Wicked: The Best Adventure You Will Ever Have

                Last week, my family and I went to "Wicked" on Broadway. I have seen the show 3 times on tour, and it means A LOT to me. The first time I went, my friends had an extra ticked, and invited me to go. After seeing the show when I was 11 years old, I knew what I would aspire to do for the rest of my life: I was going to find a way to play Elphaba Thropp, more commonly known as "The Wicked Witch Of The West." Now, I know that that may be a bit of a far off dream, but that dream has become a goal for my career. I want to perform Musical Theater professionally. From the first time I saw Defying Gravity, the climax of the show,  where Elphaba decides she is "Through excepting Limits," and flies high above the stage while belting her face off, I knew what I was going to do with my life. I mean, who can resist the pull of the desire to do what Elphaba had done? That show made me realize my passion, which before, had only been a hobby.
                      Last week, I saw the show for the first time on Broadway. We sat in the ORCHESTRA in the 12th row!!! You may be thinking "how does ANYONE afford that?!" Well, we were very fortunate to have an incredibly kind aunt who bought us the tickets. I can't thank her enough! So Amy, if you're reading this, THANK YOU AGAIN TIMES A BILLION!!!! It was incredible to see the show I knew so well up close like that. People say that the tour and the Broadway productions aren't different, and in ways they are right. But if you know the show with your eyes closed like I do, (seriously, I printed a script offline illegally, and memorized the lines, I know pathetic), the small differences will mean the world. I mean, the monkeys flew over the audience!!
                      In the past when I have seen the show, my favorite aspect of it has been the incredible Elphaba. But this time, it was Miss Gaaaaalinda (Glinda the Good). Elphaba was Danish, so it was obvious that she was struggling with the American Accent, and I solute her for being able to play Elphaba in 3 languages!!! I mean, that role is HARD. Some say the hardest out there! But I just wasn't able to connect with her in the way I have in the past, which allowed me to focus on other aspects of the show that I hadn't payed as much attention to in the past. Like Glinda. That actress, Ali Mauzey, in my opinion, is the best Glinda EVER. I know it sounds biased because I saw her live, but I have seen many a Glinda. whether live or in videos, and she is BY FAR my favorite. She added SO MUCH to the role. I can't even describe her greatness. The last time I saw the show, Glinda was a standby who I'm sorry to say wasn't the best, so seeing someone bring the role to life like she did was incredible. She catered to the new, and the old audiences, so that everyone would be entertained in the biggest possible way. Just look her up on youtube, and be sure to look at her more recent performances, because they are the best.
                      As you can see, I REALLY like Wicked!!!! If you haven't seen the show already, I recommend it with ALL OF MY BEING!!! Adults and kid swill walk out of the theater with awestruck faces, and I believe that they will have difficulty digesting what just occurred before their eyes.

"SO IF YOU CARE TO FIND ME LOOK TO THE WESTERN SKIES AS SOMEONE TOLD ME LATELY, EVERYONE DESERVES THE CHANCE TO FLY!!!!!"

Wicked- Defying Gravity

Velma, you SCARE me!!!!

                             "Velma Von Tussle!? WHAT AM I GOING TO DO??? What was the director possibly thinking when she cast me in THAT role??!! I'm not sexy, I'm not skinny, and I'm not mean! Plus, she is a full grown woman! How am I possibly going to pull that off? I act like a CHILD three quarters of the time!"
               Those were the dreadful words that enveloped my young, theater-geek brain when I discovered the inevitable: I was going to play Velma Von Tussle in Hairspray. Sure, I knew I could sing the role, but acting like her??!! HOW WAS THAT POSSIBLE???
                 Well, here I am today, two months in to rehearsals for the high school musical, and Velma really isn't that bad. I've really looked into the character, and she can be kinda fun to play! I believe everyone has some of her inside of them. It's just a matter of pulling out those manipulative ways from deep inside of you (some deeper than others). I have come up with a solution to my awkward ways: overplay her to the MAX. This is a character that in order to be pulled off by me has to be overacted! It's actually kinda fun. In my opinion, it's MUCH easier to overact than to try to make it realistic. Anyway, VELMA. She is obviously  a very strong woman. She somehow ended up owning a station in the 60's! Back then, it was VERY difficult for a woman to do that! But according to the original Broadway Cast lyrics, she didn't find her way there using the most honest ways:" A tycoon I wed so cuddly and funny! The old fart dropped dead but left tons of money. So I bought this station so all of the nation could see Baby amber and me!"  I have the strangest feeling that her husband didn't just "drop dead." That's just a sample of how EVIL she is!!!!!!  

                 Well Miss VELMA, here we go!!!!!!

Sydney

 

Read more: ORIGINAL BROADWAY CAST - (THE LEGEND OF) MISS BALTIMORE CRABS LYRICS 

My First Post

Hi! I'm Sydney. I'm 15 years old, and my passion is theater. I hope to someday perform professionally. I live in a small town upstate New York, and I participate in community theater productions in that area. I love to sing, act, and dance. I'm NOT a very good dancer, so that presents a challenge for me. But my singing and acting skills, so far, have kind of hidden that from directors in non-professional theaters, so I've been able to sneak by and snag leads. The theaters around me aren't the best. It feels like I know more than them! I know that sounds like a typical teenager who thinks highly of herself, but I'm on this blog to tell everyone my perspective of my theater journey, which includes revealing the aspects of myself that maybe aren't the best. I'm generally very modest. In fact, people ALWAYS tell me to STOP critiquing myself. I'm the type of person who puts myself down a lot. I struggle with an Anxiety disorder, so that presents another challenge.

      Anyway, I'm gonna be honest again. I have NEVER had experience with blogging. I've never even read one....... which is kinda pathetic, I know. But my WONDERFUL parents suggested that I write about theater, because it's what keeps me going in life. Without it, I don't know where I would be. Probably not the best place...... I'm an odd teenager. I'm typical in some ways, but in other ways, I'm extremely strange, but I'll get into that some other time. 

             In this blog, I'm gonna talk about theater......umm...... stuff..... EVERYTHING and ANYTHING that I want to talk about, because that's what a blog is for, right? Right now. I'm in Hairspray at my high school. I'm playing the LAST role I EVER thought that I would play, Velma Von tussle. She is a sexy, manipulative older woman who runs a TV dancing show in the 60's. She is using the show to get her daughter, Amber to the stardom that she never had. First of all, I am short, not very skinny, a bit awkward, which makes it VERY difficult to walk in heels, and I am not sexy in the LEAST. In fact, I don't even know what it means to be "sexy." I haven't even started to feel attracted to people yet!!!! I mean, what does it feel like to want sex?! I'm sorry, I'm just kinda naive when it comes to that. No one ever acts like they're mad or jealous of my talents because I always act SOOO much younger than my age. I ask questions about things that I SHOULD know about by now. (ya know, that inappropriate stuff.....). But actually, I'm pretty intelligent. I put that act on INTENTIONALLY. I've done it SO much, that I can't really seem to get out of it sometimes. That act allows me to avoid ALL social problems somehow, which works for me! I mean I'm a freshmen in High School, and I haven't experienced ANY drama!!! As I said, I'm PRETTY strange. Anyway, HAIRSPRAY. I'll have another post where I talk about my outlook on Velma in length! 

Well, there it is. My first post on a blog. Hope I can get some people to connect with me! 

Thanks!

Sydney