Here it is, my friends. The moment you've been waiting for. Mindy's Giant Wicked Review is at last complete!

 

We arrived at the Fox Theatre an hour and a half early. The first thing I noticed was the fancy-looking hotel right across the street from the theatre. I had an "Ahh!" moment. THAT must be the place where the actors stay! I tried to spy through windows as we went past, just to see if I could see anybody, but alas – the curtains were all drawn. It took us 15 minutes to park and walk across the street to the theatre, and we had to stand around for another 15 minutes waiting for the doors to open. During this time, we bought a $20 program full of pictures every Wicked fan already has on their hard drive, and I ran around kissing the Wicked and RENT posters. I did find one lovely picture of Kristin Chenoweth (original Broadway Glinda) that I'd never seen before in the program, which I plan to scan whenever I get the chance.

 

 The doors finally opened and once again, there was absolutely no security at the theatre, which we all found really weird. There was a big sign that said "No Cameras," so Mum got all frantic trying to hide hers from the ushers, which she did successfully, thank Eru. We were really too far from the stage to take pictures though, and Mum refused to let us make a bootleg of the performance, however. The merchandise booths were immediately swarmed with pseudofans (i.e. "fans" who really have no idea what Wicked is, but claim to be obsessed with it anyway) and rich city kids purchasing souvenirs before hurrying off to sit in their front-row seats paid for by their daddies' season passes. Grr.

 

We pushed past everyone and made our way to our seats in the balcony. The advantage to balcony seats is that the upstairs merchandise tables are always virtually clear of lines, while people crowd around the ones downstairs. It's really quite funny, but sad for the poor ignorant schmucks downstairs, I suppose. I wanted to buy a "Property of Shiz University Athletic Dept." T-shirt, but they didn't have them. They did, however, have a pretty new shirt that I hadn't seen yet. It's gray with glittery letters saying "I ♥ Oz," and inside the heart is the Wicked logo with Glinda whispering in Elphaba's ear. Of course, that's the one all the pseudofans decided to get too, but I liked it, so I got it. Unfortunately, so did my two sisters. Posers. Hmph.

 

Misty, my 13-year-old sis, also bought a black Wicked beanie, which Mum hates because she thinks beanies are only for boys. I find this quite amusing, since Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel both wear beanies all the time, but Mum is not easily persuaded of such things. Anyway, Misty and I went to our seats, while Mum, Dad, and Maci (the 6-year-old) had seats a few rows back from us. Misty changed into her Wicked shirt right there in the theater, but nobody noticed, tee hee. Then she proceeded to play System of a Down very, very loudly while we snickered at the adolescent fangirls who hadn't even read the book running around until the show started.

 

A very proper old lady sat beside me, and a tall lady sat in front of me, much to my endless annoyance. The stage looked fantastic. At the Gershwin Theatre on Broadway, the stage is framed by gears and levers on the sides and a giant animatronic dragon on top, and the stage curtain is made to look like a map of Oz. At the Fox, the stage was topped with a miniature portable version of the Gershwin dragon and, since they couldn't actually paint the Fox's stage curtain, they had a mini map of Oz that covered most of the stage. It was set on a rolling frame and when the show started, they rolled it out of the way. The orchestra played show tunes during the hour we had to wait until the show started. I remarked to Misty that it was like Broadway radio.

 

When the lights FINALLY dimmed, the audience burst out into applause, and the flying monkeys – though of course they didn't have wings yet – came out and danced a bit. Then the map rolled out of the way and the ensemble was there singing the first notes of the score: "Good neeeews! She's deeead! The Witch of the West is dead!" Misty and I were bouncing up and down in our seats and the lady beside me told us to stop singing along, which we WEREN'T doing in the first place, but I was too excited to defend myself.

 

I think something was wrong with the ensemble's microphones, because a lot of the lyrics were nearly unintelligible. I've heard a lot of great things about this ensemble, and I know they're better than that, so either the entire ensemble was just having an "off" day, or the mics were screwing up. It didn't affect me much, having memorized the entire score and most of the script myself, but it kind of ruined the effect in places.

 

Glinda came down in her bubble, which looked really cool and a lot smaller than the one at the Gershwin, and started singing. Having not been able to find a playbill before the performance, I had no clue that the two leading roles were being played by understudies that day, so my first thought was, "Oh.My.God. Kendra Kassebaum is on that stage RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!" I was sooo excited to see her because I've heard so much about her, but I soon became suspicious that it wasn't her at all. It turned out to be Annaleigh Ashford, the understudy Glinda, but I knew it couldn't be Kendra because I've heard Kendra before, and her voice is much deeper and stronger. Annaleigh's higher notes were rather weak, and to be honest, I wasn't impressed with her singing at all.

 

The first really cool part of the whole musical came when Elphaba ran out onstage and the whole theatre – fans, pseudofans, and ignorant old ladies alike – burst into cheers and applause. It reminded me of when Gregory Maguire (the author of the book Wicked) once said how proud he was that people were actually *clapping* for the Wicked Witch of the West, especially when most of them had never seen the show before and didn't know that she wasn't really wicked. It's just kind of instinctive to start clapping for this girl with green skin that runs out onstage – you don't think, you just start cheering. It was really awesome to be a part of.

 

Anyway, I was psyched to see Julia Murney (who normally plays Elphaba) because she just joined the show, and I'd never heard her sing, so I was really looking forward to forming an opinion about her. (Plus, I wanted to ask her at the stage door what it was like to perform with Idina Menzel – which, I'm sure, would have made her feel really special.) Not having a playbill, I didn't know until the show was over that it wasn't Julia onstage, but her understudy, Victoria Matlock. So of course I had my fingers crossed that she would be really good, because I was already not impressed with Glinda, and having two sucky lead actresses would just… suck. I definitely got my wish! Victoria's "The Wizard and I" was AWESOME. It was almost like hearing Idina, because Victoria belts her notes rather than cheating and going falsetto like some Elphabas do (*coughShoshanaBeancough*). The ONLY little quibble I had with her performance of the song was that she didn't put enough emphasis on the line "I'd be so happy I could melt," because that's a really ironic/foreshadowing line. But it was ALMOST like seeing Idina on that stage. *_*

 

I didn't much like "What Is This Feeling" because the ensemble's words were slurred again, and neither Victoria's nor Annaleigh's voices were really strong enough on that song. They should've turned the ensemble's mics down since you really couldn't hear what they were singing anyway, and turned Victoria's and Annaleigh's mics up, but whatever. It was a shame too, because that's my favorite song from the play, and it's one of the funniest. Annaleigh said the "unusually and exceedingly peculiar" part too fast too, so you couldn't understand the first part of it, but Victoria's "Blonde!" was GREAT. She sounded really disgusted and almost scandalized to be rooming with a bubble-headed blonde, LoL! It was really funny and different from what I've heard other Elphies do.

 

The classroom scene was cool – I really liked K. Todd Freeman's Doctor Dillamond. He acted and sounded like a very authentic Goat, haha. Alma Cuervo's Madame Morrible was kinda short, I thought at first, but she didn't really stand out until later. I was also pleasantly surprised at how well they explained the whole deal with Animals losing their ability to speak.

 

Next came "Dancing Through Life," with Fiyero and Boq. Like the rest of the world, it seems, I had forgotten that Logan Lipton (the cutest guy ever to perform in Wicked, in my opinion) had left the show, and Boq was being played by Kirk McDonald, who actually played Boq in the previews before being replaced by Christopher Fitzgerald when Wicked went to Broadway. He was really very, very short, which I found ridiculously funny, but he made Boq seem very pathetic and fanboyish, almost nerdy. I didn't particularly like that, being a big fan of book!Boq and the Glinda/Boq pairing, but it was undeniably funny.

 

Sebastian Arcelus was Fiyero. He has long, wavy hair and I liked his Fiyero very much. Of course, Norbert Leo Butz will always be my Fiyero, just as Cheno and Dee will always be Glinda and Elphie for me, but Sebastian's Fiyero seemed younger and less experienced, less world-weary somehow. I kinda liked that. "Dancing Through Life" was, of course, rather pretty, though half the ensemble's lyrics were STILL garbled. The whole hat sequence was kind of mangled too, both by Annaleigh's less than fabulous diction and the stupid mics. I think the dance Victoria did as Elphie at the Ozdust Ballroom was different than the ones the other Elphies have done – at least, I know it wasn't the one Stephanie, the previous tour!Elphaba, did. It didn't look too bad, to be quite honest. I dance worse. Kudos to Annaleigh for her dancing, though – when she joined Elphie dancing she made the dance look pretty, and when the whole cast started doing it, it looked really cool.

 

The next number was "Popular." Ohh, dear Popular – the one number that decides whether a particular Glinda is a good witch or a bad witch. Annaleigh's Popular wasn't anything extremely impressive, but of course, to those who'd never seen the show before it was hilarious. This was the point where I was disappointed the most in the whole show, I think, because some Glindas are really, really creative with their Populars, and Annaleigh didn't really do anything I hadn't seen before. It was very interesting to see which elements she used from past Glindas' performances, though. She seemed to borrow a lot from Megan Hilty's hyper preschooler portrayal of Glinda, but she didn't go all out with it like Megan does. She did do this one funny little ad-lib where she was shaking with excitement, like a five-year-old with ADD hyped up on sugar and caffeine, and said, "Ooh, I'm just so excited!" The whole number was pleasant and funny, just not brilliant and hilarious like I would have expected of Kendra. In fact, Victoria stole the whole number with her hair flips, which were HYSTERICAL. It was about as bad as one can possibly make a hair flip. I wish I had a video of just Victoria's hair flips because they were so good (actually, so BAD, but you know what I mean). Somebody on the Unexamined Life forums said that Victoria's Elphaba looks like a spastic grasshopper trying to flip her hair, and she was right! But it's good, because Elphie's supposed to look like that. Haha.

 

In the classroom scene afterwards, the lion cub in the cage was very obviously animatronic, but cute anyway. The bit where Elphaba causes a commotion in the classroom by putting a hex on everyone was rather less impressive than I thought it would be – I've heard of some Elphies physically trembling and stuff during that scene, but if Victoria did, I couldn't tell from my spot way up in the nosebleeds. Anyway, the following scene with Fiyero and Elphaba rescuing the lion cub was very nearly perfect. The awkwardness and chemistry between Sebastian and Victoria was GREAT. This was my favorite scene of Sebastian's. Both he and Victoria shone in this sequence. I really can't say enough good things about it!

 

I've heard that Victoria's "I'm Not That Girl" is very deeply emotional, but I couldn't see her facial expressions or anything from where I was, so it was just good for me, not amazing. She hit her low notes better than Idina does, though. Misty actually thought she was singing it a key higher than Dee, but I was like, "No, she just hits the low notes better..." Right after this, Madame Morrible appears, and this was where Alma Cuervo started to really be rather creepy, what with just popping up out of nowhere like that. Very good.

 

In the sequence where Elphaba leaves for the Emerald City, the sort of awkward dynamic between Glinda, Elphaba and Fiyero was played to near perfection. To Annaleigh's credit, she did very well at this point. Jennifer Waldman's Nessarose hadn't really stood out any yet, but during this part she came off as a bit of an angsty adolescent pining over Boq. I think Jennifer just needs to grow into her character a bit more, as she just joined the show. Right now her Nessa isn't as deep and tragic as Jenna Leigh Green's and Michelle Federer's. Fortunately, she would redeem herself later on in the play.

 

One Short Day was not very good, what with the ensemble and the microphones, and for some reason Victoria's and Annaleigh's voices don't seem to blend very well or something. They both seem rather weak when singing together. I don't know what it is. Anyway, I think they impressed everyone with their super-short costume change – I think it's like 11 seconds or something? So go them.

 

Next we meet P.J. Benjamin's Wonderful Wizard of Oz, with whom I was really very impressed. "A Sentimental Man" is not a stand-out song, but he made it at least marginally interesting – possibly because of the overwhelming sense of foreshadowing it holds for those who know the show. Tee hee. An increasingly eerie Madame Morrible appeared in this scene, too. The appearance of the flying monkeys was very cool to watch, and I was again surprised at how well they explained the whole mess about the Animals. The Wizard explained his reasons for suppressing the Animals quite well.

 

"Defying Gravity" was, of course, the next number. And what a number it was! It was less intense and emotional than it is listening to it on the soundtrack, I suppose because I was so high up in the balcony. But I was seriously praying for Victoria to get it right, and she did! To be honest, I've never really hated any version of Defying Gravity I've heard. I didn't like Stephanie J. Block's version because she overpronounced her words and made Elphie sound too mature during this song, when she's supposed to still just be a young college student. Jenna Leigh Green's, on the other hand, was a bit too squeaky and thin. Some actresses change the notes of Defying Gravity around a bit to give it more of their own flavor. Shoshana Bean, for instance, added higher notes to the end of the song, but somehow it came off sounding (to me, anyway) less impressive than Idina's, because Shoshana sang her high notes in falsetto rather than belting them. Granted, it was a very strong falsetto, but it just lacked the punch of Idina's belting. Victoria, however, didn't do this; for the most part, she stuck with Idina's original version of Defying Gravity, rather than adding her own riffs. I've heard that she does put her own spin on it sometimes, sometimes copying stuff Julia Murney has added to her Defying Gravity, but she didn't do it at this performance. It was fine though, because she belted her notes to the ceiling. Her voice was thinner than Idina's, but it was a pleasure to hear another belter!Elphie.

 

Annaleigh's parts were, again, slightly weak, though she was getting stronger by then. As she only joined the show recently, I think she probably needs some time to grow into her character and get used to the songs as well. The harmonies between Annaleigh and Victoria were better during this number too, though in my opinion the two of them never really established the bond Glinda and Elphaba are supposed to have by this point in the show.

 

The big surprise of the night, however, was that Elphie didn't fly! Victoria ran to the back of the stage on cue and disappeared into the shadows to get strapped into the flying machine, but when it was time for her to fly, she just ran back out to center stage and kept on singing. When the guards came rushing onstage, they fell down just as they were supposed to, and the ensemble and Glinda just kept on with their parts, surrounding Elphie but staying back, as if she were keeping them at bay magically or something. It still looked cool, though not as cool as if she had flown.

 

Of course, the question on everyone's lips during intermission was Why Elphie Didn't Fly. Numerous theories and rumors were flying amongst the experienced Wicked fans in attendance, but Victoria explained at the stage door after the show that she's a great deal taller than the usual Elphaba, and sometimes the censors that make sure she's strapped in securely don't line up properly. When that happens, the machine won't let her fly, and she has to run back onstage and hit her cue, finishing the song center stage instead. Everyone that knew what they were missing was very disappointed that they didn't get to see Elphie fly, but surprisingly, it didn't matter all that much to me. That's what bootlegs are for, after all. J

 

OH! And one more important thing about this scene. I had made a bet with Misty that Madame Morrible would give her "wicked witch" speech from a little balcony off the side of the stage. Luckily, Misty didn't take the bet, because she actually wound up giving the speech from a portable tower that rolled onto the stage and back off again. Alma Cuervo's wicked witch speech, though – WOW. It was AMAZING. It gave me chills. That woman is seriously scary! She reminds me so much of Carole Shelley, the original Broadway Morrible – who is PHENOMENAL, by the way. Alma also did a good job portraying the transition of Morrible. At the play's beginning, she seems a bit weird, but nice. By the end of Act I, you see that she's really evil, but you're supposed to have received hints at it all throughout Act I. Alma showed Madame Morrible's progression to evilness really well. She deserves to go to Broadway with that performance.

 

When Act II started, the tall lady in front of me was replaced (?) by an even taller man who kept leaning forward right into my field of vision. Thus, I spent the majority of the second act twisting this way and that to get a better view of the stage. -_-

 

Act II started off with "Thank Goodness," which was Annaleigh's best song yet. She was a lot stronger, and she did a good job capturing Glinda's inner turmoil during the speaking parts with Fiyero. Surprisingly, this was one of the most well-acted parts of the show. Sebastian's "You know me… I'm always happy." line was really heartbreaking.

 

The next scene, "Wicked Witch of the East," is one of my favorites. The song is short, but very pretty and, if sung and acted right, it can be one of the most raw and emotional scenes in the show. This was when Jennifer Waldman's Nessarose really came into her own. She was wonderful as the heartbrokenly tyrannical Wicked Witch of the East. When Nessarose takes her first steps out of her wheelchair while wearing the ruby slippers – that was a COOL bit to watch. Jennifer looked like she was actually walking for the first time. She fell down and it didn't look like a "stage fall" at ALL. My favorite Nessarose so far is Jenna Leigh Green – she's more emotional, less ruthless – and Jennifer reminded me strongly of her. And an added bonus: when Nessarose stood up for the first time, she and Boq were EXACTLY the same height. It was so perfect! ^_^ 

 

Kirk McDonald seemed to be more mature as Boq, too. I didn't like his screaming after he turns into the Tin Man either, but that's purely aesthetic. Besides the acting, it's one of the most beautifully staged scenes in the musical. The ruby slippers look really cool. ^_~

 

The next scene was "Wonderful," but I was surprised to find that there's a brief scene before that one – just the ensemble coming onstage and dancing a little bit, no words or anything – before that one. It's supposed to be Glinda's and Fiyero's engagement ball, and 'twas very pretty, though short. Then we see Elphaba and the Wizard meet again, and P.J. Benjamin really impressed me with his "Wonderful." He makes a very good Wizard. Reminded me a bit of Joel Grey (the original Broadway Wizard), actually. I made another bet with Misty that he'll be the next Broadway Wizard, tee hee.

 

And, OH MY GOSH, they added another part to the song Wonderful! I don't remember what it was, but it was different than the script and versions of the song I've always heard. There were another few lines where Elphaba and the Wizard sing together. I found myself wishing it had been that way on the Wicked OBC album, because Idina sounded really lovely singing her little bits in Wonderful, and I would have loved to hear her sing more of that song. On another note, the bit where Elphaba told the Wizard, "I'm nothing like you and I never will be and I will fight you until the day I die!" really hit me for some reason. Maybe 'twas foreshadowing again, or the fact that Elphaba didn't get to fight him until she died, or the fact that she's waaay more like the Wizard than she thinks… Anyway, then the Wizard climbed into his big mechanical head and ordered the guards to attack her, and in rushed Fiyero and his lackeys. Fiyero orders the guards to fetch water, which never really made much sense to me, and Glinda rushes in and she and Elphaba have their little moment. Then, of course, Fiyero decides to go with Elphaba, and Glinda goes, "So the two of you, this whole time, behind my back…!" Then Elphie goes, "It wasn't like that!" and Fiyero replies, "Actually, it was." Sebastian made that part really funny somehow. He's such a cute Yero. ^_^  The chemistry between Elphaba and Fiyero was back during this scene, too. I've heard that Julia and Sebastian have wonderful chemistry, but really, Victoria and Sebastian are awesome.

 

So Fiyero and Elphaba run away together, and the Wizard offers Glinda a drink of green elixir. That bit was really funny too, because P.J. made it sound like he was a drunk offering Glinda some beer. "Here, have a swig o' this." I love that man. <3

 

I rather liked Annaleigh's reprise of "I'm Not That Girl," though it's hardly a stand-out song. The great thing about it is how it blends directly into "As Long As You're Mine." For some reason, Sebastian and Victoria's ALAYM wasn't as sensual as some I've heard before. Idina was the sex on this song, and I've heard Stephanie and Derrick Williams were extremely sexy on it too, but Sebastian and Victoria made it more sweet, more like a chaste love song. It was good, though I missed the raw sensuality some others have brought to the song. The Elphaba/Yero kisses during this scene are legendary, and every couple of actors has a different way of doing them. Stephanie and Derrick supposedly had the best kiss yet. No matter who Idina's Fiyero was, the two of them always seemed to practically devour one another. Shoshana Bean's were the best to me, because they were so very Elphie: she would practically attack Fiyero, and he'd look sort of stunned for a moment before getting in there with her. Adorable, really.

 

Victoria's and Sebastian's, however, were just really sweet, tentative sort of things. I think they're both still getting used to the roles, and they both play their characters as less sensual, more innocent people. Sebastian's Fiyero is less rough, and Victoria's Elphaba is more youthful and optimistic, so it makes sense that their ALAYM and their kisses would be more innocent as well. In any case, they're still very romantic. I really wanted Victoria to harmonize with Sebastian on the last note of the song, but I haven't heard any Elphie do that since Idina in the previews before they went to Broadway, so it was really just wishful thinking on my part. I've read where Victoria has done it before though, so maybe she just didn't feel like experimenting that day. Their chemistry surged back after the song was over though, during the dialogue that followed. I love that scene. *happy sigh*

 

The next scene opens with Glinda having just sent Dorothy off on the Yellow Brick Road. It was really cool to see the reaction amongst the audience as people realized that the play was now overlapping with the movie. The snappy dialogue between Elphaba and Glinda in this scene, when Dorothy's house has just landed on Nessarose, was right on the mark. Annaleigh and Victoria both did a fantastic job. Victoria also sounded very emotional during the "He loves me!" mini speech. (If you've read the script, you know what I'm talking about.) When Glinda slapped Elphaba and Elphaba asked, "Feel better now?" Annaleigh responded, "Yes, I do," in the cutest little-girl voice you can imagine. I dunno, it's hard to describe, but it made everyone laugh. This is one of the most ad-libbed scenes in the play, and I liked what Annaleigh did with it. Her wand-whirling was very good, LoL. The stage fighting looked slightly less than authentic, though.  

 

I think Sebastian could have staged the next scene a little bit better. Of course, his "Let the green girl go!" sounded awesome – one of the best lines of the entire play – but after Elphaba escaped from the Wizard's guards, he pointed his gun back at Glinda for no reason, and the guards captured him. I suppose he was giving himself up, but there are better ways to get that across. Anyway, they really did stick him up on a pole, which looked pretty cool, LoL.

 

It has been said that "No Good Deed" is Victoria's weakest song, and it's really true. It was still great though – her pain and anger was almost palpable at times. Especially in the end, when she said, "Alright, enough, so be it! So be it then!" and she finally becomes "wicked," as it were, she really seemed sad and defeated. At any rate, it satisfied Maci, whose favorite song from the play is No Good Deed.

 

"March of the Witch Hunters" was probably the ensemble's best song. They were clearer on this song than any other. Kirk McDonald was rather weak with his part, though – those are some rather high notes he has to sing, so I don't blame him.

 

The scene after that, with Elphaba in Kiamo Ko yelling at Dorothy offstage, also had a big effect on my fellow audience members. "OMG, it's Dorothy!" Yeah. Fun stuff.

 

Glinda appeared, they found out about Fiyero, and Elphaba decided to get melted. She goes and fetches her own bucket of water, which was a really sobering thing to see. For some reason that maddens me, however, EVERY Glinda always says the line, "I've had so many friends," then pauses, "but only one that mattered." And the audience always laughs after the "I've had so many friends" part, which annoys me. I wish they wouldn't pause so the audience wouldn't have time to laugh. Meh, it's just a quibble of mine. Anyway, Misty begged me before the show started not to cry during "For Good," but I told her I would anyway. Of course, I did. It lacked the intense sadness of Idina's and Kristin's For Good. It was really just a sweet song, instead of a heartbreaking one, but I knew what was to come, so I cried anyway.

 

The best part of this scene for me, however, was the boy in front of me. He must've been about 13 years old, but he started wiping his eyes halfway into Elphaba's verse of For Good, and by the end he was completely sobbing! He sounded like he was at Cheno's last performance or something. His mom had to hand him a tissue. It was very touching, really. Misty laughed at him, but she is a lousy cheezum anyway. I wanted to huggle the poor kid.

 

I didn't really start crying 'til the end of the song, when Annaleigh's and Victoria's harmonies actually rocked for the first time in the whole show. Then, watching Glinda stand there at the side of the stage and watch her best friend melt was too sad for words. I had a sudden flashback to Idina's last "melting" and half expected Victoria to miss her step and break a rib or something, but the melting went off without a hitch. Annaleigh looked really devastated, though. Her reaction to Elphie's "death" made me cry more than anything. In fact, her acting throughout the rest of the play was superb. She told the Wizard and Morrible off quite snappishly and sent them on their separate ways.

 

The Lover's Theme played in the background when the Wizard realized Elphaba's, er, true parentage, and it sounded awesomely eerie. Then came the finale. I can't say much about that, except that Victoria and Sebastian acted it awesomely, Sebastian makes a great scarecrow, and Victoria's and Annaleigh's voices blended well at the very end.

 

After 'twas over, my parents and Maci took SO LONG dragging around that we didn't get to the stage door until after the actors that played Morrible, the Wizard and Nessarose had already left. We stood in the crowd with our overpriced program for around 30 minutes getting everyone's autographs. It was then that I found out that Glinda had been played by Annaleigh and Elphaba by Victoria. I was supremely irritated that I had not gotten to see Kendra Kassebaum play Glinda, as she is supposed to be awesome and I've grown rather fond of her. Plus, she's SO CUTE, and I'll never have another chance to see her. Sadness. ;_;

 

Anyway, Kirk (Boq) came out first. I told him he did a good job, and he was quite nice. It's so cool how they're so used signing stuff. You hand them a playbill, they sign it. Give them the title page of the program, they sign next to their name. Give them the bio page, they sign beside their bio. They know exactly where they are on there. They're so smooth. XD

 

Sebastian came out second. He was hot in a conventional way – not my particular type of hotness, but the type that makes the fangirls swoon and be jealous of you for meeting him. Heh. He was also very sweet to my baby sister and me. He squatted down to talk to her, which she thought was very cool. Mum got a picture of him signing my playbill, and then he and Mum chatted about the weather. XD

 

Then Annaleigh came out. I didn't really talk to her because one normally tells actors after the show that they were really good, and well… she wasn't. Plus I was trying to figure out just where the heck Kendra was, so yeah. (I think it was her day off, actually. 8 shows a week gets tiring, ya know.) But she stopped and talked to Maci for awhile, and her makeup was very pretty. Maci and I got a picture with her, too.

 

Finally, Victoria came out. She didn't even come down the stairs from the stage door, but stayed at the top of the stairs and let the fans file past her. She was cool, too – most of the actors had to borrow pens to sign stuff with. But not Victoria! Chica brought THREE Sharpies along with her to sign things will! Ahh, Sharpies: the Broadway star's best friends. Eventually we got up there where Victoria was. Maci was completely in awe at finally meeting "Elphie." We got a picture with Victoria as well. I told her how much I enjoyed her performance, and she sang a little bit of No Good Deed for Maci. She asked Maci to sing for her, but she was too shy; she wasn't too shy to brag about how she can hold out her notes as long as Elphaba can, however. (At least, she tries, bless her heart.)

 

Afterwards, Mum actually thanked me dragging them all around to the stage door. Mum and Dad didn't even want to go at first, but Maci and I forced them to. Maci got sunburned waiting in line to meet "Elphie," but it was worth it. ^_^

 

All in all, 'twas a good day.

 

After all this, I must say that returning home was extremely sad.