Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – David vs. Goliath: Revisiting WICKED and AVENUE Q 15 years on

• By drediman
• July 18, 2018
• No Comments

I recently had a chance to relive one of the most exciting Broadway musical face-offs of the last two decades. That is, the unlikely but memorable race for the Tony Award for Best Musical during the 2003-2004 season. That’s the year the musical behemoth Wicked competed against the relatively small, scrappy Avenue Q. Astonishingly, both productions are still going strong in New York 15 years onwards, a testament to how thoroughly these two works have captured theatergoers’ imaginations. Lucky for us, both productions are currently in very fine form.

Jackie Burns as Elphaba in “Wicked” at the Gershwin Theatre.

Wicked needs no introduction. It’s a cultural juggernaut that has struck a chord in fans across demographics. Tweens adore it, as do their moms, as well as their gay uncles. Indeed, the intersection of The Wizard of Oz, girl power, sorcery, and the coming-of-age/school experience has and continues to hit an unprecedented, very sweet spot. If the whole thing seems a tad unwieldy and too plot-heavy, so be it. Scattered throughout are moments of inspired exhilaration – in my mind, the “Defying Gravity” sequence that concludes the first act is just as impeccably written as the “If I Loved You” scene in the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic Carousel – that make the plodding bits worth sitting through. The accomplished cast, led by the totally fierce Jackie Burns when I saw the show not too long ago, is in tip-top shape. Ms. Burns, a veteran of the show, is one of the most dramatically committed, vocally thrilling Elphabas I’ve yet encountered; unfortunately, she recently departed the Broadway company (Jessica Vosk flew into the role this week).

Ann Harada as Christmas Eve in the original production of “Avenue Q”; the production currently plays at New World Stages.

Although Avenue Q is no longer running on Broadway, it’s still drawing in robust crowds Off-Broadway. The little show that could (and did win the big prize), which began at the Vineyard Theatre, has come full circle, having smartly returned Off-Broadway to New World Stages – the subterranean complex with theaters large enough to remount Broadway shows within close proximity of their original scale (a move which Avenue Q first made a viable option) – when ticket sales started to dwindle at the John Golden Theatre. Avenue Q remains a delightful piece of musical theater craftsmanship, and the current cast is excellent, capably handling all the comic bits we all know and love but still managing to create new very funny moments all their own. Seeing it again after a number of years, I was yet again struck by how effortlessly and hilariously the show’s universal life lessons – some of them quite frank and not so pleasant – have been translated through a “Sesame Street”-esque lens. I’m happy to report that the jokes that made me laugh out loud so heartily years ago, still do. To celebrate the show’s 15^th anniversary, the producers have scheduled a special series of performances for which a lineup of some of the show’s most celebrated cast members over the years have been tapped to make cameo appearances in the long-running production. The night I saw it, original cast members Jordan Gelber and Ann Harada re-enacted their portion of “Everybody’s a Little Racist”, and it was a joy to behold.

So the verdict 15 years on? It really doesn’t matter. The fact that both are still running and so well-maintained is victory plenty.

WICKED
Broadway, Musical
Gershwin Theatre
2 hours, 40 minutes (with one intermission)
Open Run

AVENUE Q
Off-Broadway, Musical
New World Stages
2 hours, 15 minutes (with one intermission)
Open Run