Wicked

After buying my ticket over a month ago, the day was finally here: I was going to see Wicked. It had been a while since I had been to a musical theatre show. The last show I had been to was The Best Little Whore House in Texas at Stage West Theatre in Mississauga about three years ago. It was okay, but I just can't consider it legitimate the-ater when the show includes a buffet and the halls are adorned with photographs of thespians who had previously graced the stage: Joyce Dewitt and Margot Kidder, among others. Not really your A-listers.

So, living in Toronto until December, I figured that I should take the opportunity to experience Toronto's theatre scene. I had seen posters for Wicked around town and was intrigued. I spoke to a few friends who had seen it when it was in town the previous year. All had said that they really enjoyed it. In my research, I found out that The Canon Theatre, where Wicked was being performed, was the old Pantages Theatre. Pantages was the theatre where I saw my first musical. Ever. It was Phantom of the Opera. I was 12 years old and I was completely blown away. The music was fantastic, as were the costumes and sets. I never made the connection when I was there, but I got to see Colm Wilkinson play the role of The Phantom. COLM FREAKING WILKINSON, the man with the world's most spectacular voice. So I was sold. I had to buy a ticket to see Wicked.

My friends also informed me that the musical was based on a book of the same name. So having a month until the show, I decided to read the book first. I found the first half of the book very entertaining and engrossing. A lot of my friends who read the book said they didn't like it because it was "too political" but I enjoyed it for the detail that Maguire went into discussing the world of Oz. However, once the Witch started on her trek across the desert to Fiyero's castle, I was almost ready to give up on the book. I thought the section was really boring. From there, I don't think the book really recovered and at the end I was left unsatisfied. Maguire didn't really explain what I believed to be key plot events, such as how the Witch became labelled as wicked. Although I seemed to like it in the first half, I got bogged down in the details in the second half.

Suffice to say, leading up to the day of the performance, I was worried. I didn't know how they were going to adapt the book into a musical.

So, the day arrives. I enter Canon Theatre and get a familar feeling. I can remember being at this spot when I was 12, waiting to see Phantom. The building is very beautiful. However, I don't think the architects took into account the mass of people who would gather in the lobby before the show and during intermission. The bathroom as well, was not built with large crowds in mind. Four urinals and three stalls for all men seated in Orchestra-level. I'll let you do the math. However, the line for the men's room was piddily when compared to the line for women's washroom. Women of the world, I empathize completely with what you have to go through every time you go out to a movie, sporting event, or musical.

I finally get to my seat and the show begins. It was really good. The roles for both Elphaba and Glinda were played by their understudies, but they were fantastic. They played their parts really well. The set design was great as well. The sets had an industrial design to them, with moving cranks and wheels, fitting with the theme of Oz as a manufactured environment and the Wizard as the puppet master. The story had some good political satire.

To create the musical, the writers had to cut out a lot of the story. I really liked the pacing of the musical. It still highlighted the themes raised in Maguire's book but didn't get bogged down in the details.

The music was also really good, although, for me, the music from Phantom and Rent was more memorable and catchy (I still find myself humming tunes from these musicals now and again). The song that ends Act I, "Defy Gravity", was one of the best. However, I really liked "Wonderful", sung by Elphaba and the Wizard. It had a ragtime-y and vaudeville-esque sound. Another element that was used for the music was having different actors sing the same song. A song sung by one character would have one meaning and then the same song sung by different character had an entirely different meaning. This element reinforced the idea that how one views the world is dependent upon the perspective from which he or she comes.

A great production. I would recommend seeing it.