Wicked

My love for musical theater is just beginning. My first musical I saw was Hairspray in New York in 2006. That was quite amazing. Going into it I was not sure what to expect, but it truly was a great show. I am amazed at the talent of these people, and I feel like I can somewhat relate to what they do to prepare for such shows.

After seeing Hairspray, I was told that I would like Wicked, and that I needed to read the book first. So while working in the ADC as a cashier my freshmen year, I often had some down time and I would bring in books to read, and Wicked was one of them. I would often get people who would walk in and see me reading and start a conversation about it. The first few chapters were really confusing to me, but it still did not keep me from reading the book. By then end, like most books, I could not put it down. Besides the fact that I wanted to read the book before I went to see the musical. My mom had bought me the book for Christmas and put two tickets in the book. I was really surprised because I had only mentioned to her that I wanted to see it. So she had bought the tickets for me and her to see it that summer. I was racing to finish the book, but mostly because I wanted to find out what happened. When I finally finished I was amazed.

Now on to the actual musical. The Pantageous Theater was gorgeous. The inside was so much more different than what I thought it would be, much smaller. I'm not going to spoil it for anyone who has not actually seen it, but I was blown away at how amazing it was.

Now, everyone has their own opinions of which was better, the book or the musical. If you do not like people bursting out into song every two minutes, the musical probably does not pertain to your liking, and if you can not sit still for an hour to enjoy a good book, the book would seem torturous to read. But I would strongly encourage everyone to do both.

I'm surprised that the book and the musical were so different. Since I had read the book beforehand, I had gone in with an expectation, but that was completely changed right from the start. Perceptions can be tricky, but I was not opposed to the changes. It's nice to see other people's interpretations of the original book. I can't say I have a favorite because they are almost like polar opposites, but I would love to go back and see Wicked again at the Pantageous before it closes.

Now what is left for Wicked? I found a blog that stated there is a movie in the making, or development process. (http://www.google.com/reader/view/?source=blogger-home-promo&utm_source=blogger&utm_medium=product&utm_campaign=bloggerpromo&hl=en#search/Wicked%20at%20the/0) Is the world up for another interpretation? I think so. But what will it be like? Will it be more like the book, or like the musical? Lately there have been a lot of musicals turning into movies, but because Wicked was originally a book it will be interesting to see how it turns out. I wouldn't mind hearing some songs in the movie.

The writer of the blog mentioned that they had always seen it being made into a movie with a Tim Burton feel to it. Now wouldn't that be interesting? Tim Burton has amazing ideas, and he would do some great things with this story line.

I found another blog that had a clip of the musical: http://www.google.com/reader/view/?source=blogger-home-promo&utm_source=blogger&utm_medium=product&utm_campaign=bloggerpromo&hl=en#search/Wicked/12

I think musicals are more interesting than movies, most of the time, because not only does it have a story line that people can relate to, but it has catchy music to listen to as well. This blogger says that the characters have struggles, conflicts, most of the time love conflicts... They just have so much more to offer!