Wicked

I went to see Wicked on the day the strike of the Underground began, so I started out very rushed.  I purchased the cheapest tickets and was sat at the very back of the theatre.  The view was still excellent, although the actors were a bit small and I could not see the orchestra, but because I was so impressed with the setup of the stage, including the giant dragon just above it, I did not care in the least bit.  My only problem was the group of fourteen-year-old girls sitting directly behind me who insisted on continuing their conversation despite being told to “shut up” by a couple people.  This, however, did not distract me too much from the performance.  The singers had incredible voices that projected throughout the entire theatre and the storyline was truly attention-grabbing.

At intermission I was able to talk with a worker, who allowed my group to move seats.  We were moved twice as close to the performance as we were before and were able to see and hear a lot more clearly.  Overall, I quite enjoyed the performance.  I had never before read Wicked and found that it was a very interesting twist on The Wizard of Oz.  One thing I did notice, however, was that the entire audience broke most of the rules of theatre etiquette as written by Benedict Nightingale; The girls talked throughout the performance and had to be told to hush as if they were children, people were eating and wrappers were making noise everywhere, and, among other things, the audience held a standing ovation at the end of the performance.  I quite enjoyed that and as I was leaving had the pleasure of jokingly exclaiming, “They are all becoming American!”

Sandra Kneer
slkneer@ucdavis.edu