Active Culture

I love the theater--plays, musicals, movies. I don't care what kind of theater production because I love them all. I suppose as an English major it comes natural. But lately, I've gotten in a lot of theater (after months...ok, years of deprivation). Let me tell you about one of them.

Recently I went to Wicked in Chicago. For those who have never been to a Broadway production, GO! You must go to one immediately. Call me and I'll go with you. Let me tell you why you should make every effort to attend. The set designs are wonderful. In Wicked, they had the set in such a way that the sparsity of images disappeared. I really felt as if I were in a classroom, or bedroom, or the land of Oz. The costumes were very vivid and imaginative. I loved how the costumes were very rich and reminiscent of the movie. The talent of the actors was spectacular. I was blown away by the voice of Elphaba and the physical acting of Glinda. Put everything together and you come away with a sense of awe and amazement. Two specific moments seem to encapsulate my feelings: the end of Act I and the flying monkeys.

At the end of Act I, we have the climax of Elphaba's transformation into the Wicked Witch of the West. She is dressed in her black hat, black dress, and black cape. As she rises in her powers of wickedness, she is raised above the stage. Her black cape elongates and flaps in the wind as she belts out a vocal performance that astounds everyone. A very visual and auditory execution of her rise in power.

I have always been afraid of the flying monkeys. I remember as a kid when the Wizard of Oz came on each year, I would cringe and hide my face when those creatures came on the screen. They scared the pee out of me! I had mixed feelings while anticipating these monsters in Wicked. After all, they couldn't be exactly as they were on the screen. Therefore, they wouldn't be as scary, right? Since the set designs, costumes, and actor talents are so tremendous, they made up for any limitations of the stage. The producers must have recruited talented acrobats from Cirque du Soleil because those guys climbed, hung, and leaped with such talent that it looked like they were flying. They were so scary that I still wanted to cringe and hide, but curling into a fetal position with so many others around me would cause some concerns (and security calls, I'm sure).

That, my friend, is why you should immediately purchase tickets to a Broadway production. An incredible experience. So, give me a call and we'll arrange a date.