Wicked

[King Bob]

I remember the Yeti once recommended this, so I picked it up at the library sale. It was a page-turner and I stayed up late a couple of nights reading it, but I can't totally praise it.

The bit about persecution of talking animals and the resultant murder was pretty much a McGuffin; it felt forced to me. There was enough oppression to set the tone without it. (I did like his portrayal of the Wizard as a would-be Nietzschean Superman or Crowley figure.) The titular witch remains particularly clueless about motivations and probable actions of others despite growing older (making it feel like a "young adult" book), and her eventual apparent madness didn't really make sense to me. She also seems trapped by her early life experiences to act certain ways, and her life is further shaped for the worse by her life events, and ultimately it felt like everything sort of unrolled as if according to her destiny. That was just depressing, even though you know how it will end - life goes wrong and then you die. I really can't see this being a satisfying musical; it's pretty dark.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Yup, that sounds right, except I liked it.

[Drunk Monk]

Whatever the case, it makes for a great Broadway musical. I enjoyed the show, but I was bothered by the discrepancies between the film, which was frequently and humorously referenced, and the show. The rest was well written, clearly fossils from the book, that it seemed such an oversight. Anyone could have easily tweaked it to accommodate the film much better. Everyone tells me I'm being too OCD about this. And I probably am.

I imagine Wicked the book maps on to the original Baum book series better than the film, yes? It's been so long since I read those. That would make a lot more sense.

But wow, Eden Espinosa can belt out a song like any great Broadway songstress. She made an amazing Elphaba and totally stole the show. The fam totally enjoyed it. And it was great to be back in the Orpheum, where I saw plenty of Garcia shows back in the day.

Lemons and apples and pears, oh my!

[Drunk Monk]

Wicked. Full trailer.

Spoiler warning - this is just part one. I didn’t know that going into it so its abrupt ending left me hanging. 

It’s a musical with massive special effects. Erivo & Grande have the pipes for big broadway show tunes. Erivo was a revelation - such a powerhouse in singing and acting. Grande I’ve followed from her beginning. Sam and Cat was at the very tale end of Tara watching shows like that so she’s like Cyrus & Zendaya - saw them early, recognized their talent from the start, and have watched their ascension with joy. Yeoh & Goldblum can’t sing - they are here as contrast. Yang is annoyingly gay. Menzel & Chenoweth also have the pipes and appear together in an all-to-short cameo. The sets and cgi settings are garishly opulent, what you might expect. They do open up the show to be more cinematic and that works.

Recommended only to D00Mers who like musicals. Tell me I’m not alone here.

[Greg]

I made it half way through.

[Drunk Monk]

Upon reflection, it's ambiguously woke, especially with Erivo. Sure, she's green but she's black. She's the protag, but her and the other POCs are all villains (although all the characters come off as flawed in a villainous way so this might now be fair). So is it woke? Maybe more than Superman. Heck, I don't even know what woke means anymore...

[King Bob]

I thought it was crap. The protags aren't very good actors or compelling characters, and the songs aren't memorable. And Ariana Grande clearly has an eating disorder. A waste of time. Sets were good though.

[Drunk Monk]

I thought Grande's anorexic look worked well with her character. She's best at caricature - that's what Cat in Sam & Cat was all about. And I though Erivo delivered a solid performance.

I'm not sure that there were many sets. Most of it was CGI.