Those of you long time Romy Raves fans know that I have a strong affinity for all things witchy, so it will come as no surprise that one of my all time favorite Broadway musicals is WICKED. I was lucky enough to see the original Broadway cast of WICKED starring Idina Menzel as Elphaba and Joel Grey as the Wizard, and as you can imagine it was nothing short of spectacular. Well, last week, I was invited to attend opening night of the return of WICKED to the Hollywood Pantages and I was beyond excited, especially because my date for the night, the fab and chic Laurie B Style, was a WICKED newbie!
WICKED is one of the longest-running Broadway musicals and every time it comes to L.A it’s one of the hottest tickets in town! For the uninitiated, at it’s core WICKED is a story about friendship and about not judging a book by it’s cover. This musical centers around two girls who meet in the land of Oz, one – born with emerald green skin – is smart, fiery and misunderstood and the other is beautiful, ambitious and very popular. The story explains to us, how these two grow to become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good and the rest is history.
WICKED has won over 100 international awards, including a Grammy Award and three Tony Awards. The Los Angeles cast features Emma Hunton as Elphaba and Chandra Lee Schwartz as Glinda. Also starring in this run of WICKED is Kim Zimmer as Madame Morrible, Tim Kazurinsky as The Wizard, Nick Adams as Fiyero, Etai BenShlomo as Boq, Jenny Florkowski as Nessarose, and Tom Flynn as Doctor Dillamond.
I was surprised to learn that Emmy Raver-Lampman, the understudy for Elphaba was performing the lead role on opening night, HOWEVER she was nothing short of SPECTACULAR!! She has an amazing strong, powerful singing voice (a bit rock-n-roll IMO) and her acting was spot on, honestly the BEST portrayal of Elphaba I have seen since Idina! And Chandra Lee was perfection as Glinda too. And I adored Nick Adams as Fiyero, whom I had seen a few years ago as a fab drag queen in Priscilla Queen of the Desert on Broadway. This LA cast is Broadway caliber all the way!
My FAB date for the night, stylist extraordinaire Laurie B Style
WICKED will be in Los Angeles at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre now through March 15th , 2015 and I can’t recommend it highly enough for ages 8+! From the story, to the casting, to the colorful entertaining staging, it’s not-to-be missed! In fact, I loved it so much, I am planning to see it again during its’ Los Angeles run. Tickets start at $35 and you can visit the Pantages Website for all the performance details and to buy tickets.
And if you’re feeling lucky, the Pantages is also offering a limited number of day-of-performance $25 orchestra tickets via lottery. Entries will be accepted at the box office beginning two and a half hours prior to each performance; each person will print their name and the number of tickets they wish to purchase (1 or 2.) Two hours before curtain, names will be drawn at random for a limited number of tickets priced at $25 each; cash only. Limit one entry per person and two tickets per winner. Cards are checked for duplication prior to drawing. Winners must be present at the time of the drawing and show valid ID to purchase tickets. Tickets are subject to availability.
Disclosure: The Pantages invited me and a guest to Opening Night of WICKED in Los Angeles, but all opinions and musical musings are my own.
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