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Wicked
Reviewed by Bob Verini
Pantages Theater
Through March 15
RECOMMENDED:
There’s no expectant lobby buzz like the expectant lobby buzz before a performance of Wicked, which is back for its fourth (but who’s counting?) Los Angeles engagement.
This one’s been extended well into the New Year, and even before entering the Pantages lobby you can instantly sense why: kids of all ages wearing Wicked t-shirts and hats and sweatshirts clearly not just purchased at the concession stand; little girls bouncing up and down muttering “POP-u-lar…Y’gnnabe pop-YOU-OO-lar”; well-heeled sophisticates arguing whether this Glinda came up with a unique sound for her self-conscious cackle, or whether that Elphaba flatted out on “Defying Gravity” her first night hoisted into the air. The squabbling and reminiscing were reminiscent of a night at the LA Opera or the Met, but even more ratcheted up in intensity. To many if not most of those who pony up big bucks for this lavish Wizard of Oz prequel, Wicked isn’t any old show. It’s an Event of personal importance.
Eventually the winged monkeys appear, chattering and leaping to downstage left to crank the wheel that raises the frontcloth to start the play. This was my fifth time (twice in New York, three times here), and either the Wicked machine has been perfected to clockwork or it has simply worn me down, but this fifth visit was the smoothest and most enjoyable of my experience. It’s still a trial to get through the hugely over-plotted Act 2, with its inferior Stephen Schwartz numbers (inferior, that is, to the splendidly musical Act 1) and increasingly obvious, forced intersections with the 1939 Oz movie. But somehow the highs were even higher, and the lows not so bothersome, this time out.
Part of it surely had to do with the fact that the usual Elphaba, Emma Hunton, had come down with flu or something and had to be spelled on opening night by her standby Emmy Raver-Lampman. It’s typical for a company, even one that’s been on the road for a long time, to rally in support of one of their own in such a difficult position. I can’t say whether that occurred here, but this ensemble really seemed to ratchet up their energy and commitment under the circumstances. All I can say is that Raver-Lampman was terrific that night, in great voice and tracking Elphaba’s character arc with gritty determination. And the story was told with real stakes and heat, which I assure you is not something that happens every day on a national tour.
The rest of the principals are equally effective. Nick Adams – so memorable as the most flamboyant of the three journeyers in Priscilla Queen of the Desert in New York – is a strong candidate for Best Fiyero Ever, a gifted dancer with great pipes and an easy masculinity that’s able to rise above book writer Winnie Holzman’s campy touches. Speaking of campy, the often insufferable Wizard role is in the outstanding hands of SNL and improv veteran Tim Kazurinsky, most believable as a nebbishy humbug with a cruel streak underneath. He and Kim Zimmer – for once a real person as Madame Morrible, not a silly caricature – raised the threat level in the Emerald City to Orange at least, so important for lending menace and suspense to any show.
And Chandra lee [sic] Schwartz delighted as Glinda, a role which requires an actress to whipsaw dizzily from clueless bimbo to vindictive foil to bosom companion, depending on the story’s whims at any given moment, and Schwartz pulled it off. Don’t quite know how she did it, and I can’t say I will be rushing to see the show for a sixth time to puzzle it out. But she was at all times excellent.
There will surely be other Wickeds rolling through town, even beyond your and my lifespans, and a movie version in the distant future as well. But if you have yet to experience the phenomenon, there’s no time like the present.
Pantages Theater, 6233 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles; Tues.-Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 2 & 8 p.m.; Sun., 1 & 6:30 p.m. (holiday schedules may vary); through March 15. (800) 982-2787, www.Ticketmaster.com/Wicked
