Jackie Burns (Elphaba)- Wicked Buffalo

Wicked on its second run through Buffalo after a record-setting set three years ago, “Wicked” is no less spectacular this time around. The production uses a combination of powerhouse musical numbers, creatively reimagined storytelling and subdued humor to dazzle even an amateur arts patron.

On Broadway and around the world, Wicked has worked its magic on critics and audiences alike. Winner of 35 major awards, including a Grammy and three Tony Awards, Wicked is “Broadway’s biggest blockbuster” and “the defining musical of the decade” (The New York Times).

As Elphaba and Glinda, Jackie Burns and Amanda Jane Cooper, respectively, both aptly deliver on the vocal requirements of their parts. But just as much as their harmonies, if not more, their chemistry during non-musical portions of the production is stellar, their facial expressions and shoulder shrugs delivering some of the emotional highlights of the show.

Wicked Touring Company Cast at Shea’s Performing Arts Center

The original characters achieve depth that might have been lacking from the film, while the musical’s climax shows that the eye of the beholder is indeed master when it comes to the retelling of history.

Wicked is playing at Shea’s Performing Arts Center, 646 Main St., Buffalo through May 22, 2011. Buffalo, New York Musical fans are lucky to have the return of “Wicked” and would be wise to catch up the great musical this summer. Act now and Buy Wicked Shea’s Performing Arts Center Tickets Online for better seats before they all go on sale. Use Code AFF$10 to Get $10 OFF on Wicked Buffalo NY Ticket Orders over $350.

If you’re a fan of The Wizard of Oz, then Wicked is the must see equivalent in musical form. Though the story is different, many of the same characters are dealt with, and this musical is fun, romantic, and creative.

While The Wizard of Oz focuses on Dorothy Gale and her trip to the magical land of Oz, Wicked is a bit different. This musical focuses on Elphaba (known in The Wizard of Oz as the Wicked Witch of the West) and Galinda, later known as Glinda (the Good Witch). The musical explores Elphaba and Glinda in their younger days when they attended school together, and the way that it progresses helps to demonstrate how Elphaba became perceived as evil and how this is an entirely incorrect interpretation.

Read the complete Review via TheCelebrityCafe.com

Wicked is currently playing on tour in Eugene-OR (April 20 to May 01, 2011) and Buffalo-NY (April 27 to May 22, 2011). Check out the complete Wicked Tour Schedule.

Read Wicked Tulsa Review by JAMES D. WATTS JR. World Scene Writer on Tulsa World

At Thursday’s matinee performance, I sat behind what had to be the most ardent fans of Wicked in northeastern Oklahoma.

Not only did they know every word of every song of this musical (which opened its 16-performance run at the Tulsa PAC on Wednesday), this couple also quoted most of the show’s choicest lines of dialogue, usually in perfect sync with the performers on the Chapman Music Hall stage.

Vicki Noon as Elphaba (left) and Natalie Daradich as Galinda are like two sides of the same coin in Wicked

Galinda (left) becomes Glinda the Good Witch of the East; Elphaba becomes the Wicked Witch of the West

And they spent most of the intermission telling all who would listen how this particular performance compared to the one they had seen last summer, when “Wicked” spent a month at the PAC.

This particular touring production of the show benefits from a pair of excellent performances by its leading ladies, Vicki Noon as Elphaba and Natalie Daradich as Galinda.

Daradich’s Galinda has all the self-absorbed perkiness one expects, but she never slips into the cartoonish antics that we’ve seen other actresses use. Her Galinda is a little more complex, a little more human.

The same is true of Noon, who plays Elphaba as someone who truly feels the pain of being an outcast, rather than someone who relishes the anger her status engenders. Even the moment when she lets out a Margaret Hamilton-like cackle – which got one of the biggest ovations during Thursday’s matinee – had a kind of poignant edge to it.

Noon’s and Daradich’s singing voices are so finely matched that in their duets it often sounded as if some passages were sung by a single voice, rather than two. That, and the fact that the two women are the same height, emphasized the concept that these two very different people are two sides of the same coin.

The weak links in the cast – or, to draw from the clockwork theme of “Wicked’s” set design, the two cogs whose gears don’t quite mesh – are Chris Peluso as Fiyero and Don Amendolia as the Wizard.

Wicked continues with performances through Nov. 28 at the Tulsa Tulsa Performing Arts Center. Tickets are on Sale. Wicked Tulsa OK Tickets Online.

Wicked will blow you away and give you more of a background on what happened before Dorothy landed in Oz.

At the risk of giving away to much, this review will be rather vanilla in its approach for that reason. If I tell to much about it, I will give too much away and that just wouldn’t be fair to those who have yet to experience this hit musical.

The story is based around who the witches were in the “merry old Land of Oz” and how they grew up. From the birth of Elphaba (The Wicked Witch of The West) to how she became who she ended up being in The Wizard of Oz and beyond. As well as, the back story of the relationship between she and Glinda, (the Good Witch) starting out as Galinda, pronounced with a Ga.

There are plenty of ooh’s and ahh’s to be had and lots of laughter as the story unfolds in front of you. Vicki Noon, who plays Elphaba, gives a stellar performance and has superb vocal ability and range. She really does steal the show and makes you have a whole new appreciation for The Wicked Witch. Natalie Daradich, who portrays Glinda, is cute and bubbly, with an infectious amount of narcissism and straight ahead conceitedness. All in good fun though, she is the child of privilege, as opposed to Elphaba ,who is her polar opposite in more than just skin tone.

Kudos to Celebrity Attractions for bringing this back for a second year. Let us just hope that it will be a regular engagement in Tulsa.

Wicked is playing now at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center through November 28th, 2010. The performance schedule will be Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday Evenings at 7:30 pm, Friday Evenings at 8:00 pm, Saturday and Sunday Matinees at 2:00 pm and Saturday Evenings at 8:00 pm. No performance on Thursday, November 25th due to Thanksgiving holiday. Wicked Tulsa, OK Tickets starts at $30.00.

Read Wicked Review by Ernie Osborn on TulsaToday.com