restaurants near boston opera house boston ma

The actress allows Elphaba’s emotional shadings to reveal themselves scene by scene and song by song. It’s intriguing to see and hear deGuzman’s quiet, subtle approach to Elphaba. Yet while Newberry’s Glinda gets a huge kick out of herself, the actress goes beyond that aura of self-delight to nail the poignancy of a queen bee who is surprised to find depths within herself she didn’t know were there. The challenge is to put an individual stamp on character and performance - a challenge that both deGuzman and Newberry meet splendidly.įrom the moment Glinda descends to the stage on a circular, bubble-like conveyance, Newberry is an absolute treat, a comic compound of Billie Burke, Judy Holliday, and Elle Woods. Now, many actresses have played the enemies-turned-friends since Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth originated the roles on Broadway in 2003, with Menzel winning a Tony Award. This production struck gold on both counts. As the Wizard, John Bolton deftly transitions from geniality to something less than Wonderful (Boston theatergoers may fondly recall Bolton from his antic 2013 turn as the dad in “ A Christmas Story: The Musical” at the Wang Theatre.)īut any “Wicked” ultimately rises or falls on the strength of its Glinda, and especially its Elphaba. Lisa Howard endows Shiz headmistress Madame Morrible with an enjoyably withering hauteur, wringing every ounce of performative juice out of the character. Bent on establishing a repressive regime, sinister political forces are cracking down on dissent by literally taking away the voices of animals. Meanwhile, in the background, shadows are gathering over the land of Oz.

Elphaba, too, is smitten with Fiyero, but she is aware, as expressed in her heartbreaking “I’m Not That Girl,” that he’s out of her league and could never be interested in her. Glinda begins a romance with a dashing and handsome prince as shallow as she is, named Fiyero (an excellent Jordan Litz). Holzman’s choppy book, alas, is decidedly earthbound it has always been, and remains, the show’s weak point.Īt Shiz University, a complicated friendship begins to bloom between two roommates who are antagonists at first: Elphaba, a green-skinned outcast, later to be known as the Wicked Witch of the West and Galinda, later to be Glinda the Good Witch, a popular and unstoppably perky blonde. Schwartz’s score still glows and burns, still stirs and soars, as it delivers gem after gem, whether funny (”Popular,” “What Is This Feeling?”), anthemic (”The Wizard and I”), or intimate (”For Good”). “Wicked” is, of course, the back story to “The Wizard of Oz,” based on Gregory Maguire’s novel and featuring music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman. It’s got a freshness, even urgency, about it, as if doing justice to this musical matters as much to this stellar road company as it does to the young spectators in the seats, many of whom have doubtless devoured the cast album but are seeing the show live for the first time.

Nor was there any guarantee that the tandem of Lissa deGuzman, as Elphaba, and Jennafer Newberry, as Glinda, would prove to be as terrific as they are.īut not a moment of this Joe Mantello-directed “Wicked” feels rote or phoned-in. Still, given the guaranteed bankability of “Wicked,” it was not a given that the current touring production would be as outstanding as it is. High stakes are thus built into every performance of “Wicked.” The unwritten terms of the usual contract between performers and audience are unusually exacting ones when it comes to this show.

Restaurants near boston opera house boston ma