I haven’t written in two weeks. There’s a reason for this, and it isn’t that I’ve been busy; it’s because, well, I’ve had things happen in my life that I can’t easily put into words, or that need be privy to the world. So, here is a quick gloss of the last few weeks, with a look to the future, okay?
Two weeks ago, tomorrow, on 24 October, I went to London, as I said I was planning, and saw Wicked in London, but, at the last minute, the night before, I decided I would make it a double feature, and ordered a ticket for the evening performance. That became a very, and I do mean very, long day, waking early to be in London by 11am. When I arrived in the city it was pouring, as it is want to do in London, so I ran across the street from the train station to the theatre, got my two tickets (while buying a set of tickets for later this month for a friend and I) and talked the ticket agent into selling me a Wicked umbrella, even though they don’t technically go on sale until an hour pre-show, but the man took pity on me, given then aforementioned rain. I then went to Piccadilly Circus to Waterstones (the biggest bookstore in Europe) to kill some time, ended up buying a book (shocker) and grabbing a sandwich nearby, before racing back across London for the matinee show.
Understudy Ashleigh Gray was quite amazing as Elphaba, and I know my Elphabas! Her voice was strong if her comedic timing (which Elphaba very much does require) was lacking. Sitting in the fifth row, my only major criticism is that, honestly, her hat didn’t fit. Seriously, her witch’s hat was a tad too big for her, sitting too far down on her forehead, and consequently, sitting as close as I was, I couldn’t see her eyes, which majorly mitigates one’s facial expressions!
For the evening performance, however, Ashleigh Gray was replaced by principal Elphaba Alexia Khadime, who, while she had amazing comedic timing, and I actually found quite commanding in the fury she brought to Elphaba, seemed to lack the empathy I’ve found in other Elphabas, most principally both Dee Roscoli (Chicago) and Idina Menzel.
Elphaba’s fury at the injustice she faces must always be tempered against her state as a truly misunderstood and deeply hurt person. Her anger must always come from being a truly good, but, in the end, entirely incapacitated person. Elphaba’s pain comes from a place of deep longing. She wants nothing more than to find her place in proper society, to be understood by the Wizard, yet she only finds herself used, and then forced underground by him as he struggles to retain power he cannot singularly assert. Society relegates the “unlimited” sprit of the girl to the ultimately “limited” woman, as Elphaba sings to G(a)linda in the opening of the show’s last song:
I’m limited
Just look at me – I’m limited
And just look at you
You can do all I couldn’t do, Glinda
So now it’s up to you
For both of us – now it’s up to you…
That delicate balance, in my experience of seeing the show a dozen times, has only ever been put forward by, as cliché as it may sound, Idina Menzel. She was the first, and to my mind, she really is the best. I’ve never cried during that show like I cried during her “Defying Gravity,” Idina puts not Elphaba’s anger, but her pain, in the forground, as a person longing for nothing more than understanding and love. What I wouldn’t give to see her don MAC Landscape Green one more time!
Since returning from Wic
ked, I’ve been knee deep in at least four Shakespeare plays, and a good penchant of queer theory, discussing everything from the queer child (and our societal desire to avoid such a thing) to sexuality as it impacts race. At the moment I’m at work on a project discussing the “post-colonial queer,” that is, deviant sexualities as they exist outside the American/European context.
That leaves my personal life, which has been… questionable at best. I won’t name names, and those closest to me know the details, but suffice to say, I was asked out by someone not in a position to do so, which lead to a sequence of very tense and depressing days, particularly once everything became apparent.
Now, looking to the future, tomorrow I will be, again, in London, with tentative plans to go again next weekend. I also have tickets to see John Barrowman in one of his final performances of La Cage Aux Folles on 26 November, from the front row, of course. That same evening I will, again, be seeing Wicked with a friend (from the cheap seats, of course).
A Random Existence 