked, Wicked Ways.” The poem about the narrator looking at an old picture. The narrator then has flashbacks about his family. The narrator mentions what the father did, and how the mother reacted to the father’s actions. During the flashback, it is revealed that the father is cheating on his wife. The mother, gets mad at the father, but the father doesn’t stop. The mother ends up getting used to the father’s infidelity, and just lets it happen for the next few years. At the end of the flashback, the narrator speaks in a disappointed, but smug, tone about how he was the baby being held by the mother in the picture. After drawing out the connotations and the shifts of the poem, I can say the theme of this poem is “In society,
When Elphaba was born, she was expected to be a curse to her family. For example, her father, Frex said, "It's the devil," and "The devil is coming" (Maguire 10). He is very unhappy, cruel, and neglected her ever since birth because of her physical appearance. She gets the center of attention from everyone because of uncommon characteristics such as having green skin, allergenic to water, and having razor-sharp teeth. Even though she portrays a role being the Wicked Witch of the West, she can still be a caring and loving person. When she was a college student, she deeply cares about all animals in the land of Oz and is willing to endanger herself to save them. She saved a monkey from drowning in the w...
... my sister and I returned to New York. Once again we made the trek to the Nederlander. We took our seats and relished the memories. While the cast was different, the affect was similar. It opened our eyes and renewed our appreciation for those that are different than us. I feel in love with it all over again. Even though I had seen the show in Indianapolis and Chicago, there was something about sitting in that theater that made it special.
Since this is a review and its based on my opinion, I would have to say this was one of the worst plays I've ever seen in my life. I wasn't entertained by the play at all. The only good parts were the good-looking girls in the play. I like the main character Marisol based only on her looks. She played on ok job of acting. I realize she had a lot of lines to memorize which she had down, but she just didn't get to me. I think the costumes were ok. They had nothing special, or out of the ordinary except for the angel's wings, which were pretty nice. I didn't like the lighting or the scenery. I didn't know where the scene was supposed to be at some points.
...ical aspects of the show to be in perfect synchronization with each other for the full duration. This production excelled in all of these aspects, managing to keep the audience enthralled during even the most long-winded exposition. The Orlando Shakespeare Theatre is well-known for the incredible quality of their shows, and this was no exception.
I liked everything about the musical "Into The Woods." It was not even that long. It was only an hour and a half. It was funny and entertaining. The actors/actresses were very much into the play. They all sang and danced, and they looked like they were having fun at what they were doing. That makes a show better to watch. I would like to see it again, only if I didn't have to pay $9 for it. I would even recommend a friend to go and see it. There was nothing that I did not like about the musical. The whole thing was just wonderful.
There are a great deal of shows to view. A few of the most renowned shows are Finding Nemo- The Musical, The Festival of the Lion King, and Beauty and the Beast Live. Finding Nemo- The Musical is a very entertaining 40 minute show. The performers have to steer and direct massive puppets to do what they want. (Top par. 1) Another eminent show is The Festival of the Lion King. This is a unique show displaying acrobats, stunts, dance members, fire juggling, and aerial dancers. The performers interact with the audience for an unforgettable adventure. (Top par. 2) Beauty and the Beast Live is a performance that has both the Broadway and the movie production condensed into one show. (Top par.
For instance, a musical number about a character’s tragic past might include soft, golden lighting, while a scene about dancing in a dance class might include purple lights to show the overall mood of the scene. In addition, the costumes used in the musical added even more life to the musical by providing a visual representation of each character and his or her personality. The costumes allowed the audience to determine the character traits of each character while also deciding the type of homes the characters came from. For instance, one of the characters was dressed in pants and a shirt that would normally be seen worn by an older man or a father. This leads the audience to believe that the character might be an older person who has a family of his own.
I absolutely loved Stick Fly—my attention was captured during the entire play. There were moments when and I cried and there were other moments when I laughed. The scene was amazing! It looked so realistic, especially the bookshelf and the kitchen cabinets. I could have lived in that house if it was really a house. The set design and the actors’ clothes fit in with the time period. The lighting was great also. There were these window panels hanging around the room and as the scenes changed the lights over the panels caught people’s attention. I would notice people turning around looking at the lights. Also my favorite was the light outside of the kitchen window. Once again, it looked very realistic the light would change as the time of day changed. You were able to notice when it was day, evening, and night due to the light from the kitchen window. Another thing that made the scene so realistic was that the sink actually worked. Overall, the set was amazing!
There wasn’t any particular scene on stage that made me doubt the integrative work of the director since all the staging work such as lighting, design, costumes and performance were well coordinated and blended for a very good production. The lights were well positioned with well fitted costumes and a very ideal scene to match. There wasn’t much change of scenes in the play except for some movement of tables and chairs. There was an entrance and exit for the performers which made their movements uninterrupted. There was a loud sound of a bell when school was over while the lights were dimmed whenever there was a change of scene. The pace of the production was very smooth since one scene followed the other without delay and most likely because most of the performers wore the same costume; especially all eight students wore the same costume for the entire