Defy Gravity

Wicked, originally uploaded by kardinalsin.

Yes, we finally saw the blockbuster musical of the year in Los Angeles, Wicked. The way every single one of our friends was raving about the show, you'd think they handed out free money before every performance. As hard as it's been to find time, we somehow carved it out and took in the show Friday evening at the historic Pantages theater.

Interestingly, it appears that our theater datebook has been packed this year. We saw two Culture Clash shows so far and two other musicals, Avenue Q and Spamalot, earlier this year, which is quite a feat when one considers we were restricting ourselves voluntarily. Comparing Wicked to Avenue Q, and even the Vegas rendition of Spamalot is pretty difficult since it is the most traditional of the three, but if I were to rank it amongst the spectaculars I've seen on stage in my lifetime, I'd rank it pretty high.

Cut from the cloth of the original story written by Gregory Maguire, the musical follows the origins of the eponymous Wicked Witch of the West and her friendship with Glinda the Good Witch of the North. The plot casts her in the sympathetic life of an unhappy childhood with an overbearing father and a super-sized chip on her shoulder. Her ambitions and dreams take a turn for the worse with a meeting gone wrong in the Emerald city, and the rest really is history.

Musically, the show is a powerhouse. The songs are well woven into the plot and both leads gave tremendous performances to match. Backed by simple and effective backdrops and superb theatrical effects, the story really wraps you into the rich world of Oz beyond that which one has seen in the films and even read in the books. While there really isn't one number that stands out and sticks in your memory in the vein of Les Miserables or even Avenue Q, the modern characterization of a few famous Oz characters and the inclusion of a human element to the fantastical ring true.

Fascinatingly, the overall themes of friendship, history, and politics run deeper than one would suspect, a testament to the long-running nature of the show beyond just Broadway and the original San Francisco production that one could glean more than just an alternate tale of the Wizard of Oz. For this alone, I can strongly recommend seeing the show while it's still in Los Angeles. Catch it while you can.