The last time i was in London in 2009, i did not have much time. There were a few musicals which i wanted to watch - Mamma Mia, Billy Elliot, Hairspray, Oliver (with Rowan Atkinson) and Wicked. I watched all of them - except Wicked.
I did not have the time to watch all i wanted to - so i picked Wicked as the one to be missed. Part of the reason was because everyone was talking and raving about it. As one of my students said, i did not want to have the herd mentality and followed the crowd. That's true. I did not want to be one of those who went to watch it because everyone else was!
I regretted a little when i got back - and the views of frens who have watched it finally convinced me that it was really good.
So it was on the top of my list when i was back in London recently. My schedule was so packed that in the end, i could only spend time to watch one musical - and so it was Wicked!
It really was that good!!!!!
It had almost everything!!! Visually, it was spectacular! The effects, costumes and the colours used were so vivid and brilliant.
The stage from where we sat
Close-up of the safety curtain which was a map!
The dragon - which really din do much!!!!
The first half of the show was hilarious! We were laughing away - at times, only us in the theater!!! It was totally enjoyable. But at the end of the day, it was the story totally blew me away!
I was glad i resisted reading anything about the story. So the twist to the tale was not expected. I will not spoil it for those of you who have not watched it yet. Just make sure you know the story of the Wizard of Oz well before watching this - and Wicked will give you a whole new fresh perspective of what happened to Dorothy.
More than that, i loved the story because it was one about frenship - not the typical usual love story - this one was about frens and sacrifices that frens make for each other, no matter what. I am not ashamed to say that i cried a lot during the second half of the musical - especially during the song "For Good".
The circle where we sat
I have always told everyone that the best musical ever is The Phantom of the Opera. If they could only watch one musical, it has to be Phantom! But at the end of this musical, i was in a dilemma - was this even better than Phantom? I was starting to think that it was!!!! Yes, that itself should demonstrate how good Wicked is!
But i dared not make the conclusion then. As one of my former students said, i was still "in the zone" at that time. And after all, it was the first musical i've seen in 2 years.
A student who also like me previously thought that Phantom was the best was in the same dilemma! She finally concluded then that Wicked is better! It tipped Phantom cuz in addition to all the other stuffs, Wicked had the comedy element.
Me? After thinking much about it, i will have to say that both are just as brilliant!!!! If you can only watch one musical, watch both of it! =P
But if my life depended on it and i had to make a choice, i'd say Phantom still is the best.
Why?
I'll leave that to be answered in another post! =)
*Winner of a Grammy for Best rap/sung collaboration in 2002, it was one of my fav songs back in 2001.
2 comments:
Les Miserables is the best musical ever :P LOL (Hehe, to each his own ;) and I haven't watched Wicked yet; but I'd pick Les Mis over Phantom tho ;))
i have frens who totally agree with u! =)
yes, to each their own. les mis is brilliant but maybe it was becuz i had bad seats so i din really enjoy it as much as i would hv. but les mis is special for me cuz it was the first musical ever in london for me!
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