Give My Regards Broadway

I am the original Broadway baby. I grew up watching musicals and have been known to break out into song at the least provocation. So you can imagine how excited I was when I first stepped foot on the real Broadway, looked up and down the street, and saw all the theatres where I once foresaw myself treading the boards.

My plans of world domination through drama may have fallen short but that didn’t mean that I was going to miss out on my chance to see a musical on Broadway. That, of course, left me with the dilemma of what to see. After much hemming and hawing, I narrowed it down to Wicked and Guys and Dolls starring Mama Gilmore, Lauren Graham.The deciding factor was finally that I know every single song from G&D by heart and wasn’t as familiar with Wicked.

I booked my ticket while I was still in Toronto and could only hope that my seat 118S would have good site lines. The online theater map of the Gershwin made it look like my seat would be good but I was still anxious since this was my big Broadway splurge. In the end, my seat was almost dead centre and at good distance from the stage.

There is something about live theatre that makes my skin feel electric. After giving my ticket to the guy at the door I stood and stared at the stage with the large dragon sitting atop it and had to physically restrain myself from breaking out into the few lines of song I knew thanks to Kat at Sunshine and Lemonade.

The title of today’s post was going to be “Simply Wicked” because that’s what it was – wicked awesome! I loved the seamless way the traditional story of the Wizard of Oz was woven into the plot and left you thinking, “Oh, now that makes sense! Of course she wanted the shoes back!”

From the music to the sets to the performances themselves, the entire night was magical. I used to attend live theatre quite frequently but must admit that seeing Wicked on Broadway somehow made it even more special. A number of obvious fans were wearing green in honour of the musical’s heroine, and I was able to see several people mouthing along with the players during several songs.

(And now for the cheesy final number…) Wicked absolutely defied my expectations and deserves to be as popular it is. When the lights eventually go dark on this masterpiece, I won’t be the only one mourning the Wicked.