It is definitely not crap. Contrary to many peoples view on this board, I think Wicked is a very well crafted show. The score is great and very intergrated into the show, and the book is also great, full with themes about politics and who people are. For instance, one is about how people need a villain to define who we are. The spectacle enhances the show, instead of covering up what is a show with debatable quality (Aladdin, Big Fish, Pippin, Ghost, and Mary Poppins). I truly love the show and hope you do too. It is by far one of the best shows on broadway right now. Just because the show has style, does not mean it has no substance.
I enjoy the script, the set, the acting, and the singing. I don't enjoy the music. There are a few good songs (popular, for good, and Defying Gravity) but there are a lot that aren't so great. The show is beautiful and worth seeing but the music (especially the chorus numbers) can be pretty terrible.
Regarding the score: I actually like most of the melodies in Wicked, but the lyrics are pretty atrocious. Stephen Schwartz sacrifices natural speech patterns for strange and forced rhymes in Wicked and Pippin. If the lyrics don't rhyme, they are repetitive gems like this - "And goodness knows the wicked's lives are lonely. Goodness knows the wicked die alone. It just shows when you're wicked you're left only on your own." The show as a whole is... okay. It's definitely not as horrible as something like Scandalous, but it isn't nearly as good as the classics - Gypsy, Cabaret, etc. There have been a couple of REALLY talented cast members over the years who elevate the material. Donna Vivino knocked it out of the park when I saw her as the standby for Elphaba. She made me forget how "okay" the material is. She was my favorite Elphaba out of the three I've seen.
"The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world." - F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
First this is a ****ing stupid thread. That being said, I firmly believe that Wicked will be studied a hundred years from now as a wonderful example of musical theater from this era, a la, La Boheme. An excellent example of what the art was at this point in history.
I really just can't stand the songs sung by the ensemble. They're so freaking campy. They sound like they're grinning so hard they might hurt themselves. Try watching some videos of the show and listen to some of the music so you can make your own opinion. I think it's crap for the masses.
^^Wicked is no great art piece
Updated On: 7/12/14 at 07:34 PM
I think it's the most overrated show on Broadway, but there's plenty worse out there. My biggest problem is the score. Stephen Schwartz is a BRILLIANT composer and I really hate that his biggest success is, in my opinion, the worst example of his work.
The most bloated show on Broadway - and that's saying something. Loud, chaotic, and ugly. Joe Mantello's grievous mistake. And I am a fan of much of his work.
This heading is elitist and downright offensive and is just there to create offence. Spend your own dollar and decide for yourself then let's hear your intelligent critique.
Wasn't my intent to be elitist, or offend anyone. Was simply trying to be clear, concise, & BS-free. If that upsets, you, that's unfortunate. For those who gave thoughtful responses without judging my wording, thanks.
I usually describe it as well-manufactured averageness that requires little of the audience other than making it until the end. But I fully own being in the minority among the masses who seem to find it far more enjoyable.
It's crap for the masses you have to see because you won't know what you're talking about if you don't see it and you want understand the market forces that have been brought to bear on the subsequent creations of the musical they're genre. You know. If that's your thing.
I don't care what anyone says here, I still love "No Good Deed".
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
I like "Wicked", for the most part. It is entertaining for both adults and children. I first saw the show in 2006 (the only time I used a ticket broker for a show). After that, I've seen in Dallas, San Antonio and Austin. Yet, by the last time, I wasn't overly excited by it, as I knew what would be happening.
"Noel [Coward] and I were in Paris once. Adjoining rooms, of course. One night, I felt mischievous, so I knocked on Noel's door, and he asked, 'Who is it?' I lowered my voice and said 'Hotel detective. Have you got a gentleman in your room?' He answered, 'Just a minute, I'll ask him.'" (Beatrice Lillie)
The show is one of those things that people are supposed to grow or mature out of. If you're in your mid-to-late twenties or older and are still listening to the cast recording and feeling as if you're Elphaba, then you really need to do something about your life.
"I've got to get me out of here
This place is full of dirty old men
And the navigators and their mappy maps
And moldy heads and pissing on sugar cubes
While you stare at your books."