Wicked

Saturday, August 18, 2007
2:00pm matinee
Pantages Theatre
Los Angeles, CA

I was not really planning on seeing Wicked again so soon, but I was driving down to the Ahmanson anyway and figured if I got to the Pantages early enough, I could find out if anyone interesting was going to be on. If not, I'd leave and not spend the money. So I waited until they opened the doors and peered in to look at the understudy board. Well, I ended up seeing the show.

Starting with individual performers:

D.J. Gregory

This was my first time seeing D.J. as Fiyero, and he was the main reason I shelled out the money for this performance. He had some interesting takes on Fiyero's character, and I'm not sure how to describe it, but he played Fiyero with an emotional sensibility of a much younger guy than most, and not necessarily in a good way. A lot of his emotions, facial expressions, and body language reminded me of a college guy who hadn't had much life experience. Perhaps that could work, if he also added in an element of growth as the story goes on, especially in Act 2. I usually expect see Fiyero show a little inner conflict in "Thank Goodness" because, really, he should be quite conflicted in his feelings for Elphaba coming more and more to the fore, especially after Glinda springs the engagement surprise on him. But D.J. didn't really convey any of that. He had kind of a goofy grin on his face for most of his stage time in "Thank Goodness", and I only saw it start to disappear when Fiyero accuses Glinda of not being able to resist all the attention she's getting. He never really looked uncomfortable, or even the slightest bit upset at the lies the Ozians were spreading about Elphaba. He kept that awkward grin, which I suppose could be nervous laughter/incredulity, but I'm not sure I could interpret it that way.

And I'm not sure why, but D.J. did not do a whole lot during "As Long as You're Mine" (thus, creating yet another one-sided ALAYM). All through Elphaba's solo in the first third or so of the song, he just sat there, with that goofy grin on his face. I think at some point, he maybe took Eden's hands? In short, I did not get a feeling that his Fiyero was supposed to be in love. He seemed more ... amused that Elphaba was in love with him.

Unlike Adam Lambert who played Fiyero as having sympathy and empathy for Elphaba a lot in Act 1, especially around the lion cub scene, D.J. did not. D.J.'s Fiyero is actually quite self-absorbed and perhaps even oblivious of Elphaba's distress after Dillamond is fired and when they reveal the lion cub in the cage. And I guess self-absorbed is how Fiyero is supposed to be pretending to be, but Elphaba is supposed to see past that. I don't quite understand how with D.J.'s Fiyero.

D.J. does have a lovely voice, however. Very powerful and very clean (he didn't riff one bit, unlike Adam L., which is just fine with me). Dancing is not really his forte, as there were some movements that looked rather awkward (especially the spinning tuck jump during "Dancing Through Life" or the side leap thing during Ozdust). Otherwise, he was fun to watch and like I said, having a new person in a role to watch makes it that much more interesting of a show.

Again, it's been a little while since I last saw Eden, and my mind is actually still pretty fresh from seeing Julie last week. Eden typically holds back just a little vocally in matinees, either because she's not quite as warmed up or because she kind of saves herself to go all out in the evening. So, she rarely riffs much in the matinee. Like today. She stuck very close to the established score (not even doing her lift in TWAI), but nonetheless her voice was VERY strong and extremely clean. (In fact, I don't think I've heard a matinee performance from her THIS clean and powerful.)

In this case, I was GLAD she didn't riff because I personally think it is a sign of fantastic vocal talent to be able to sing with clear, pure tones as opposed to all the fancy vocal gymnastics like on "American Idol". (Not that I don't enjoy some riffs now and then, but they're really not necessary for a great performance.)

It's been a month and a half since I last saw her, and as I expected, little things have changed in her acting choices. Unlike last time, though, I actually REALLY liked what she did today. Especially in most of Act 2 -- I found myself being drawn into her characterization of Elphaba so much more than I have in quite some time. There are still a few gestures (pointing mainly) that don't quite fit, but really, they were very minor. And overall, I liked the little changes in the inflections in her lines -- they made the scenes very smooth.

Even in "No Good Deed" when she can be extremely fierce and angry throughout, she played it a lot more introspectively and thoughtful. She didn't tear and charge her way through it (like she usually does), and it was actually VERY effective. She did, of course, riff the last note quite a bit and she went up high (and stayed up high) where she usually does a "FIYERO!" riff.

The one place that she seemed to lose focus, though, was the witch fight scene, where she actually got a mild case of the giggles. (Yes, ::groan::.) But it wasn't completely obvious, and she tried to hide it fairly well. I'm not sure exactly when it started, but I could tell she had to re-channel her energy during her rant at Megan, got through that pretty well, but then when she and Megan faced-off, she had a fairly silly grin going. Luckily, like I said, she pulled it back together after the guards grab her. (It's a relatively funny scene, anyway, so it was forgivable.)

Megan was having some fun during "Popular". She whipped Eden's braid against her chin/neck just before she unbraided it. Then something must have distracted her for a split second because Megan had a minor line flub where she hesitated for the slightest bit. "Oh, Elphie! You ... mustn't say things like that anymore!" instead of "You mustn't think that way anymore!"

Then during the ball gown sequence, my FAVORITE bit: during the second attempt when Megan adds the hum to try to get the wand to do something, she was pointing the wand at Eden's waist ... and then she inched closer and closer, and then poked Eden in the ribs, tickling her. HA HA HA. So cute.

Then when Megan went to fling the wand away, it went crooked and bounced off the set and back on stage, so she went to retrieve it and then she flung it backwards again. That got a good laugh out of her and Eden.

The last time I saw Michael Drolet as Boq, there were other distractions that kept me from remembering much about him. But he is such an adorable Boq. He doesn't play Boq as very awkward at all, unlike most other actors I've seen in the role. It sounds weird, but his acting is not at all obvious. He doesn't look or sound like he is trying too hard to get laughs (which unfortunately, Adam Wylie sometimes does). There was something very natural about the way -- in "March of the Witch Hunters" -- that he, as the Tin Man, turned to his side expecting the Cowardly Lion to be next to him, and finding no one there. He was also quite a bit more spirited, in that he seemed more capable of rallying a mob (at least, a little more than Adam usually is).

• I mentioned this being a very strong show for Eden acting-wise, but there were a few moments during TWAI where Eden looked a little bored. Or at least, uninspired. I've seen her with a little more energy in the past. Still, it was a fantastic performance vocally, and she picked up the energy not too long after that.
   
• Eden and Megan get so much into each other's faces during "What is This Feeling". Actually, Megan looks like she's trying to stretch herself as tall as she can to get into Eden's face.
   
• This has nothing to do with the show itself, but I found myself bothered by Megan's posture when she's being shallow Galinda. I mean, I know she's doing it for the character, but it just hurts my back to see her standing with THAT much anterior pelvic tilt and with her knees locked out. All I could think was, "Geez, I hope she doesn't stand like that too often in real life." (Sorry, I can't help but notice things like that with my job.)
   
• Michael added a nice little riff (though, I'm not sure if you can call it that ... more of a little flip) in "Let's dance!" during Ozdust.
   
• Unlike Julie who looks like she's going to cry during the dancing sequence in Ozdust, Eden is very defiant, not hurt. She looks at the other students, looks at Megan (who does look like she wants to cry and looks quite helpless), and kind of just nods as if to say, "Okay, fine. Be that way. But I'm not going anywhere, and I'm going to try to dance."
   
• The train station scene was great. Nice awkward pauses as there should be. And it was great that Eden jabbed D.J. a couple times in the ribs to get him to scramble to find something to say faster.
   
• Eden changed the way she says "sorry" again, after Fiyero screams, "Do you ever let anyone else talk?!" This time, she said "Sor-reeeee" in a very sing-song voice, like a little kid who had gotten in trouble for doing something wrong, and then apologizing in a very embarrassed manner. I haven't decided if I like it, but I do admit it's knd of cute.
   
• I still really don't like the way Eden pretends to crack up when John starts going a little wild with his dancing during "Wonderful". It kind of breaks the attitude she had developed about him.
   
• I don't know if D.J. just forgot to keep holding his gun at the Wizard in the scene after "Wonderful", but he had it down by his side, so when Megan screeches, "Fiyero, what are you doing?!", it was just a little awkward.
   
• The first part of the witch fight scene (before Eden started with the mild giggles), she was intense. Very emotional when she knelt down to mourn her sister, very fierce as she was snapping at Megan.
   
• This is also new to me: when Elphaba opens the trap door and says, "You want to see your Aunt Em?" but while Eden said that in a normal voice, she adopted a baby-talk tone of voice "and you're uncle what's-his-name again?" Sorry, I don't like that at all. It's cute and funny, but not really fitting with Elphaba's personality, especially not at that moment in the story.

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