'WICKED': TOTO, WE'RE NOT ON BROADWAY ANYMORE.Byline: Evan Henerson Theater Critic Overradiated! Sorry, I meant overrated Overrated was a Horde World of Warcraft guild, based on the US Black Dragonflight Realm. On November 2 2006, the majority of the guild members were indefinitely banned from the game for use of (or directly benefiting from) a third-party "wall-hack", used to bypass content . That was a Glinda-ism. You see, the other key witch of the musical ``Wicked'' - the one without the green skin - has this highly irritating habit of mangling The term mangling may refer to:
And while there's nothing too terribly horrificious about this musical cash cow inspired by ``The Wizard of Oz Wizard of Oz reaches and departs from Oz in circus balloon. [Children’s Lit.: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz] See : Ballooning Wizard of Oz false wizard takes up residence in Emerald City. [Am. Lit. ,'' ``Wicked'' isn't wonderiffic either. And somewhere, Margaret Hamilton's grave must have fresh claw marks where the creator of one of the cinema's most terrifying ter·ri·fy tr.v. ter·ri·fied, ter·ri·fy·ing, ter·ri·fies 1. To fill with terror; make deeply afraid. See Synonyms at frighten. 2. To menace or threaten; intimidate. evildoers has tried to rise from the dead in protest. Novelist Gregory Maguire spun L. Frank Baum's ``The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' to give future Wicked Witch of the West Wicked Witch of the West the terror of Oz. [Am. Lit.: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz] See : Evil Wicked Witch of the West uses her powers to upset the plans of Dorothy and her friends. [Am. Lit. and Cin. Elphaba (played in the musical by Stephanie J. Block Stephanie J. Block (born Stephanie Janette Block on September 19, 1972) is an American stage actress and member of Actors Equity and the Los Angeles Musical Theater Guild. She most recently played Grace "Grania" O'Malley in the Broadway show The Pirate Queen ) a history. Apparently Elphaba and Glinda (Kendra Kassebaum) were schoolmates. Elphaba possessed smarts, magical talents and a bowling-ball-size chip on her shoulder because of her frightening appearance. Glinda, by sharp contrast, was beautiful, popular, ditsy dit·sy also dit·zy adj. dit·si·er also dit·zi·er, dit·si·est also dit·zi·est Slang Eccentric or scatterbrained: "Needless to say, this ditsy crew succeeds in spite of itself" but still ambitious. The two future witches - unlikely friends - fell out when Elphaba became a crusader for the animals of Oz, thereby allowing the Wizard (David Garrison) to smear her reputation. There's also a love triangle between Elphaba, Glinda and Fiyero (Derrick Williams), a bad boy prince. Book writer Winnie Holzman (``My So Called Life'') boiled down Maguire's novel to its simplistic sim·plism n. The tendency to oversimplify an issue or a problem by ignoring complexities or complications. [French simplisme, from simple, simple, from Old French; see simple essence and composer/lyricist Stephen Schwartz (``Pippin Pippin. For Frankish rulers thus named, use Pepin. A multimedia game and Internet machine from Apple that used the PowerPC architecture and a limited version of the Mac OS. ,'' ``Godspell'') threw in some pop-friendly - and very hummable - tunes. Unfortunately, since musicals generally water down the politics of their source material and because there would be nothing catchy about a musical titled ``Misunderstood,'' ``Wicked'' rests on the laurels of its not-so-special effects, its audience's built-in ``Oz'' familiarity and the girl power/girl bonding attraction of its two leads. That may sound like a lot of ammunition. It isn't, particularly when you don't have the name Kristin Chenoweth in the playbill play·bill n. A poster announcing a theatrical performance. playbill Noun a poster or bill advertising a play Noun 1. . Even without the signature cape, hat and all that ultra cool lighting (by Kenneth Posner), Block's a legitimate star. You get her turmoil, the intelligence Elphaba doesn't know what to do with, the guilt and - when pushed - the exasperation. She does a mean Glinda impersonation Impersonation Patroclus wore the armor of Achilles against the Trojans to encourage the disheartened Greeks. [Gk. Lit.: Iliad] Prisoner of Zenda, The in the catty cat·ty 1 adj. cat·ti·er, cat·ti·est 1. Subtly cruel or malicious; spiteful: a catty remark. 2. Catlike; stealthy. duet ``What Is this Feeling'' (in which Schwartz rhymes the words ``loathing'' and ``clothing'') and belts impressively in both ``The Wizard and I'' and the show stopping ``Defying Gravity.'' Kassebaum isn't in her co-witch's league and not simply because she's taking a role created by Chenoweth. She nails Glinda's superficiality, the bubbling, preening delight she takes in giving Elphaba a makeover in the song ``Popular,'' but the little wiggles, sashays and flounces are about all she brings to the table. When Glinda has to grow and deepen, Kassebaum can't take the character there. Lovers of spectacle won't be disappointed. Susan Hilferty's Tony award-winning costumes are practically their own character. The winged monkeys are pretty cool. There's also a mechanical dragon mounted overhead that does nothing expect move its head and blow smoke whenever evil magic is in the works. Does the Wicked Witch fly? Kind of. She certainly rises. Ultimately, ``Wicked'' is hamstrung by the very thing that has enabled it to be such a hit. Schwartz, Holzman and director Joe Mantello may swear that they've created a separate story from Baum's masterpiece, and to some extent, they have. But in that second act, when the best of Schwartz's songs are behind us and Holzman's plot is racing clumsily to catch up with Dorothy, Toto and the gang, ``Wicked'' loses its charm - and its credibility - in a hurry. Yes, some old friends put in an appearance. A better musical than ``Wicked'' shouldn't need them. Evan Henerson, (818) 713-3651 evan.henerson(at)dailynews.com WICKED - Two and one half stars Where: Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. When: 8 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday, 2 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Sunday; through July 31. Tickets: $35 to $89. Call (213) 365-3500. In a nutshell: Not so wonderful. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Stephanie J. Block, as the witch Elphaba, shares a tender moment with Derrick Williams, playing the prince Fiyero, in the musical ``Wicked'' at the Pantages Theatre. |
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