Review: "Wicked" on Broadway

...the one in which I am almost serenaded to death...or at least the death of my daughter if she doesn't shut up....


Before embarking on our NYC adventure, I had asked both Hubby and Daughter to name one thing – and ONLY one thing – that they wanted to accomplish during our vacation.

Daughter’s #1 choice was to see “Wicked” – on Broadway.



Ack.

Initially, I was reluctant. This is because for weeks...no wait, make that MONTHS...I've been hearing Daughter go around the house, singing at the top of her lungs, the very catchy and very annoying (at least to me) song from Wicked, "Popular."

"Popular...you're gonna be pop-uuuu-lar!"

Over. And over. And over again.

Gah.

It was enough to drive me CRAZY!!!!!!!!

I had made the mistake of purchasing the CD soundtrack months ago, and she had taken it upon herself to memorize this song - and serenade me with it over. And over. And over again. It's like an ear worm that I can't get out of my brain - and if I indulged her, by taking her to see the show, she would just drive me even crazier with this incessant song.

But...it was the ONLY thing she asked for. In over ten days of vacation.

So who was I to say no?

Sigh.

Thankfully, I had plenty of notice for this request, and I was able to score some tickets months ago. But they didn’t come cheap. Oh no, siree. For three tickets – in the Orchestra section (1st floor), Row Q – our tickets were a staggering $499.70. Yes. I’m choking and gasping for air even as I type that.

FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS for THREE Broadway tickets!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thankfully, having already seen “Wicked” on Broadway last February, I knew that it was worth it. And I knew Daughter, as well as Hubby, would be bowled over by it. Which they should be – for five hundred dollars.

So…we arrived at the beautiful Gershwin Theater at about 7:30 pm…it was literally right across the street from where we’d dined for dinner. The theater is located at 222 West 51st Street, but you can enter on either 51st Street OR 50th Street. The theater was built in 1972, and is one of the largest on Broadway with regards to seating…and they need every seat available for “Wicked” – there’s never an empty seat in the house, even though the show has been in production since 2003.

To date, “Wicked” has established itself as Broadway’s highest-grossing show, regularly pulling in more than $1.5 million per week. It’s the 12th longest-running show on Broadway, and is only the third musical in Broadway history to exceed $500 million in total gross. Of course, steep ticket prices may have something to contribute here, you think??!!

As I said, our seats were in Row Q, which was located very close to a side aisle. This made it quite convenient to get in and out of the theater, which helped tremendously when dealing with over 1,900 other ticket holders. My one complaint with the theater is that there are FAR too few restrooms…my advice would be to go BEFORE you enter this theater, as the lines will be long both before the show and during intermission.



As far as the show itself, what else can I say that hasn’t been said already about “Wicked”? It’s a delightful comedy/drama about the friendship between Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West), and Glinda, the “Good Witch.” It will make you laugh - it will make you cry. It gives you a whole new perspective on the classic "Wizard of Oz."



The set, costumes, music, staging, etc are all first-rate…if anything, you can see where your $500 is going. It totally looks and feels like a true Broadway production, and you will walk out of the theater humming to some of the music – guaranteed. Gah.


Daughter doing her best hair "Toss Toss" impression from the show...


We all enjoyed it - especially Daughter, who was thoroughly entranced. Not having seen the show before, she didn't know what to expect, and at one point, I could see tears running down her face. However, when the show ended, she had a HUGE smile, and even having to listen to her start in on "Popular" - for the umpteenth millionth time - it was all worth it.

We had one more stop to make that night...our first foray into Cupcake Wars! Yes...we were determined to try as many cupcake venues as we could find - and see who, ultimately, would come out on top with having the best cupcakes in NYC. So - off we headed to where it all started....