Backflip

This past weekend I had the very enjoyable experience of watching Wicked the musical at the Schuster Center in Dayton. If you recall a post in December I was pretty underwhelmed by the the Broadway performance of a Broadway Holiday. And while I took Josh’s words to heart and decided to like Wicked no matter what I was still a bit worried it would not live up to my expectations.

However, the play met my expectations quite early in the night and then proceeded to blow up my expectation meter and go into the stratosphere. It was amazin’!

Before I get into why I greatly enjoyed the musical let me start off by telling you of my weekend and the events leading up to the big night. Friday was pretty typical at work and once I got home my roomate Dan helped me replace a headlight on my Mazda (driver side bulb burned out). I thought this was going to be a 5 min. project but it turned out to be more complicated than I had expected and turned into about 45 min. worth of tinkering. Thankfully Dan is very knowledgeable about cars so we were able to replace it and it’s working great.

That night I met some peeps at Sakai to eat some delicious sushi and they all wandered over to the house to play some Street Fighter IV and Castle Crashers on the XBox 360 (play and watch would be a more correct description). It was a great night. However I got a little carried away and didn’t end up going to sleep till around 2 a.m. Which is pretty late. I was also volunteering at Carillon Park on Sat. morning as an interpreter (tour guide) and I had to be there at 9 so this wasn’t the wisest of all decisions. Just to clarify, this was not a LARPing event as SOME people like to think.

This was realized pretty early on Saturday morning when I was 1/2 way to the Park (it’s located near downtown Dayton) and I realized I had forgotten my ticket to Wicked. Since I was planning on volunteering till 5, grabbing dinner at 6 and catching the show at 8 this was very problematic since I would have no time to run back up to Troy to get my ticket. So I turned around to pick up my ticket causing me to be late to the park. Thankfully the volunteer coordinators are not strict and since the park doesn’t officially open till 9:30 I still made it at a decent time.

Interpreting was great, the park has a ton of cool artifacts and buildings and it’s great taking groups through and talking about the history and people who put Dayton on the map. Most famous are the Wright Brothers and we actually have the original (not a replica) Wright Flyer III which was the first plane to be perfected by the Brothers. It’s pretty neat stuff.

After leaving the park I headed to Thai 9 to meet some friends from work for a delicious Thai meal. At this point I was a little worried my decision to stay up so late the night before would have a negative effect on the upcoming show. I had a mild headache and was feeling quite sleepy. However, after a tasty meal and a few Coke’s I was ready to go. We headed off to Wicked grabbing our seats mere moments before the awesomeness that is the show began.

Just being in the theatre caused great excitement and once the musical started I was completely hooked and greatly enjoyed the next 3 hours. The actors pulled the audience into their story and were amazing in their acting, singing and presentation. The special effects were way cool and flowed flawlessly. I won’t go into the story so as to not spoil it for anyone planning on seeing it but it was very witty, funny, epic and education all while being extremely enjoyable. I can’t quite describe how I felt, but I didn’t want the show to end and was actually ready to just campout in the theatre until the next show so I could watch it again. Unfortunately common sense prevailed on Saturday night and I ended up goin home and goin to bed.

I would highly recommend this musical to anyone so inclined to such things. It’s quite a show and one that won’t leave you disappointed.

Having seen a show that flows and fits I’m excited for Phantom of the Opera which hits sometime in the next few months. I think musicals are a form of storytelling that impacts me the most and it’s great to be caught up in the music and story. I know Wicked will be staying on my playlists for quite a while.

This past weekend I attended a Broadway production at the Victoria Theatre with some friends from work. It was called Broadway Holiday and it was enjoyable. A handful of famous Broadway singers sang a smorgasborg of Holiday and Broadway music (as the title suggests). The performance was good but I was a bit disappointed. This is due to a few reasons.

First off, my expectations for the show were a bit high. I went in expecting to be awed and wowed. And while there were one or two moments during the show that I was amazed it was not nearly as impressive as I was hoping. Don’t get me wrong, the singing was great and the performers did a good job of entertaining the audience. However, it seemed to me that they weren’t trying very hard.

This brings me to my second point, effort. The performers were good at what they were doing. Heck, they mentioned they did the show in over 100 cities this year alone so I’m sure they could perform with their eyes closed. However, the performance was missing that special something that comes with putting forth all ones effort. It was missing a life or realism that usually draws in an audience. It seemed like they were just performing their jobs and reciting an act.

As a comparison, a few months ago I went to a Muse Machine performance a few months ago and was blown away and astonished at the show. The Muse Machine is composed of High School and College age kids from the Dayton area. For the show they put on a variety of musical numbers just as in the Broadway Holiday show. However, the performers from Muse were much more into their songs and were really achieving and overcoming their fears by performing in such a venue. It was exhilarating and very enjoyable to partake in such a triumph.

I will admit, my expectations for the Muse Machine performance were very low. I didn’t expect the level of singing and professionalism I saw in the performance. So this definitely played a roll in me enjoying the show.

But going back to the point of effort. It is amazing to me that such famous Broadway performers can get away with slacking at their jobs. They are professional entertainers at the top level of the business. I expect more from them.

Looking to the future, I am going to see Phantom of the Opera and Wicked as well as a handful of other performances this year and I’m a bit anxious about the experience. Ever since I was little I have been listening to music from Phantom since my parents went to a show and bought a CD. I love the music and what pieces of the story I have been able to piece together.

I fear my expectations for the live performance will be through the roof. And expectations are a tricky beast. How can one diminish or curb such thoughts? I have planned on not listening to the Phantom recording in the 2 months leading up to the live performance in hopes that I will not compare the two. This seems an effort in futility but I can’t think of what else to do.

I want to enjoy the show and the performance by the actors. But if it doesn’t live up to my expectations I know I will be dissatisfied. So what to do?