The Wicked national tour, visiting Washington for the first time since 2005, sounds first-rate. Cooper ably recalls Glinda’s originator, Kristin Chenoweth, in her comic timing for “Popular,” and she and Roscioli mesh expertly in their second act duet, “For Good.” Randy Danson’s Madame Morrible is as persuasive an inhabitant of that oleaginous part as you’re likely to encounter, and Colin Hanlon is a dashing presence as Fiyero, the romantic wedge between Elphaba and Glinda.
“Wicked,” with an infectiously pulsing score by Stephen Schwartz, is the environmentally and politically conscious back story of “The Wizard of Oz,” told from the points of view of one witch labeled good and the other wicked. But labels, the show informs us, are never to be trusted — one of the hardest truths to drum into high schoolers’ heads.
What accounts for the truly devotional impact of “Wicked”? People don’t just pay to see this show, which is making a return, summer-long visit to the Kennedy Center; they open their wallets as if it were their obligation to tithe for Elphaba and Glinda (and, of course, the musical’s savvy investors).
Eight years after its opening, it is still regularly Broadway’s top-grossing show. Last week, it took in $1.7 million in New York — the nearest empty seats were in a diner down the block. In the Kennedy Center Opera House, center orchestra seats for evening performances are selling for up to $250 each, and are going fast. The musical’s reach, measured in other terms: When “Glee’s” Kurt and Rachel traveled to show-choir nationals in New York, their dream-come-true moment was singing a “Wicked” tune on the Broadway stage.
Read the complete review at The Washington Post.
Wicked is currently playing on tour in Vancouver, BC Canada and Washington-DC.
The Wicked national tour, visiting Washington for the first time since 2005, sounds first-rate. Cooper ably recalls Glinda’s originator, Kristin Chenoweth, in her comic timing for “Popular,” and she and Roscioli mesh expertly in their second act duet, “For Good.” Randy Danson’s Madame Morrible is as persuasive an inhabitant of that oleaginous part as you’re likely to encounter, and Colin Hanlon is a dashing presence as Fiyero, the romantic wedge between Elphaba and Glinda. “Wicked,” with an infectiously pulsing score by Stephen Schwartz, is the environmentally and politically conscious back story of “The Wizard of Oz,” told from the points of view of one witch labeled good and the other wicked. But labels, the show informs us, are never to be trusted — one of the hardest truths to drum into high schoolers’ heads. What accounts for the truly devotional impact of “Wicked”? People don’t just pay to see this show, which is making a return, summer-long visit to the Kennedy Center; they open their wallets as if it were their obligation to tithe for Elphaba and Glinda (and, of course, the musical’s savvy investors). Eight years after its opening, it is still regularly Broadway’s top-grossing show. Last week, it took in $1.7 million in New York — the nearest empty seats were in a diner down the block. In the Kennedy Center Opera House, center orchestra seats for evening performances are selling for up to $250 each, and are going fast. The musical’s reach, measured in other terms: When “Glee’s” Kurt and Rachel traveled to show-choir nationals in New York, their dream-come-true moment was singing a “Wicked” tune on the Broadway stage. Read the complete review at The Washington Post. Wicked is currently playing on tour in Vancouver, BC Canada and Washington-DC.
