I cannot seem to get away from Wicked. It seems like recently it has been poppin up everywhere, including:
- The Jay Leno show the night I decided to randomly Tivo the show (the LA cast performed a rather mediocre version of "What Is This Feeling?"...and by mediocre I mean reserved performances by Eden Espinosa and Megan Hilty...I know they are powerhouse performers, but the ensemble danced and sang CIRCLES around them!)
- My optometrist randomly mentioned to me he recently read the book and talked to me about it for 20 minutes, without knowing if I had even heard of it.
- Since the Los Angeles production opened in February, I cannot go anywhere or do anything without seeing a billboard or advertisement for the show. I haven't driven past the theater since it opened, but everyone has either seen it or has tickets to see it, and there are huge billboards all around town. I can't even get my daily dose of trashy celebrity gossip via perezhilton.com without seeing multiple advertisements on his site! I know he's gay, but who knew he was so cultured (or just a sucker for an extra buck through publicity). You gotta hand it to the marketing department over at Broadway LA...
- Between the Broadway, Chicago, national tour, London, and Los Angeles productions being as successful as they are, you'd think the creative team would be sitting pretty. Well, they are, but apparently it's not enough. There is also a 30-minute version of the show at Universal Studios in Osaka, Japan, and full productions in Japan, Germany, and Australia will be popping up in the next two years. There are also rumors of future productions in Canada and the Netherlands. Who do they think they are, The Lion King? Les Miserables?
And now, the greatest of them all...
- On Goldstar (an amazing discount ticket website, you should all check it out), I saw a listing for a production of The Wizard Of Oz going up in Los Angeles in July. The tagline for it actually said "What happened after Wicked: The Classic Tale of The Wizard Of Oz."
Can you believe that? I was floored. Wicked's clever slogan is "So much happened before Dorothy dropped in." But now The Wizard Of Oz, a title that has stood on its own for decades, is being billed as a sequel to Wicked.
3 comments:
The Wizard of Oz being billed as a sequel to Wicked? That makes me sick. I mean, Wicked (the musical) is fun and entertaining and all, but the book is far better. It's a shame when pop culture becomes the reference point even for such classics as The Wizard of Oz. Not that there's anything wrong with pop culture. I love me some pop culture as well. But still...oy.
side note: even if the book was the reference point for their billing it as a sequel, I would not be satisfied. The "sequel" came first. Wicked is a prequel--that does not automatically make The Wizard of Oz a sequel. So there.
I still haven't seen the show. Does that mean I shouldn't ask Joe to get me tickets (from his brother, since apparently he still gets them to every show(?)) this summer?
One of these days, I will meet the mysterious Gregory. . .
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