26, Female, Indiana (Go Colts!). Since I'm actually reviewing the works I'm reading, I thought I'd expand my profile a bit. I'm not really the best writer. I try, but my fics seem to be a bit campy or melodramatic, so I never post them. I'm more of a poet and songwriter -- original, not fanfic. Fanfiction is my guilty pleasure after a day at work. My way to unwind is to see what my favorite characters are up to. My favorite fics are in the Wicked, Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings threads, though I touch on almost all of them in the book, tv, movie, and misc. genres. I'm a musician, writer (for my own amusement), martial artist, and teacher (for the amusement of my students). I love musical theatre, dogs and cats, good food, good friends, movies, useless trivia, family, Wii, football, and I'm always looking for someone special.

---

Wicked the Musical review: 2nd national touring company's stop in Indianapolis. Attending shows on 6/6/09, 6/10/09, 6/12/09, and 6/19/09. This will be my 1st time actually seeing the musical, as I never managed to get to Chicago to see it in a proper venue. Reviews will follow as I attend! I couldn't be happier! Touring company cast: Marcie Dodd (Elphaba); Helene Yorke (Glinda); Marilyn Caskey (Madame Morrible); Tom McGowan (Wizard); David De Vries (Dr. Dillamond); Colin Donnell (Fiyero); Ted Ely (Boq); Kristine Reese (Nessarose); Gregory Haney (Chistery)

Wicked Review: Indianapolis, IN, June 6, 2009, 2pm. Can't believe it! I sat in the 2nd row from the stage, left of center. I was nearly spit on a couple times, I was so close! Elphie and Glinda loathed each other, Elphie casted every spell, Fiyero and Elphie sang to each other, Nessa walked, and a zillion other things right in front of my seat. If I had stood up I could've touched them. I couldn't hide my absolute glee at all. My face hurt from smiling for just over an hour for act 1, I cried my makeup off for act 2, and the entire time my heart was thundering like a herd of Wildebeast (the talking kind). This was show #2 for the cast, as the engagement opened last night. My seat was phenomenal. I've been on stage before, and whomever says you can't see the audience is a liar. If you're on stage you can see faces clear as day for at least 10 rows, depending on lighting. The ensemble was fantastic, and I had several keep looking at me, probably internally laughing at my face being split open by my grin. Ok, now to business. Helene Yorke as Glinda was great. She has major shoes to fill from the Glinda's of yore, but she did admirably. Her "Popular" was so funny she cracked up Marcie, who had to recover to deliver her lines! For a couple phrases Marcie couldn't even look at her -- she was trying that hard not to crack up. Helene's got the comedic timing down to a T. Her acting was wonderful, although my only reservation in her performance was a little lack of oomph in "Thank Goodness," but even that was still good. Marcie Dodd acts as if she was born to play Elphaba. She was with Wicked on Broadway, LA, and the 1st touring company. She's done this a lot! However, you never got the stale, "I do this for a living" performance. She sang her guts out. I believed, without a doubt, that she was a green girl at Shiz. Her acting was phenomenal. The emotions were real. She depicted joy in the comedy, desire in the romance, real tears in the sadness, and was a dramatic diva. Her acting sold Elphaba more than her singing. But about her singing... she's got to be one of the best I've ever heard at the part. I mean, WOW. During "The Wizard and I," and I'm not making this up, she looked straight at me (the audience member displayed as all teeth) with her eyes twinkling and smiled. I know it's part of the performance, but holy cow, Elphie sang to me! I also got eye contact in "One Short Day" and "No Good Deed." As I said, I was THAT CLOSE TO THEM. She didn't sing a single bad note, and every song blew me away. I know music: I'm a lifetime musician, a former music major, and I know this score like the back of my hand. Marcie was PERFECT. I can't say enough good things about her. Marilyn Caskey and Tom McGowan were great as Morrible and The Wizard. I've seen other productions where these characters speak/sing their lines a la Rex Harrison (My Fair Lady, Doctor Doolittle) which is completely annoying. They sang every note and were deliciously Wicked together. I totally forgot David De Vries wasn't actually a talking, singing Goat. Ted Ely as Boq was quite good, but they used a very obvious double for the Tin Man transformation (which is how they do it btw; sorry for the spoiler). Ted is Caucasian, and his double was Asian! They looked absolutely nothing alike. That sorta took me out of the moment. Colin Donnell was amazingly hot and a great singer. Fiyero doesn't have enough to do in this play! Kristine Reese is a budding star -- mark my words. Nessa won't be her last role (although a blond Nessa threw me a little). The only disappointment that I could come up with was that the main actors' mics were not very loud during the songs. Now that very well could be because I was right next to the pit so they were drowned out a little. We'll see next week when I see it again. Overall review: 5 stars, 100 percent, fantastic, excellent, etc. Get your own thesaurus! If you get a chance, GO!

Wicked Review: Indianapolis, IN, June 10, 2009, 7:30pm. It was magical mishap night at Wicked, from my view at 1st row balcony, left side. To begin, Colin Donnell was out but was brilliantly understudied by Daniel Torres. He was just as good (better?) than Colin was. Because of this, I assumed, the show was almost 10 minutes late seating people and starting. One of the ushers commented that they may have been having trouble with the bubble again (bubble, bubble, toil and trouble...). The bubble, however, behaved just fine all night. Then, during "No One Mourns the Wicked," the ensemble member who says "Glinda, just how dead is she?" fell. He tripped on his costume and slid across the stage like he was sliding into 2nd base, then leaped up and delivered his line at exactly the correct time. It was awesome. As Helene tried to get out of the bubble, the cast member behind her couldn't unhook her safety harness so once she was off the bubble FLEW up out of the way. (For some behind the scenes info, when Glinda goes in and out of the bubble, she receives a tap on the back of her neck to let her know she is attached or loose.) Something that either didn't work the other night or that they've recently added is a goat sound effect. When Dillamond said "something baaad" and when he said "baaah" in the palace (Act II), the effect backed up his voice. I don't like it. It covers the actor's performance too much, and he could make a perfectly acceptable "bah" on his own. Helene was still hilarious, though Marcie managed to keep her cool until Helene was crying about "what other people feel like." Marcie was laughing so hard she barely choked out her invitation to the Emerald City. When they turned around to watch Mr. Ribbon Dancer, I could see them both trying to regain composure. "Defying Gravity" came around, which stops my heart every time by the way, and Marcie went up into the air on the lift that helps her fly. To hide the machine a massive floor-to-ceiling cloth drapes behind Elphaba, which looks like a cape and looks awesome with the lighting. The problem was that it was stuck. It flowed out brilliantly stage left, and was stuck under her armpit stage right. Sort of ruined the effect for people watching stage right, as you could see Ozian guards in their places ready to run out. After Elphie is “melted,” Glinda gets back in the bubble with the help of a flying monkey. He couldn’t get her harness hooked either (and mouthed the s-word!), so Helene was barely off the ground when Daniel came out as the Scarecrow. A big hand, however, goes to Gregory Haney as Chistery. I could see him better this time, and he is wonderful. He emotes so well, and was delightful in the palace before he got wings. He was playing around as the Wizard was talking and it was great. Overall it was amazing, my children!

Wicked Review: Indianapolis, IN, June 12, 2009, 8pm. Upper balcony, right side. Tonight was just as spectacular as the last two. There was another understudy. Zach Hanna performed Boq, and was very good. There were a couple of "magical mishaps" (I love live theatre!). During "Popular," Helene (Galinda) tried to throw her wand offstage after it wouldn't "work," but it bounced off the set and landed behind her. She noticed, spun around, huffed and glared at it, and threw it to the waiting stage hands in the wing. Also, before "Wonderful" when the Wizard comes out to talk to Elphie, the big head on the throne got stuck and was halfway turned around for all the talking of that scene and the first part of the song before it slowly rotated like "la la, you can't see me..." The major drawback of the evening was not our seats, which were pretty far up but still very good, but it was the people around us. There is a line from the series "Firefly" that states (to paraphrase) there is a special place in hell for child molesters and people who talk at the theater. I hope they're greeted with many flames and pitchforks! "What song is this?" "Why is it called 'Wicked?'" "What's that guy's name? The prince dude?" "That girl in the ensemble looks like my uncle Fred!" blah blah blah! SHUT UP! I gave several glances and once turned fully around until these women shut up talking at the top of their lungs during "As Long As You're Mine." Really, rude ladies? Really? Even so, it was a wonderful performance. I quite enjoy the boogie Marcie and Helene do as the curtain comes down. Watch for that.