I Saw My First Live Show in a Year and a Half
September of 2021 will go down in theater history. After 18 very long months, Broadway began opening its doors again. Some of the biggest shows in modern theater history began playing to sold out, live audiences on September 14, 2021, including “Wicked,” “Hamilton,” “Chicago,” and “The Lion King.” While I was unable to make it up to New York on a Tuesday night, I was determined to see “Wicked” during its reopening weekend.
I was first introduced to “Wicked” when I was 14. I knew the show existed and had the vaguest idea what it was, but it was not until my drama teacher made us watch “ShowBusiness: The Road to Broadway” in class during my sophomore year of high school that I fully understood. If anyone is unfamiliar, “ShowBusiness: The Road to Broadway” is a documentary that follows the life cycle of four musicals that opened on Broadway during the 2003-2004 season, including “Wicked,” “Avenue Q,” “Taboo,” and “Caroline, Or Change.” I’m one of those people that loves hearing behind the scenes information and would always watch the bonus interviews that came as a “Special Feature” on DVDs, so I found this documentary absolutely fascinating.
As I watched Stephen Schwartz, Idina Menzel, and Kristin Chenoweth talk about the process of creating “Wicked” and saw the story of “The Wizard of Oz” told in a whole new light (quite literally), something clicked. I have on good authority that I drove my parents absolutely nuts with the number of times I played the “Wicked” soundtrack over and over. Thank goodness (see what I did there?) for YouTube.
I would say it was probably a year later when my parents surprised me with tickets to see “Wicked” when the tour stopped in Baltimore. This was the first professional musical I remember seeing in full (I was very fortunate to see the original Broadway cast of “Mary Poppins” when I was seven. I remember dressing up and taking pictures in the theater, and I will never forget seeing Ashley Brown fly right over my head with her umbrella held high. But other than some orange costumes at some point in the show and a few other things here and there, that’s kind of all I remember), and it will forever hold a special place in my heart (I’m noticing that several important theater moments my life center around “Wicked”).
Map of Oz that lines the stairs of the Gershwin Theatre (so please pardon the slanted view)
Flash forward about a decade and a half, and we have a worldwide pandemic. Theater is shut down, and the last production I reviewed was, wow, the national tour of “Wicked” in Baltimore. Months and months later, “Wicked” announced its reopening dates, and I was determined to bookend this theatrical intermission with my favorite show.
Seeing “Wicked” on Broadway has been a bucket list item for me since that fateful day in drama class. But what I thought was more of a years-down-the-line thing suddenly became a very real and very urgent matter. I truly could not think of a better time to go see “Wicked” on Broadway, other than if by some miracle the original cast came back (ugh can you IMAGINE). And let me tell you, it did not disappoint.
As the minutes before curtain ticked down, there was an excited pre-show energy in the air that was unlike anything I have ever seen before a show. You could feel the history in that beautiful, swankified building, and everything about the Gershwin Theatre had received a full Emerald City makeover. Side note- as someone who also loves history, the Theater Hall of Fame inside the Gershwin was very cool.
The first part of the Theater Hall of Fame, located in the Gershwin Theatre (screenshotted from my Instagram story)
Going in, I fully expected to cry. I was prepared. But I expected to keep myself together until Glinda’s opening line “It’s good to see me, isn’t it?” If I’m honest, the reaction I knew that line would get was one of the reasons I was so determined to go this weekend, as opposed to any other time. I should have known better. By the second note of the overture, I, and from the look of it, everyone in my row, was in tears. And it was in that moment that I was struck again by the community of theater. In a room full of roughly 1,933 people (according to Playbill, that is the seating capacity of the Gershwin Theatre and it looked pretty sold out to me, give or take), everyone was together in that moment of complete awe and appreciation for what we were finally able to be a part of again.
The production was completely amazing, and the cast and crew are so talented. And (forgive me for sounding a bit snobbish here) knowing that I interviewed Sam Gravitte (the current Fiyero) a few weeks ago made it that much cooler. Having spoken with him, I could see some of the personality he brought to the character and just that little bit of goofiness at the end of the curtain call (full interview can be found here).
As theaters around Maryland and Washington DC begin to open their doors this fall, I am so excited to see this Broadway magic and audience energy back in my city. Stay tuned!
Feature Photo Credit: The "Wicked" marquee at the Gershwin Theatre in New York (Image taken from Playbill)