WICKED National Tour

[dmwnc1959]

Posted: 1/12/18 at 6:36pm

I’m about two weeks away from seeing the National Tour of “WICKED” and have heard very little if anything at all on these boards about the tour. I usually listen to the cast album of the show before I see it, but I’m still listening to “Love Never Dies” which I saw this past weekend. Guess next week I’ll dig into the music from “WICKED”. 

Has anyone seen the current tour? I can’t seem to find much info on the cast from the tour website (i.e. who is particularly noteworthy, famous, or those I should pay special interest to). Any tips on what to expect? I do plan on getting my usual window card and maybe a souvenir or two. 

 

 

Updated On: 1/12/18 at 06:36 PM

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 1/12/18 at 7:19pm

Here’s the cast: https://wickedthemusical.com/cast-creative

edit: you’ve got to use the drop down menu, then click munchkinland tour

Updated On: 1/12/18 at 07:19 PM

[hamiltonstradition]

Posted: 1/12/18 at 7:23pm

Mary Kate Morrissey will be Elphaba, she was a former standby so she knows the material well. She is INCREDIBLE.

Chelsea Emma Franko (Elphaba Standby) if she’s on your in for GREAT show. Amazing vocals and good acting.

Ginna Claire Mason (Glinda) one of the best Glindas I’ve seen!!

The principal understudies are too!

Everything is the same as broadway except for some blocking and lighting changes.

The ensemble gels together well, and they are the collective best ensemble I’ve seen in Wicked to date!

[dmwnc1959]

Posted: 1/12/18 at 7:55pm

THANK YOU for the link and cast tips. I guess once I start listening to the music next week I’ll know more about the storyline (other than the very basics) and who the characters are. I’m going into this one sort of blind. Looking at the names right now I’m at a total loss.

I bought this ticket on a whim when I got an advanced sale notice from the Benedum Center before general sales opened to the public. Now that the Pittsburgh run is fairly well booked all my friends want to go and can’t understand why the prices are twice what I paid. After I told my brother I was going (and he’s not even a big theater buff) he was all freaking out jealous! So I think maybe I’m in for something special?

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 1/12/18 at 8:14pm

Wicked is a classic, and nothing beats your first time. Have a blast.

[ArtMan]

Posted: 1/12/18 at 8:26pm

I actually didn't like Wicked the first time I saw it (on Broadway).  I had huge expectations before the show and I wasn't familiar at all with any of the music.  After seeing it, I kind of felt letdown.  The second time I saw it (tour), I was more familiar with the music and enjoyed it more the second time.  The third time (tour) was the best.  I think, for me, at least,  becoming familiar with the score allowed me to enjoy the  show more.  Normally for a musical, I don't listen to the score before I see it.  For some reason with Wicked, it worked out for the better.

Updated On: 1/12/18 at 08:26 PM

[dmwnc1959]

Posted: 1/12/18 at 9:16pm

Spent the majority of the past hour on a Wikipedia-styled “WICKED” website reading up on the major characters in the story, and just WOW was there sooooo much I didn’t know behind their histories leading up to “The Wizard of Oz” it’s amazing. And complicated. This has me pumped now. 

The weather forecast here has us getting freezing rain, ice, and snow overnight, so I’ll probably be housebound and cleaning tomorrow. What an excellent time to start listening to the cast album of “WICKED”. Not sure now that I can wait until next week. 

 

BroadwayConcierge said: "Wicked is a classic, and nothing beats your first time. Have a blast."

I’m beginning to think this is going to be just that. A blast! 

 

[dmwnc1959]

Posted: 1/27/18 at 12:37pm

At the show now waiting for the lobby doors to open. There doesn’t appear to be any principal touring cast replacements from the main list other than the Swings performing today, which include Michael di Liberto and Ben Susak. Witches Mother is played by Kelly Lafarga. The amount of souvenirs being sold rival what I’ve seen at “The Lion King”. Amazing!

Updated On: 1/27/18 at 12:37 PM

[dmwnc1959]

Posted: 1/27/18 at 9:29pm

This show was absolutely amazing! Lots and lots of subtle humor thrown into the mix with wonderful singing on most everyone’s part across the board, and the orchestra was great this time, at no point drowning out the performance as in my last visit here during “Love Never Dies”. 

Great costumes, enjoyed all of the wonderful visuals (i.e. Oz and The Wizard scenes), the flying monkeys, and from start to finish I was never let down.

Favorite songs include: “I’m Not That Girl” (utterly magnificent, sublime, and tragically sad); “Popular”, which was just so giggly because Glinda (Ginna Claire Mason) was so over the top giggly - it was too cute; and for obvious reasons (if you’ve already seen the show) “Defying Gravity”, which ended Act 1 with the largest applause I’ve ever heard at the Benedum Center. 

While listening to the Original Cast Album in preparation for the show I also loved “Dancing Through Life”, but in the performance I attended the actor playing Fiyero (Michael Campano) was sort of “too cool for school” and it was hard understanding him slumping through the lyrics. This wasn’t the case during any of his other songs, just this one. 

Ginna Claire Mason (Glinda) and Mary Kate Morrissey (Elphaba) were nothing short of brilliant. Stunning. Incredible. Amazing. I couldn’t have asked to have witnessed better. Robin de Jesus (Boc) was probably my next favorite. Superb performance. All others were wonderful as well, but I thought these three were best. 

Near the end, where Elphaba draws the curtain so that Glinda won’t see what comes next, and Glinda’s response, was just heartbreaking. 

This was only the fourth show of this run in Pittsburgh, and it runs from January 24th - February 11th. Overall I’d give this a perfect 10, even with the difficulty of understanding the “Dancing Through Life” lyrics. The show is simply a marvel, and a definite must see. 



 



 

Updated On: 1/28/18 at 09:29 PM

[dmwnc1959]

Posted: 1/27/18 at 10:04pm

One other thing I forgot to mention, this partaining to the vendors. I was disappointed to find out, as a collector of window cards for the shows I’ve been attending, that the poster they sold here was indeed that, just a poster (and it was rolled up in a plastic sleeve) and printed on the kind of thin poster paper like you might find when you bought a rockstar or Farrah Fawcett-Majors poster from the turnstile display as a kid at the local all-mart store. Every other show I’ve attended had actual window cards. 

[Zamedy154]

Posted: 1/28/18 at 7:05am

hamiltonstradition said: "Mary Kate Morrissey will be Elphaba, she was a former standby so she knows the material well. She is INCREDIBLE.

Chelsea Emma Franko (Elphaba Standby) if she’s on your in for GREAT show. Amazing vocals and good acting.

Ginna Claire Mason (Glinda) one of the best Glindas I’ve seen!!

The principal understudies are too!

Everything is the same as broadway except for some blocking and lighting changes.

The ensemble gels together well, and they are the collective best ensemble I’ve seen in Wicked to date!"

Does WICKED have a thing for middle names or what?

 

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 1/28/18 at 1:02pm

Does WICKED have a thing for middle names or what?

Or what.  That's the actor's individual choice.  In a cast of 39, only a handful use their middle names.

I really enjoyed seeing the show again.  Ginna Claire Mason was an excellent Glinda.  Mary Kate Morrissey delivered on vocals, though her acting wasn't the strongest and she seemed to rush through much of her lines.  Not a fan of Michael Campano as Fiyero.  His laid-back Fiyero is smarmy and dull.  The girls' attraction to him is perplexing.  There is zero chemistry between him and either girl.  Even though he sings much of Dancing Through Life, he gets lost among the company.  To make matters worse, since my seat was on the far left, he physically warms up in the wings in plain sight, fully lit.  Very distracting and very unprofessional.  It was hard to believe he performed on Broadway.  De Jesus was quite good as Boq and McGowan was an okay, if forgettable Wizard.  However, Charlebois was terrific as Nessarose and quite memorable in a part that is often overlooked.  I look forward to seeing her in future productions.

I was really excited to see Judy Kaye listed among the cast as Madame Morrible.  But upon her entrance, it was clear an understudy was playing the role, though it was not on the cast board, insert, or announced.  I do want to note that Tregoney Shepard was GREAT.  One of the best Morribles I've seen.  I was just disheartened not to see Kaye.  I hope nothing was seriously wrong with her that she had to step out of the show so suddenly.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 1/28/18 at 1:29pm

^tregoney was listed in the playbill, though. It’s not like they didn’t make it clear she was playing the role. And you didn’t really miss much with Judy, I preferred Tregoney exponentially more.

[dmwnc1959]

Posted: 1/28/18 at 1:40pm

Mister Matt said: “I was really excited to see Judy Kaye listed among the cast as Madame Morrible. But upon her entrance, it was clear an understudy was playing the role, though it was not on the cast board, insert, or announced.”

That was the first time I had seen the cast board just inside the Benedum Center’s entrance. Normally it’s in the foyer (lobby) just before the orchestra level lounge area seats. It was hard getting a decent picture of it without daylight reflecting off of it. 

Cast board for the 2pm January 27, 2018 performance...

Updated On: 1/28/18 at 01:40 PM

[dmwnc1959]

Posted: 1/28/18 at 1:58pm

Program insert for the 2pm January 27, 2018 performance...

[mailhandler777]

Posted: 1/28/18 at 2:54pm

Zamedy154 said: "Does WICKED have a thing for middle names or what?"

Or what. They have 2 first names. Katie Rose, Chandra Lee, Mary Kate, Ginna Claire...the list goes on. 

[mailhandler777]

Posted: 1/28/18 at 2:58pm

Mister Matt said: "I was really excited to see Judy Kaye listed among the cast as Madame Morrible. But upon her entrance, it was clear an understudy was playing the role, though it was not on the cast board, insert, or announced. I do want to note that Tregoney Shepard was GREAT. One of the best Morribles I've seen. I was just disheartened not to see Kaye. I hope nothing was seriously wrong with her that she had to step out of the show so suddenly."

 

Considering Tregony was listed in the playbill playing Morrible from Jan 13th to 19th it shouldn't have been a shock that she was on and Judy was out. 

 

[dmwnc1959]

Posted: 1/28/18 at 4:25pm

mailhandler777 said: "Considering Tregony was listed in the playbill playing Morrible from Jan 13th to 19th it shouldn't have been a shock that she was on and Judy was out."

I had mistakingly thought Mr. Matt had posted in reference to the same show I had seen, but now seeing these dates it must have been a different city and performance altogether? 

[hamiltonstradition]

Posted: 1/28/18 at 8:28pm

Tregoney covered for Judy’s week off in Chicago! So happy to see an understudy being billed as lead!

Mary Kate and Ginna Claire are two really special people, glad you got see them both!

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 1/28/18 at 8:42pm

Considering Tregony was listed in the playbill playing Morrible from Jan 13th to 19th it shouldn't have been a shock that she was on and Judy was out.

I didn't even see notice that page until now!  I was reading the cast bios and the cast board and the inserts, but I missed it on the one "CAST" page in the Playbill.  I just figured the cast board and the inserts and bios would be sufficient.  Silly me.  Regardless, Tregony was terrific.  I'm just a big Judy Kaye fan. 

[mailhandler777]

Posted: 1/28/18 at 11:44pm

Mister Matt said: "Considering Tregonywas listed in the playbill playing Morrible from Jan 13th to 19th it shouldn't have been a shock that she was on and Judy was out.

I didn't even see notice that page until now! I was reading the cast bios and the cast board and the inserts, but I missed it on the one "CAST" page in the Playbill. I just figured the cast board and the inserts and bios would be sufficient. Silly me. Regardless, Tregony was terrific. I'm just a big Judy Kaye fan."

Guess not. When they are listed in the playbill they don't have to be listed on the board or on an insert.